illinois face i'd like to yield seven minutes to the senator from arizona senator kyl the system the jury leaders recognize as president just a few weeks ago our nation witnessed one of the largest civil rights rallies in decades it was a rally to condemn hate crimes and racial disparities in our criminal justice system it occurred in a town in louisiana most of us have never heard of jenna louisiana that small town captured the attention of america why well because of an incident that occurred at a school the high school where there was a tree that traditionally white students gathered under those who supervised those students came to conclusion it was time that all students could sit under the tree in protest  white students hung nooses from the tree nooses the ancient symbol of hatred and bigotry well that incident led to other incidents fights between black and white students at the school three white students who put the nooses in the tree were given a three day suspension from the school three day suspension in contrast to jenna district attorney who was white brought criminal charges for attempted murder against six african american teenagers the so called jena six if convicted on all the charges the african american students could have served a combined total of more than one hundred years in prison one hundred years in prison for one group of students a three day suspension for others it's no wonder that this captured the attention of the nation a squabble a fight among st udent's leading to criminal charges serious charges against some and a very slight reprimand to others this isn't the first time america's faced this kind of disparity in justice sadly it's not likely to be the last time some of us who are in my age group can recall the struggles of the one nine hundred sixty s when civil rights became a national cause in america when all of us black white and brown north and south were forced to step back and take a look at this america we live in and really make a decision as to whether it would be a different country we look back now as we celebrate dr martin luther king's birthday and other observances was found remembrance of that era but i can remember that era too as being one of violence of division in america i can recall when dr king decided to come to the chicago land area and lead a march it was a painful violent experience in a state that i love i look back on it because i want to make it clear discrimination is not a southern phenomena it's an american phenomenon but in the course of the civil rights struggle in one nine hundred sixty s there were some real heroes one of them is a man i dearly love and served with in the house john lewis john lewis a young african american student decided to engage in sit ins and when that didn't succeed he moved on to the next level the freedom bus rides risked his life taking buses back and forth across the south to a stablish the fact that all people regardless of their color should be given a chance and then of course the historic march  selma john lewis was there that day i know because i return to that town a few years ago with him and he retraced his footsteps he showed us how he walked over that bridge as a young man and as he was coming down on the other side of the bridge saw gathered in front of him a large group of alabama state troopers as they approached the troopers the troopers turned on the marchers and started beating them with clubs including john john was beaten within an inch of his life knocked unconscious thank god he survived i thought about that because i had wanted to be there at that summit march i was student here in washington and for some reason couldn't make it and regretted it ever since but as we were driving back from selma i recall that john lewis said something to me which stuck he said you know there was another hero and at selma march two doesn't get much attention  is name was frank johnson frank jensen was a federal circuit judge in the fifth circuit which at that time included the state of alabama john lewis that it were not the courage of frank johnson who gave us the permission to march there never would have been a march on selma who knows what would happen to the civil rights movement well frank johnson is a man who's been celebrated for his career as a jurist for his courage in his faced death threats they were under constant guard for years because of the courageous decisions he made that move this forward in the civil rights movement i've had a chance as president to meet with two prospective nominees to the supreme court justice roberts and justice alito i've given both of them this book taming the storm which is written by jack bass and is a biography of frank johnson hoping that in their busy lives they might take the time to read these words about his courage and his life and be inspired in their own responsibilities there are so many things that have been said and written about frank johnson's courage as a judge circuit judge in the same circuit that we're considering today one of them was written by a fellow who served here in the senate i didn't have a chance to serve with him but i heard so many wonderful things about him sen how helpful of indiana a party of alabama introduced a bill to name the united states courthouse in montgomery alabama for frank johnson junior and this is what he said judge johnson's courtroom has been a living symbol of decency and fairness to all who come before his bench it is from this courthouse that the term rule of law came to have true meaning it is from this courthouse that the term equal protection of the law became a reality and it is from this courthouse that the phrase equal justice under the law was dispensed despite threats to his personal life frank johnson circuit judge fifth circuit with the courage to make history with the power to change america it's a high standard is it not for all of us whether you remember the senate or seek to be on the federal judiciary and it's  particularly important standard to consider with the nomination of leslie southwick there are so many good things to say about leslie southwick if you read his biography things that he's done his military service his service in many respects but he is asking to serve on frank johnson circuit court the fifth circuit and i guess many of us believe that it's a particularly important circuit for the same reason that it was in the time frank johnson that fifth circuit is still crucible for civil rights that fifth circuit contains jenna louisiana that is a circuit which many times will be called upon to make important historic decisions about fairness and equality in america and so yes i i know we ask more of the nominees for that circuit we know that it has a higher minority population than any other circuit in america we know that the state of mississippi the home of leslie southwick has the highest percentage of african americans yesterday mr president the congressional black caucus came to meet with the senate labor leadership to rare that they do that congresswoman carolyn fitz fitzpatrick kilpatrick i'm sorry and eleanor holmes norton and others came to speak to us the depth of emotion in their presentation is something that touched to some all members of the senate who've been through a lot of debates and a lot of nominations many of them were misty eyed in responding to the feelings the deep feelings of these african american congressman about this nomination bennie thompson of mississippi the only black congressman from that delegation who talked about what this meant to him how important it was to have someone who could start to heal the wounds of racism and division in the state that he lived in it touched every single one of us i asked leslie southwick a question at the hearing under oath it was as open ended as i could make it i asked him but can you think of a time in your life or career where you did bend in that direction to take an unpopular point of view on behalf of those who were voiceless or powerless and needed someone to stand up for their rights when it wasn't a popular position judge southwick responded i hope that a careful look and the answer is no i cannot think of something now but if i can give you this answer i cannot recall my opinions and i don't think of them in those terms president by every standard that was a softball question i asked this man to reflect on his personal and professional life and talk about a frank johnson moment when he stood up to do something that was unpopular but right for someone who didn't have the power in his courtroom i even sent him a follow up a written question saying i want to be fair about this and he couldn't come up with anything troubling i really hope that if the senate rejects this nomination that the senators from the fifth circuit protect me from mississippi will bring us some nominee for the circuit who can start to heal the wounds who can bring us back together who can give hope to the minorities and dispossessed in that circuit that they'll get a fair shake if their cases come before that circuit and i hope that they can reach back and find us a frank johnson someone in that mold someone who can to the senior senator from arizona senator mccain and senator graham which will talk come in sequence after we alternate with the democrats and the it's my understanding that senator schumer of new york wishes to be recognized for ten minutes at ten o'clock which just about coincides with the timing that center from pennsylvania has indicated the senator from arizona is recognize as in support of judge southwick there's no question that this nominee is qualified to serve i don't need to repeat his qualifications senator specter and feinstein did that very well last night and there's no question that he has had an impressive a life of service nobody here can question the service of a man who joins the army reserves at age forty two and then request duty in a war zone when he's past the age of fifty i suggest by the way that that might have been a good answer to the question that senator durbin posed a moment ago is  life is a life of service and i believe we should honor him for that there's no question that the nation would be well served by his service on the bench and also no question that questions about him have been contrived and no question that there's more at stake today than the confirmation of judge leslie southwick as president my colleague should think long and hard about voting against cloture here and about what has happened to this nomination until the year two thousand and three no circuit court nominee had been denied confirmation in this body due to a filibuster only abe fortas faced a real filibuster attempt and obviously he had ethics issues which caused him to withdraw after was clear he lacked even majority support since that time the convention throughout the one nine hundred seventy s and eighty's and ninety's was to reject this path of filibustering nominees senators didn't like some nominees but they didn't cloture when a few senators tried to impose a cloture standard the senate united on a bipartisan basis to reject that sixty vote standard in fact in majority leader lott and judiciary chairman hatch led the fight against requiring cloture in two thousand when we voted on clinton nominees playas and burrs on the vast majority of republicans rejected any filibusters of judicial nominees but in two thousand and three things began to change liberal activist groups persuaded many democrats to apply different standards from two thousand and three to two thousand and five democrats actively filibustered several nominees and i recall the senator from nevada saying quote this is a filibuster well it was a brand new world and many realize that it was not good a group of senators seven from both parties got together and worked out an arrangement which would preclude this from happening in the future because it was not good and was setting a very bad precedent in the senate  two thousand and five most of the people on both sides of the aisle backed down from this precipice and the democrats agreed that in light of the opposition to what they had been doing their obstructionism that they would no longer do that unfortunately today we're seeing a rise a rejuvenation of those earlier efforts it strikes me as exceedingly shortsighted and needs to stop senator feinstein's thoughtful speech last night i think set the standard she concluded the speech with the following words relating to judge southwick is not outside the judicial mainstream that's the primary criterion i use when evaluating an appellate nominee and i expect future nominees and democratic presidents to be treated the same way well that's the real question mr president will senator feinstein's expectation become the reality i wish i could say yes but it may not occur that way if cloture is not granted to judge southwick and that's the larger question until now my republican colleagues and i have been clear that we think traditional filibusters are inappropriate i suggest today's vote is a watershed if some it doesn't senate democrats decide to filibuster judge southwick today a clearly qualified nominee they should not be surprised if they see a similar treatment for democratic nominees this cannot be a one sided standard so this isn't just a vote about judge southwick it's about the future of the judicial nomination process if leslie southwick can't get an up or down vote then i suspect no senator should expect a future democratic or republican president to be able to count on their nominees not to be treated in the same fashion any little bit of controversy  could be created to create the kind of hurdles that judge southwick is facing today senator specter and senator fine side have made clear that there is nothing to the supposedly controversies that have been generated around lesley southward they're largely inventions of the activist left and they don't hold up in the light of scrutiny so what of the future republican wants to block a democratic president's nominee all one would need would be the allegation of a controversy pick out a case raise questions about motivation ignore the plain language of court opinion speculate ignore the man's character center from illinois spoke movingly a little while ago about civil rights john lewis frank johnson martin luther king all of which are are are very important to any debate but very little of leslie southward wick no evidence that he would not apply the same standard in judging civil rights matters just an insinuation because he didn't answer a question about whether he'd ever done something unpopular but right well that's not a disqualification from serving on the court so think about the nominees that you might want to recommend could an activist group up controversy about the nominee is there anything in his or her past that could be misconstrued or distorted or painted in an unfair light senator feinstein asked for assist in which we simply ask whether nominees are in the mainstream and obviously are they qualified she asks that we apply that standard in the future that's the standard we should be applying on both sides but if things go badly today and judge southwick is treated as poorly as he's been treated so far then i'd have to say that nobody can count on what that standard would be in the future vote for cloture today my friends because judge judge southwick is an american patriot who's devoted his life to service vote for cloture because he is qualified to serve on the bench but if that isn't enough vote for cloture to save future nominees from the same kind of problem that has been attendant to this nominee and the potential that a different standard would be applied in the future with respect to confirming our nominees that would take us down the wrong path senator feinstein is right we should confirm this nomin or from rhode island i have a brief unanimous consent request that the center from arizona has given me the courtesy of sounding before he speaks to mr president i ask unanimous consent that letters of opposition and concern from people for the american way the west texas employment lawyers association the national gay lesbian task force and the national council jewish women be placed in the record without objection thank you i thank the senator from arizona thank you so as an arizona  almost twenty years after graduating from law school judge southwick and up to his successful career as an attorney in private practice in attained an age waiver to join the united states army reserves judge advocate general cor ten years later at age fifty three judge southwick volunteered to transfer to the one hundred fifty fifth brigade combat team of the mississippi national guard a line combat unit that was deployed to iraq in two thousand and five judge south which decision to join the army as a model of self sacrifice and his actions helped to provide equal justice not only to american soldiers but also to the numerous iraqi civilians whose cases he heard while he was stationed in iraq that's the kind of service this individual has provided to his country most disappointing is that some members of the senate have questioned judge southwards character by stating that quote he has an inclination an inclination toward intolerance and insensitivity that's an interesting criteria that we should set for the confirmation of judges  interesting that we are now going to have for the first time in a long time requirement for sixty votes to move forward as my colleagues might recall a couple of years ago there was a proposal from this side some on this side of the aisle and some people that we should change the rules of the senate so that only fifty one votes would be necessary to confirm a united states senator at that time i oppose that idea because i felt that it would then put us on a slippery slope to other requirements other further erosion of the sixty votes on which this body operates and separates us from the house of representatives so a group of us that was entitled and given the nickname of the gang of fourteen got together and so that we agreed that we would not filibuster or require sixty votes if unless there was quote extraordinary circumstances as a result of that justices roberts alito and many other judges were confirmed by this body i think it's pretty obvious that that agreement has broken down i'd like to remind my colleagues that not that many years ago the benefit of the doubt went to the pres in the united states and his nominees and that elections have consequences and among those consequences are the appointment of judges in some respects perhaps the most important consequence of elections because as we all know these are lifetime appointments and some of us on the conservative side have viewed over the years as legislating from the bench and certain kinds of judicial activism as very harmful not only to our principles and philosophy and our view of the role of government and the various branches of government but the effects of some of that judicial activism so here we are now with a person who is clearly qualified served in the military and is now being accused of perhaps having an inclination toward intolerance and insensitivity i can assure my colleagues there are some people living in iraq today who don't believe th judge southwick has an inclination towards intolerance and in sensitivity in fact he has earned their gratitude for his halfords in installing the fundamental of democracy and that's the rule of law i hope mr president that once we get this over that perhaps we should sit down again republicans and democrats alike and try to have a process that we could move forward with these judicial nominations as we know there are more vacancies every day and i would even agree to give him a pay raise which they seem to feel is is rather important this is an important decision right now i think that is larger than just the future of this good and decent man but will others who want to serve on the bench be motivated to serve or not serve as they watch this process where someone echo the sentiments of senator mccain and add my two cents worth to the to this debate in this regard there will be some good news today i anticipate that this fine man will have a vote on the floor of the senate the  cloture motion will pass and will allow an up or down vote he'll get confirmed to my two colleagues from mississippi well done you've sent to the senate an unusually well qualified candidate by any standard you would like to apply to the person in terms of his humanity his analects these judicial demeanor is one of the best elections i've had the privilege of reviewing since i've been in the senate the fortunate news is that we're having to go through this pickle exercise to get sixty votes quite frankly i think the accusations being made against judge southwick are in fact they don't just political garbage to be honest with you he has received the highest qualified writing from the american bar association everyone who's ever served with judge southwick in any capacity whether it be is a judge or a lawyer or private citizen has nothing but glowing things to say about the man and really we're trying to trying to use two legal thence to cast doubt over the man six hundred cases he is said in judgment upon and the american bar association has reviewed all these cases i would assume and come to the conclusion that he's at their their high level in terms of judicial traditional  is done things as a person that has really been beneficial to mississippi has tried to bring out the best in mississippi these are the type people you would hope to to represent the state of mississippi or any other state for that matter in terms of their demeanor their tolerance their willingness to work together with groups to move their state board now the two cases in question are just complete garbage the idea that the term homosexual lifestyle was used in an opinion that he concurred in about a custody case that term if you research it in the law has been used in hundreds of different cases over one hundred cases president clinton mentioned it in one nine hundred ninety three when he was talking about his policy and you would have politicians you would have judges you would have people from all over the country that somehow that term has been used in judicial benyon consent and judgment of others is ridiculous just go search the record of how this term has been used and to suggest that it may need something and judge southwick case but no one else's has a lot to say about this body not judge southwi now the other case where he was sitting in judgment of a ministry of board who decided not to dismiss and employ a racial slur in the workplace to  ridiculous you haven't a ministry to board in the state of mississippi that is an expert in the area of employment discrimination law hiring and firing practices cases decided the ministry of level it comes up to a pill every judg involved says this is a terrible word to use but as a matter of law the board's finding that it was an isolated in incident did not justify a complete dismissal was the issue in the case now do we really want to create a situation in this country where the judges who want to get promoted will not render justice or they'll be worried about themselves and what somebody may say about the contents of the case or we're going to get so that you can't represent someone what about the person who is being accused of the racial slur but if you had represented them would would come here on the floor of the senate my god you used you represented someone a terrible thing therefore you can't be a judge i don't know about you but as a lawyer i've represented some pretty bad people it was my job and the judges have to apply the law then use their best judgment so i hope that this man will get an up or down vote and that this garbage it with there are not our nominees will stop thank senator from new york's reckon i could you tell me how much time we have left on our side in the thirty three minutes and forty five seconds on our side hooting the time for the ten minutes yes and how about on the other twenty seven minutes thank you came i want to argue strongly against the confirmation of leslie southwick to the fifth circuit court of appeals we don't assess judicial nominees in a vacuum in addition to the particular record of the there are a number of factors that figure into a senator's proper evaluation of a candidate we may consider among other things the history behind the seat to which the candidate's been nominated the ideological balance within the court which the nominee expires aspires the diversity of that court the demographics of the population living in that court's jurisdiction the legacy of discrimination and justice and legal controversy in that jurisdiction in this case the context in circumstances of the nomination require us to view it with particular scrutiny and in this case doubtless be construed not for the nom colleagues senator from arizona senator from south carolina have argue but rather against the nominee the fifth circuit is perhaps the least balanced and least diverse in the free the circuit has deservedly earned a reputation as being among the most conservative in the nation it has fifteen judges eleven filled by republican presidents has a large african american population there is only one african american judge serving on it and the circuit has three seats traditionally reserved for mississippians that honor has never gone to an african american even though mississippi's population is more than one third african american and of course the fifth circuit services areas that still suffer the scars and effects of decades of deep racial inequality and discrimination so you have to put things in context we've had two other nominees w unsuitable candidates judge pickering who this body rejected and michael wallace who many when you spoke to them in mississippi and in the african american community there said that an african american might not get a fair trial in michael wallace's court but they were nominated and the exact same reasoning could have been used for them those were the two previous nominees we have to evaluate judge southwick against this backdrop and when we do when we do so we can have confidence that he's a moderate jurist who will apply the law even handedly most disturbingly judge southwick judicial record provides no comfort that he understands or can wisely adjudicate issues to race discrimination and equal treatment and in this circuit above all that should be a criteria and whether you're from mississippi or arizona or south carolina or new york we should all care about that now let's go over some of the record there is the richmond case the majority opinion in the richmond crace reflecting the spanish ling lee bad decision in that case judge southwick joined a five to four ruling that essentially ratified the bizarre finding of a hearing officer who reinstated a state worker who insulted a fellow word by using the worst racial slur the n word to join that wrong headed decision was to ignore history and common sense and common decency to find a basis for excusing the most deeply offensive racial slur in the language as the dissenters in richmond pointed out and there were four of them mr president the term quote is and always has been offensive search high and low you will not find any non offensive definition for this term there are some words which by their nature and definition are so inherently offensive their use stablish is the intent to offend and of course the mississippi supreme court the highest court in mississippi unanimously reversed the richmond case cannot be dismissed as some would like as just one case that judge southwick merely joined he could have joined a very vocal dissent he could have written a separate concurrence he did neither it's fair and proper to ascribe to judge southwick every word of the richmond majority opinion and the case is a touchstone the case is a benchmark it is a predictor and it is all the more important because there is little or nothing in the record to offset the impression it gives about judge southwick jurisprudence judge southwick it is hearing said that some of the hearing offers analysis quote does not now seem convincing to me unquote even though he endorsed it only nine years ago this mild a tramp that backtracking at his confirmation hearing does not provide comfort in fact it smacks of a nominee trying in some small way to please senators who will decide as fate beyond this defining case moreover judge southwick has shown over more than a decade of adjudicating cases that we should be concerned about his legal philosophy in so many areas consumer rights workers rights race discrimination in jury selection he's shown a bias i'm not going to get into those cases but again i would say there is a special onus on us  most of my colleagues some on this side of the aisle have said well he issued thousands of opinions and only made one mistake first i'm not sure that's true when you look at his opinions there are more mistakes than that but let's even say he made this just one mistake normally that would be a good argument we all make mistakes none of us before god are flawless so perfect of course we're human beings but certain mistakes mr president are not forgivable maybe forgivable to a person as a man or a woman but not forgivable when you're elevating someone to the fifth circuit mr president we've had a poison in america since the inception of this country this is a great country i'm a patriot i love this country dearly in my bones but the poison in this country the thing that the great french philosopher came here in the eighteenth thirty's he made amazing predictions about this country we were a tiny little nation of farmers not close to the power of britain or france or russia the great european nations and the tocqueville comes from france and he he says this country america this is one nine hundred thirty s going to become the greatest country in the world he was right and he said one thing to do  race racism and it's poison he was right again and so when it comes to the area of race and racism we have to bend over backwards the african american community in mississippi in the country is strongly against the southwick nomination they know this discrimination this poison of america better than anybody else they know even in two thousand and seven a little wink and gestures that indicate a whole different subplot when you condone using the you are doing just that and unfortunately judge southwick he may be a good man and i certainly don't think he's a racist but mr president and that is the issue here this is not just any mistake this is not just any flaw this comes in a whole sub context and then i heard yesterday that judge met with the one african american member of the mississippi delegation bennie thompson he has not met with i believe it was called the magnolia bar society the african american bar society in mississippi shouldn't judge southwick after these allegations gone out of his way he called yesterday after bennie thompson presented this congressman thompson to us subtext that frankly unless you're african american you don't see i do not expect this to president that john mccain is right elections have consequences and i don't expect our president to nominate somebody who had my views or the views of other members of this side to the fifth circuit elections do have consequences but on the issue of race the poison of america where the fifth circuit has been a cauldron i do expect the president to nominate someone who is above reproach because we're not just judging a man or a woman as he or she treads on this earth we are judging somebody to go to the second highest court in the land and there must be there must be thousands of jurists of every race who meet the president's views but don't have this unfortunate serious and irremovable blemish upon him and so mr president this one to me is not just an ordinary it is not saying is so many of my colleagues of said well we may have a democratic president and we need next time out to make sure that we come together on judges i'd like to do that and you know when you vote for odd percent of the president's nominees almost everyone of whom you disagree with what philosophically you are doing that i've done that most members on this side of done that but that does not forgive this again in the context not of somebody is a person but in the context of somebody to be elevated to the fifth circuit again mr president in conclusion we have to make every effort to bend over backwards on the issue of race and racism in the fifth circuit and in the other circuits as well we have not done that here we are sort of casting it a song and finding an excuse pushing it under the rug again to not believe george southwick is a racist but i do believe when it comes to the issue of race one act on the fifth circuit must be and this case shows that he is not he has failed that standard and i would urge my colleagues every one of them on both sides of the aisle to look into their hearts when they cast this important  president very difficult to listen to the criticism of those who have not known leslie southwick in the context and with the experiences of those of us who have worked him observe him at close range as a fellow lawyer seen him take positions of public support for candidates  to running for office in mississippi being active in our republican party in mississippi being admired widely by all who have come to knowing practicing law with him observing him as a lecturer at the vista because it's school of law observing h serving voluntarily as an officer in the mississippi national guard in the u s army reserves being deployed to iraq volunteer in for duty to serve as a judge advocate and accompanying this is sippy soldiers who were deployed to that region in time of war you didn't have to do that is way beyond the age of most of those who were  engaged in that operation and in that responsibility to protect the security interests of our country it is so inconsistent all of that that those obviously you know this nominee compared with the harsh pronouncements being made on this floor of the united states senate by leaders of the opposition to this nomination i'm not going to criticize their right to disagree with those of us who support judge southwick but i do want to point out that i hope senators will look at the record that has been accumulated in the senate as a result of statements made by senator lott others who have known judge southwick and know others who are the most respectable and trustworthy people in our state and nation who have a totally different view of him as a person and of his record as a a and as a professor of law i would hope senators will take a look at who is saying what and base their judgment on this nomination on the things that have been saying and the information that's been made available to the senate from those who have spent time with judge southwick who know him or whether and whether that would be outweighed by the harsh and thrilled blandishments and criticisms in happed her belly and exaggerations and inaccuracy is in the description of this person as  as a lawyer as an individual as a citizen who is here being subjected to totally unfounded criticism i hope those words aren't too harsh i believe they are just as true and accurate as can be and it would be a disgrace on this body to block confirmation to vote against invoking cloture which in effect would kill the nomination we're going to vote on whether or not to invoke cloture will take sixty votes to shut off debate so we can get to a vote on the confirmation have spoken on the floor on two or three occasions on this subject back in june i think the first time and i have been reading the record in looking at what i said july the nineteen two thousand and seven over the past thirty years of his life today as of elected officials in our state others are just the lawyers people who worked with him closely state supreme court justice former governor william winter is an example this morning as i found on my desk in my office when i came to work a letter that had been fa to me i guess this morning lando one a m it was received in my office is from the secretary of state of mississippi kerry clark the debate on judge leslie southwick and i feel compelled to write you this letter i am the senior democratic elected official in mississippi i have been elected to office eight tang's as a democrat i am retiring from politics in january so i have no axe to grind commenting on this debate during my entire career in public service i have aggressively promoted the inclusion of all mississippians and particularly african americans  decisionmaking table in mississippi i take a back seat to no one in promoting inclusion in our state it has been my pleasure to know leslie southwick for more than twenty years if i had to name one person who is canned fire smart thoughtful and open minded it would be leslie southwick for any senators who have been towed or who have concluded otherwise that is wrong as wrong as it can be we in mississippi are quite accustomed to being the objects of negative stereotyping of course it is much easier to believe a stereotype about someone than to make the effort to get to know that person it is perfectly clear to me that this is what is happening to judge southwick it seems to me that what is being decided in this case is not whether leslie south it would be a good and fair judge we could not have a better or pharaoh on what is being decided i judge the polar opposite of that stereotype i hope that the senate passes the test of recognizing the truth and acting accordingly the leadership time i say the same with senator from mississippi senator lott on the floor how much time would you like to senator lott a couple minutes senator objection i don't want to repeat everything that's been said i was going to read this letter from our secretary of state very clark but my senior colleague just read it and i'm glad he did because i appreciate how he feels and do feel hurt in some ways the about what has happened in and this particular case this is a good an honorable man qualified by education by experience temperament he did and i have to acknowledge that the judiciary committee in this case led by the very aggressive support of senator specter has done their job and done it well and we reached a moment of final leader has been criticized for this but i do believe that this is a moment a moment in time i hope it's not where we can return to some modicum some small positions that i believe the people here in the senate would think were appropriate for the rest of his life and i believe that this confirmation of this judge will reflect well on the senate and will pay dividends in many ways not visible at this moment i thank the senator specter field in this time and i present twelve and a half minutes well we only have the senators from mississippi and myself on the floor if there are any other republicans who wish to speak now would be a good time to come to the to speak on behalf of a good man to occupy a very important position the fifth circuit is a very important court and i really want to talk about this as a person who practiced law for a quarter century twenty five years of my life i spent in courtrooms and in florida and as a result of that experience i have a great an abiding respect for our judicial system and for what it does for people to reasonably and in an orderly way to settle disputes and also for those who run afoul of a lot of also be brought through a justice system that is fair that is just and that it works for all americans but at the pinnacle of all of that and at the very center piece of the judicial system the functions is the judiciary and energy to share it we need to have the best we need to have people of dedication need to have people of competence and people with impeccable credentials and that is the kind of judge judge southwick isn't the kind of person that he will make as a judge in the fifth circuit and what i want to say to us about the process it is a process that has become much too poison and has become much too divisive and it has become increasingly hostile and so what occurs then is that between the inadequate salaries that our judges in the federal judiciary now make in comparison to what they could easily be making in the private sector as well as the difficult gauntlet they must run in order to be confirmed and to then have the opportunity of serving their nation as a member of the judiciary i do believe that is very very important that you dish out candidates be giving a fair and timely hearing they be given fair and timely consideration i believe that all too often we allow dissident groups to gain our attention and mind with some of those who do pay attention to the outside noise when it comes to judicial candidates and i just don't believe that it is appropriate that we should allow for outside influences to steer is in different directions have become more and more divisive here's what i would say when it comes to judicial candidates we ought to look for qualifications we had to look for experience we had to look for those things that we would consider i always think of it is this the kind of judge that i would like to try a case in front of is a kind of judge that i would like to take my client's affairs in front of to have a fair impartial and reason this position of the matter that i bring before this judge and if he is or she is that kind of person then i think they should be given confirmation i think t outside and distract in political debates to be a part of the confirmation process is simply wrong i was really pleased when chief justice roberts was going through this process and he used language in his confirmation hearing that i think it ought to ring true with all of us he said that he was viewed his role as a judge as that of an empire he viewed his role as someone who could come into the court room and calls and call it as he sees them call balls and strikes you know for the vast majority of what a judge does that is really what it's about it's about calling balls and strikes is not about pitching it's not about catching it's not about hitting it's about calling balls and strikes and that is the role of the judge that committee that that's the american bar association that looks at candidates and they would ask you know what kind of judge would he make would he have the right judicial temperament these are the things you want to know would he have the right judicial temperament is the knowledge of all of the law would he be a fair and impartial judge does he have the ethic ethical considerations to make the kind of person that is going to set a higher standard for those in the bar that is going to be the kind of person the society is going to accept when he makes that difficult rulings that sometimes have to come from the court and so i would say at this time that it is with great pleasure that i would support this nominee i hope that my colleagues would do as well i think it is important that we restore a certain normalcy to the confirmation process and you know i say this fully understanding that in about a year and some months that could very well be someone of a different party who has a very different philosophy about what should be who should be on the bench than the current president does and at that time i would be prepared to live by the standard that i've laid out today which is a standard of qualifications which is a standard of puts aside political considerations that is a standard or simply look at it judicial nominee as we have done for most of the history of our country and for the departure that we have had over the last several years is not a healthy one is not positive for the judicial system and it's not good for the administration of justice in our country so this is a standard i'll be prepared to live with even if someone of a different party from mine was making the judicial appointments i will look to their qualifications i will look to their experience i w look to their ethical standing i will look to see if this is the kind of judge that i would have been happy to have my client take their bat matters before and i would expect a fair and impartial judge to make a learned and reasonable decision based on the facts the evidence and the wall that's what that's what judges are about about analyzing facts and law and coming down to making a judicial determination of how to rule in a given case it isn't about the politics that really more belong our ability to deal with your digital confirmations in the future i think there's been widespread bipartisan concern that the confirmation process has descended to a point that situations mr president was to advance a nomination not to stop and i'm reminded when senator lott was the majority leader there were a couple of controversial nominations i believe from california and his view was that they were in title going up or down vote invoke cloture on the nomination i remember voting for cloture because i felt the judges were in title or down vote and then not supporting a judge on final passage we have before us the nomination mississippi lawyer and i'm leslie southwick he wanted to serve his country in the armed forces at forty two forty two he was too old to do so but service to others is a duty that leslie southwick has always taken very seriously whether in the justice department or on the state bench or with habitat for humanity or in doing charity work for enter city communications so in one thousand nine hundred two forty two year old lesl he conscientiously performed his military and judicial duties even using his vacation time from the court to satisfy the required service period in the this ship a national guard in two thousand and three lieutenant colonel southwick volunteered for a line for a line combat unit in two thousand and three hundred fifty fifth separate armor brigade his commanding officer major general harel cross notes that his decision was a courageous move as it was widely known at the time that one hundred fifty fifth was nearly certain immobilize for overseas duty in the near future colleagues like tony brown montague were not surprised by the level of wife and children leslie southwick volunteered for a line combat unit over a safer one because of the commitment to service the country above self interest in august of two thousand and four leslie southwick unit mobilized and support of operation iraqi freedom his commanding officer states that he distinguished himself at forward bas my job another officer lieutenant colonel norman jane portman jr described leslie southwick service in iraq as follows service in a combat zone is stressful and challenging often times bringing out the best or the worst in a person let's say south we're going to do it mortar and rocket attacks travel through areas plagued with these extremes in temperature harsh living conditions the typical stuff of iraq he shouldered a heavy load of regular jag officer duties which he performed excellently he also took on the task of handling the claims of numerous iraqi civilians who had been injured or had property losses due to accidents involving the us military leslie always listen to these iraqi climates patiently and treated them with the utmost respect and kindness he did this not just out of a sense of duty but because he is a genuinely good and caring person is attitude left a very positive impression on all those that leslie came in contact with especially iraqis have billions that he helped this into and help these tensions in our units area of operations and ultimately saved american lives lieutenant colonel portman concludes that leslie southwick has the right stuff the right stuff for the fifth circuit court of appeals profound intelligence good judgment broad experience and an unblemished reputation he adds i know him and can say these things without reservation anyone who says otherwise simply doesn't know him stuart taylor writes in the national journal that leslie southwick wears a distinctive badge of courageous service to his country and that he is a professionally well qualified personally admirable nominee to the fifth circuit judge southwick does not seek facts or notoriety or charity for his military and other civic service yes to be judged fairly to be judged on the facts to be judged on his record is the same standard he's applied to others as a judge a military officer and a teacher it is a standard for which he is well known entered marred by that standard  serving his country this time on the fifth circuit senators cochran and a lot of his home state senators know this they are strongly behind him i think as everyone knows his peers on the state bar know this they honored him as one of the state saying he is an example of judicial excellence a leader in advancing the quality and integrity of justice and a person of deals character and integrity if american bar association knows this it is twice given him hits it highest rating well qualified in doing so the a b a found him to be exemplary in the areas of compassion open mindedness freedom from bias and commitment to equal justice under law democrats on the judiciary committee knew this to just last fall all of them every single one looked at his record and approved him for a lifetime position to the district court congress adjourned before he could be confirmed and judge southwick goes  on the fest circuit two things that occurred first the a b a increased his rating increased his rating from well qualified to unanimously well qualified and i was not a single person on the a b a committee found him anything other than the most qualified nominee possible second in august the committee favorably reporters nomination to the floor with bipartisan support unfortunately some of our colleagues on the other side who had supported his nomination to the federal bench last fall seem to have changed their mind since there is no material change in judge southwards credentials other than the a b a s actually giving him an even higher rating for the circuit ben him for the district bench the sudden change is indeed puzzling critics now point to two cases out of seven thousand neither of which judge southwick wrote and both of which existed when the committee unanimously appro last fall one of our colleagues even asserts that because these two cases create a perception among some outside groups about potenza traill fairness this perceived fairness standard should determine our vote on judge southwick or that's a standard i would say i would hate to have applied to nominations bad a democratic president republican senators and remember we're setting a standard here that will apply not just to this nomination but the other nominations in the future the notion that mere perception not reality should determine whether someone is confirmed is troubling to say the least and we expect the judges we confirm based on the facts we should not judge their fitness for office based on perception rather than the facts in the case of judge southwick the sudden percept about his fairness is driven by those who did not even know him and is disproven by his long record by the end by those who know him very well but more broadly mr president if we start opposing well qualified nominees because outside groups have manufactured and on fair perception of them then we will have precedent that will affect us all as i just indicated a minute ago and for the worse regardless of who is in the white house and which all the states senator support a nomination is the standard going to be around here the perception created by some outside group i think that is a standard it would be very dangerous no matter who's in the white house or a track ollie's not under the good work and good will that brought us back from the precipice that we had almost descended into a few years ago on judicial confirmations arjan to think hard about the ramifications of their vote and of for the future and to vote for cloture on the south nomination  miss president first of all let me say that i have the greatest respect for my senior colleagues and of mississippi senator cochran who's always a gentleman and everything that he does i work on the floor here with  our lot during the time that i was system leader and i have the greatest respect for him and i appreciate the way that they have handled this and not making it personal in nature simply because i oppose something they want i would say in response to my friend to distinguish republican leader is present there's a different standard as well there should be more someone who is going to be placed on the trial court than somebody placed on the  the reasoning that senators approved and on a committee a judge for district court clearly tradition here in the united states senate is north america stepped on they are all they are approved and so the argument that we've approved somebody for trial court we should automatically prove from public court simply is not fouling mispricing our constitution outlines shared responsibility  en the senate and the present united states to ensure that the judiciary is staffed with men and women who possess outstanding legal skills suitable temperament and high ethical standing as a leader i work hard to ensure that the senate carries out its work with respect to do additional nominees fairly and promptly and with a lot of transparency visual confirmation process today is working well  senators should be pleased to know that the judicial vacancy rate is currently at an all time low for people that yell and shout and complain about the democrats not allowing republicans to soon the bench judicial vacancy rate today is at an all time low we have a judicial committee that has helped this significantly  arlen specter chairman ranking member that committee have have as much collegiality as i've ever seen and a committee since i was to cite been here in the senate they've been fair and they've been fast this year long the senate has confirmed thirty two judicial nominees clean for court of appeal nominations in addition to the more than two hundred fifty others that have been approved during the past six years of the bush administration in contrast mr president my republican colleagues and the democratic my democratic colleagues will clearly recall that during the clinton administration the republican controlled senate refused to c confirm seventy nominees think about that seventy nominees many of them did not even have the courtesy of a hearing some of them waited almost four years for a hearing i remember mr president how we were treated but we've chosen to live by the golden rule we've chosen we've chosen this is not good even time this is a time to be fair and to be all to the golden rule treat people as you would want them to treat you and i'm happy to say that that's how we have done this this president judges with impeccable record such as ronnie white and richard pi as well maligned by republicans merely for partisan political gain that's wrong we don't intend to initiate any of that while we're in charge of the senate but today we face additional nomination is attracted strong opposition i just turned believe part of this record a stack of organizations and individuals who simply oppose this nomination for lots of different reasons opposition to the nomination judge leslie southwick for the fifth circuit court partisan nor political it's factual these facts are present deep within the fundamental american commitment to civil just sniggler rights is something that we must stand by in the past few weeks our nation has seen the reoccurrence of racial issues that we had assumed and hoped were behind us y reason events in general easy ana and the united states coast guard academy where nooses were hung to intimidate demean and be little people of color demonstrate that issues of race and intolerance are so still present in our society for many americans for many african americans mr president and for the congressional black caucus of which this body only has one member i first came to this house of representatives for about twenty members of congressional black caucus now they're seventy eight i believe that's the number and that's good that's good for our country but mr president those individuals concerned know that the federal courts of historic lee represented the first last and often the only form of redress against racism and civil injustice for that reason i believe this body has little demography of the state of mississippi that has to be something we take into consideration president bush is asking us to confirm southwick for one of the highest judicial positions in the united states the united states circuit court of appeals is a lifetime appointment for a court as important as the fifth circuit judge southwick is the wrong choice his record on the mississippi state court does not justify a promotion that's why i rise once again as i have many times regarding this judge southwick to express my strong opposition to this nomination and urge my colleagues to join me in voting no his colleague judge king explains what was still at stake it was not a technical legal issue as i said when i began it was based on the facts judge king wrote regarding the n word and i quote him there are some words which by their nature and definition are so inherently offensive that their use stablish is the intent to offend was clear in this decision that judge have joined the majority of and the majority would have been with judge king he decided to not go with majority and create his own majority to have smacked agree that south record mr president gives is absolutely no reason to hope that he'll continue this tradition of delivering justice to the aggrieved that's why there is no shortage of office ition to th foremost as i've said from our colleagues members of congress black caucus they side opposition by the mining magnolia bar mississippi and double a c p and countless other organizations who stand for justice they have asked us to remember that their constituents are our constituents some forty five million of them and they deserve representation on this issue his decision in the richmond case is his most serious problem but judge south has failed in many other areas of the sites continually with plainness in bad cases mr president he  always with rare exceptions joins with corporations and not the workers he appears to favor defendants this president there's no reason why the president can't find a nominee with a record fairly representing all the people if we reject judge southwick the president would still have an opportunity and nominate a more suitable candidate judge health record has been fully documented by my colleagues who have spoken before me is most grevious failure i repeat of failure to give full weight to the vile meaning and history of the n word is deeply disturbing i cannot overlook i urge all my colleagues to join me in voting no but we can find a candidate truly befitting this important lifetime appointment candidate who give the people of the third circuit the confidence they deserve that their claim to justice will be heard with respect to the calling every american citizen deserves think if you're under the previous order clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture we the undersigned senators in accordance with provisions of rule twenty two of the standing rules of the senate to here by move to bring to a close debate on executive calendar number two ninety one and nomination of leslie southwick of mississippi to the united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit signed by nineteen senators by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of leslie southwick to be united states circuit judge where the fifth circuit shall be brought to a close yes in a's are mandatory under rule the clerk will call the rol schumer mr sessions of nevada and schumer mr bingaman no suspect or mr specter  mr biden no mr session i mr lieberman  mr rockefeller  mr carper i session they have the approval of senator mcconnell and myself last consent that these requests be agreed to requests and printed in the record without jackson so water under the previous order the question now is whether the senate will advise and consent to the nomination of leslie southwick to be united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit those in favor  mr carden mr carper mr casey mr mr warner mr weber mr white house nelson of nebraska pryor roberts sessions right shelby smith specter stevens so no new phone this is hutchison mr martinez mr martinez senators voting in the negative is there any senator wishing to vote or to change a vote if not on this the years are fifty nine the nays are thirty eight in the nomination is confirm under the previous order a motion to reconsider is laid on the table the president is notified of the senate's action and the senate returns to legislative session there will now be twenty minutes of debate equally divided before a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to  agreed with the present a united states that we should do conference integration former president bush and i repeat were in agreement that effort brought people together from both sides aisle and all parts of the political spectrum will greet our current immigration system works well for no one that ever brought democrats republicans together in pursuit of a common good so many of us were profoundly disappointed when this issue was stopped not because the present by republicans here in the senate and a few democrats was a real disappointment to me with spent so much time on the floor of the senate trying to move forward on a conference in immigration reform i continue to believe that tough fair practical and comprehensive reform is the only way to get control of our broken immigration system and restore the rule of law i remain committed to acting and acting conference of legislation as soon as we can but until we can once again move forward a comprehensive immigration reform we should at the very least enact the dream act we tried to offer this crucial legislation as an amendment to the defense authorization bill but we were blocked in doing so by a small number of republicans at that time i committed to moving the dream act for a vote before november sixteenth  today that's where we are we now turn to the dream act as standalone legislation and i once again rise offer my strong support for this legislation anyone who believes as i do that education unlocks doors to limitless opportunity i should be joined by this president we should vote for this legislation the dream act recognize that children should not be penalize the actions of their parents many of the children this bill dresses come when they were very very young many don't even remember their home countries in fact most of them don't speak the language of their home countries they're just as loyal and devoted to our country as any american only children who come to the united states when they were fifteen years old or younger and then in the u s for at least five years are now not yet thirty years old can apply those who are eligible most are in a high school diploma demonstrate good moral character past criminal and security clearances they must also either go to college or serve in the military for two years i've met many star students in nevada who would qualify for the dream and with it their futures are limitless without it their hope is diminished greatly what a waste it is to make it more difficult for children children in our country to go to college or get jobs or join the military when they could be making meaningful does contributions to the communities  country what good does it do anybody to prevent these young people from having a future now answer is that it's no good and harms children of dunn's no wrong in the long running gravely higher our country's economy i very much appreciate the work of senator durbin and senator hatch and working hard to bring this legislation to the floor they work tirelessly to and sure that this important bipartisan bill does not go away you must now invoke cloture and pass this bill that cloture and move this legislation if we do we will put the american dream within reach of far more children and of adam across america who want nothing more than a fair chance of success that would be an accomplishment we can all be proud of mr president a lot of what we do here is based on personal experiences my memory goes back many years i was in a small rural community and that are called smith  now one of the few farming areas we have left in the state nevada a beautiful beautiful place small school lives i was i'd spoken to an assembly and i could tell this young lady wanted to speak to me when i finished i'm graduating from high school son i can't go to college my parents are illegals i thought about that so much mr president i don't know where she is today issue doing domestic work someplace on what what is she doing she should have been able to go to college not a free education  what this bill calls for but an opportunity to go to school good coing in reno and in las vegas we have scores of gangs many of the hispanic gangs doing illegal things much of the time not all the time but much the time is present there is no question i've been told by police officers high school counsellors this legislation would give children alternative an alternative to going into the gangs i appreciate this legislation it's it's really all american legislative so important for what we want to accomplish in this country and i would hope  case i do i when he when we say that the immigration bill brought us together it didn't bring us together and let's remember what happened though the immigration bill we came in on a monday and expected to vote on a bill that would know what had seen until friday to saturday afternoon now this is another sudden thing upon us here and let's keep in mind that this is an amnesty bill that we're talking about people who came to this country illegally regardless of what age what it does it says if you live in the united states for more than five consecutive years even though you came in illegally and if you have entered this country at age sixteen or before and you could have been here for as long as fourteen years because they have the cut off at age thirty illegally then you're going to be getting a conditional a lawful permanent resident a green card for up to six years now what can you do during that six year period for that six year period you can actually  bring in other members parents and others who brought him here illegally in the first place so they can enjoy that same type of a citizenship now i know i'm prejudiced on this issue because i've had the honor of speaking at many naturalization ceremonies and when you look out there you see the people who have done it right don't legally they've done it they've learned the language they've learned their history and this would be this or any other type of an amnesty bill would be a slap in the face of all of those who came in here  legally so i just would ask the question mr president when do we learn we would do this thing before people i know we try to fast track these things so people will catch on but i can assure you all of america's awake on this one and and  they know exactly what we're doing this is another amnesty bill and i believe that we should not proceed to it you know my time dates a chance a stability a chance to achieve the american dream ten in college or serving and i military i don't believe it's a american way to punish young people for the mistakes of their parents as young people have the opportunity to reach their potential by services by service forces or other ways we always opening the door to opportunity not squandering the potential of young people is what america's all about so let's take the first step toward sensible immigration policy go beyond the rhetoric of these people a chance  many speeches a man on the floor many amendments are offered many bills and many resolutions very few of them cause a ripple handful of people may follow them closely a handful of people may car the dream act is a different thing the dream act is a bill which i thought about and introduced years ago and has finally reached this moment of truth word comes to the floor of the united states  the reason why this bill will be noticed is that literally thousands of young people across america know that their fate and future will be determined by this vote yesterday i had a press conference with three of these young people the congressman from the state of colorado sent out a press release arguing that these three young people should be arrested in the united states capitol corsi didn't take the time to determine that they are all here now with the understanding disclosure and approval of our legal process but his press release is an indication of how badly this debate is going in america to turn on these children and treat them as criminals is an indication of the level of emotion and in some cases bigotry and hatred dogs involved in this debate i want to tell you mr president america is better than that america is a better nation than what we hear from the likes of that congressman what crime did these children commit they committed the crime of obeying their parents following their parents to this country do you think there was a vote in the household about their future i don't think so mom and dad said we're leaving the kids pack their suitcases and followed that's their cried that's the only crime that you can point to and what did they do after they got here to qualify under the dream act to make certain that they didn't commit a crime while they were living in america good moral character and beat the odds by graduating from high school that's the only way they can qualify for this and then what do we say not enough if you want to be legal in america you have to do one of two things volunteer to serve in our military to risk your life for america then we'll give you a chance to be citizens that's not good enough for some some argue no we don't want them in our military we don't need them well the people involved in our military know better they know that these are the kind of bright promising young people who can serve our country with distinction and they tell us that and what else could they do pursue their education to show that they're serious about making something of their lives that's the only way that they can have a chance that's what the dream act is all about i could go through for an hour or more the stories of these young people that i've met they are hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time hopeful stories because these are young people who have the same dreams that my children had this same dreams that every american child has to have a good life a good family do something important in your life that's all they want the young woman from india that i met in chicago who wants to be a dentist the young man from mexico who is now pursuing his graduate degree in biomedical science who wants to go into research the young girl from texas who is a graduate of nursing school but can't find a job because she is a person without a country the teachers tomorrow's teachers and engineers and scientists all they are asking for is a chance that is the hopeful side of it the heartbreaking side of it is these are kids without a country they have nowhere to turn tam tran was in the gallery today and joined me yesterday what an arduous journey she's been through starting in vietnam going to germany coming to the united states she can her family can't return to vietnam and face persecution and germany won't have or she doesn't even speak german and our government tells her leave she just graduated from u c l a she wants to pursue a ph d and be a professor leave we don't want you is that the message if it is it's the wrong message because time and again we  told that we need talent in america to be a successful prosperous nation we need to bring in talent from overseas an h one b z visa is an h two b visas well let me just tell you how can we add one side of the argument say that we need more talent and then turn these children away turn these young people away give them a chance give them hope give them a chance to prove themselves this country this bill put them through a long process around the country who wish no ill will on these miners that we're talking about but are sitting at home following this debate following this procedure and scratching their heads and saying haven't these members of congress heard us hat don't they get it don't they understand what we've been saying wildly and clearly and apparently we don't i don't think the message could have been clear for millions of americans across the country this summer they said during our debate on the overall cost so called comprehensive immigration bill then you got it wrong the enforcement in that bill is inadequate it's not accomplished it's not done we want that done first and no you got it wrong we do not want amnesty and yet even after that clear compelling message from that from the american people a message so overwhelming it shut down the senate phone system the morning of the last vote which killed that bill apparently a whole bunch of folks here still don't get it still aren't listening because this is a bill that has no in forstmann but does have clear amnesty again as president the american people have no ill will toward these miners were talking about but they do have complete confusion with regard to what we're doing not fixing the problem making it worse inadequate enforcement plus adding a space that is a recipe for disaster they know that out of innate common sense we do nothing to stop the magnet that attracts illegal aliens here because we have little or no workplace enforcement in particular and yet we continue was  amnesty programs and other programs please vote no my colleagues on proceeding to the dream act this president will sign mr president i don't know whether i'm in control of time or not but i much time is left on the side the republican side has five minutes and forty seven seconds this president parliamentary inquiry hammocks time is left on the other side  misread earlier this year a bipartisan group of senators took up the issue of illegal immigration it was clear from the debate that and so that there are deeply held beliefs on both sides it was also apparent that this is not a problem with a simple solution it is one that requires both time and consideration and to live up to the expectation of our constituents the same clear to me that congress must take steps to secure our borders and provide for our national security first the senate same to get the message because it voted overwhelmingly in july to dedicate three billion dollars in emergency spending to help promote our border and interior security i'm disappointed our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not continuing on a bipartisan path of enhancing our security instead we're bringing up a controversial issue with the dream act this bill is an attempt to put illegal immigrants who graduate from the u s high school or obtain their ged on a special path toward citizenship though i recognize and appreciate the tremendous contributions to our country made by generations of legal immigrants i do not believe we should reward illegal behavior it is our duty to promote respect for america's immigration laws and fairness for u s citizens and lawful immigrants the dream act fails that test and i will oppose it this is not an issue that can be solved in one day and there are pressing matters which we must address here we are four weeks into the new fiscal year we've yet to send a single appropriation bill to the president's desk we should be focused on funding our troops in the field ensuring our intelligence forces have the tools they need to find and catch terrorists and holding the line on budget busting spending bills the internet tax mor expires in exactly one week unless we aks an internet users across the country will be hit with yet another tax and we still have yet to see any plan for addressing the looming middle class tax hike known as the alternate minimum tax secretary secretary paulson told congress that we must act early november if we don't want to see fifty million taxpayers and snared in a confusing filing season next year this deadline two is just around the corner we still have an enormous amount of work to complete we're running out of time i would urge my colleagues to oppose this attempt to bring up a divisive issue further delaying the essential unfun issue finished business of this congress really the senate more than enough to do without us without also taking up this issue that will deeply divide both this body and the nation as a present i'm on extend my leisure time just one more minute it's been made clear to me in discussions that this will not be an open amendment process if we get on the bill and it's my understanding that the tree will be filled up which of course w put the majority in control of deciding what amendments if any are offered so this is not going to be an open debate as far as i can tell now maybe the majority would decide to blast some amendment on this side and allow a vote on it that i guess that's possible but for the balance of people on this side of the i want them to understand on my side of the aisle on the republican side and understand that even if we get closure on the motion to proceed there is certainly no guarantee that this will be an open process that will allow a broad array of amendments for a question yes i talked mr president i appreciate the comments made by the distinguished republican leader with regard to the process we can anticipate and the fact that the majority leader's indicated he will fill the amendment tree blocking any ability of any senator both on this side of the aisle the other side of the aisle offer amendments to improve the bill or perhaps to add other provisions that cry out for some remedy i would just ask the distinguished republican leader whether the types of amendments or that have been discussed informally would include things like adding a requirement of security the borders and enforceable system at the work site or a trigger before any other provisions like the dream act would be considered or implemented whether it would also consider for example we know in the agricultural sector there's a lot of concern about a shortage of workers whether an ability to provide an which would allow for not a path to citizenship but for a temporary work force for to satisfy that that need in the ag sector or for example in the places like texas that are fast growing states whether there'd be any opportunity to offer any amendments that would be provided for a temporary worker program not a path to citizenship that would satisfy the legitimate needs of american business are those going to be precluded under the plan by the majority leader mispresent i would say to my friend from this senator amendment dealing with the h two a an agricultural worker program which is important to my state all of that would be within the sole authority of the majority leader who would pick and choose if any amendments were allowed pick and choose which ones were given a chance to have a vote so i would say to my colleagues here on the minority side we would have little or no control no control at all over what amendments would be allowed it would be entirely controlled by the majority leader of preparing this bill for the floor i have been working on both sides the aisle and i hope that the vote in a few minutes will evidence that i have had a constructive conversation with senator hutchison of texas senator martinez of florida and others about modifications of the dream act i believe that the proposals that they have made in principle are positive proposals that move us toward our goal and i would say to the senator from texas and i'm certainly going to open this to her comments or questions as as i finish it is my intention to offer as the first amendment that is brought forward by the majority a substitute amendment a bipartisan amendment with senator hutchison which will achieve our mutual goals and i hope we can reach that agreement in the next thirty hours after this motion prevails failing that agreement the minority is protected because it will require cloture vote another cloture vote another sixty vote margin before this bill moves forward so they have my word to work in good faith on a substitute bipartisan amendment and failing that their protection is a cloture vote which they could join in defeating and i yield to my colleague from texas if she has any comment or question mr president  i appreciate what the senator from illinois has said because i do believe that there is a compromise approach to the dream act that could have a bipartisan support as has been mentioned on the floor there is no opportunity that has been laid out for a substitute to be considered but the senator from illinois has given me his word i have been working on something that i think would take us in the right path i think this is such an important piece of legislation and i do think mr president that th mr president there are young people who have been brought to this country as minors not of their own doing who have gone to american high schools graduated and want to go to american colleges and they are in a limbo situ i think we should deal with this issue i think we should do it in a way that helps assimilate these young people with a college education into our country they have lived here most of their lives if we sent them home there they wouldn't know what home is so i think there is a compassionate reason for us to try to work this out but i will say mr president if we cannot work on a bipartisan amendment we will have another cloture vote as has been promised i will vote against the durbin bill but if we can work on a bipartisan solution we should try thank you mr president thank you senator  president of ollie's that the dream act is a good act and i believe that its purposes are beneficial and i think it ought to be enacted but i have grave reservations about saying a part of comprehensive immigration reform go forward because it weakens our position to get a comprehensive bill or right now we are witnessing a national disaster or a governmental disaster proceed we pass an immigration bill out of both houses wires here it was in conference that was a disgrace that we couldn't get the people's business done we were unsuccessful in june and trying to as an immigration bill and i think we ought to be going back to it and i've discussed it with my college and i have proposed a modification of the bill which was defeated in june but to propose that much as i dislike it not to have citizenship as part of the bill but to remove fugitive status only and that means that somebody couldn't be arrested if the only violation was being in the country illegally that would allow him an a the opportunity of unscrupulous employers from blackmailing employees with squalid living conditions with low wages and able people to come out of the shadows register within a year we cannot deport twelve to twenty million undocumented immigrants but we could deport the criminal element if we could segregate those who would be granted amnesty  and i believe that we ought to be proceeding with hearings in the judiciary committee we ought to be setting up legislation if we can't act this year because of the appropriations log jam we'll have a time at la us reluctant as i am to oppose the excellent idea of the distinguished senator from illinois i do not think we ought to cherrypick here it would take the pressure off to have comprehensive immigration had said they will veto it because i believe it's not part of comprehensive reform as senator specter said and they also go forward to note a number of specific problems with that they note that  we quote must be careful not to provide incentives for recurrence of illegal conduct that has brought the nation to this point factory adding a special path to citizenship that is unavailable to other perspective immigrants including young people whose parents respected our nation's laws asked twenty two zero five falls short close quote they go on the note the path to citizenship is unavailable to any other alien no matter how much promise she may have no matter how much c r he may contribute to this society close quote they know that it would quote allow illegal aliens to obtain green card before many individuals who are currently lawful waiting in line close quote they know that they can quote but titian almost innocent late to bring family members into the country by the way would be one point three million people admitted under this program according to the migration policy institute i for an objective or certainly not a conservative group i would say it that way the they go on the now that the persons would be quote eligible for welfare benefits within five years quote the bill would be indiscriminate and that it would make eligible the program through certain loopholes last president bush events truong lee favoring immigration reform and i've disagreed with consistently on many of his ideas let me make a couple of things that are fundamentally important to us most important individual not going to take the military route i would estimate at least ninety percent would take the option of just two years of college without any requirement of a degree to be obtained as a mid it will strike a dagger most importantly in the heart of the decided will of the american people which is to create a lawful system of immigration it would put illegals ahead of legal it will make clear that even after our national debate and vote ago that congress still does not get it that the congress is still determined to stiff the will of the day's majority of american citizens that the senate will move forward with an amnesty bill that puts one point three million people on a swift and guaranteed path to citizenship ahead of millions who applying and waiting in line lawfully to give them every right of citizenship this country has to offer system of emigration we have last and one hundred miles of the seven hundred miles of fencing this congress calls for that is not workplace enforcement a modest attempt to do something like that has been blocked by the courts and nothing has been followed up  this would be the wrong direction this would be a signal that once again we have focus on rewarding illegality rather than taking the steps necessary to create a lawful system and at that point we can minute one minute i appreciate the motives of those who sponsored the bill and it's true that by us not enforcing our laws over many years we've created a lot of tragic circumstances but the solution is not to reward law breaking and create incentives for more illegal immigration in the future america has asked us to secure our borders create a worker id system and an immigration system that works if we do this if we build that foundation then the possibility of comprehensive reform becomes a reality so i would encourage my colleagues not to chip away in the way of trying to provide can bash into amnesty but let's let let's fix the system like we promised and revisit this next year and then hopefully we can achieve the comprehensive reforms that my colleagues have talked about are my colleagues to vote against proceeding on this bill so there are some present million how much time to have three minutes and eight seconds mr president what are we talking about here we're talking about children we're talking about children who were brought to this country by their parents since women in america do we visit the sins and crimes of parents and children if a parent commits a crime does that mean that the child goes to prison if a comparative disqualifies himself or herself american citizenship does that mean the child can never have a chance is that what america has come to amidst the confusion and distortion and vitriol all of this debate on immigration sits children like maria gonzales regan's alice she was brought to this country from costa rica by her parents at the age of ten her parents have been deported as illegals because i have made a special request she's been allowed to continue to finish her college education at westminster college in missouri her goal is to be an american and to give to the only country she's ever known kosta rica is not her country america's or country what we're talking about is turning these children out children with no country and what sin and what crime did they commit they obeyed their parents they followed their parents and for some that's going to be a mark of cain on their heads for ever in america is that what we're all about give these kids a chance made him take the time to see these children many of us have and what you'll see in their eyes is the same kind of hope for this country we want to see in our own children's eyes to be doctors and nurses and teachers engine ears to find cures for diseases start businesses the things that make america grow you have these kids a chance don't take your anger out on illegal immigration on children who have nothing to say about this they were brought to this country they've lived a good life they've proven themselves they've beaten the odds we need him and then don't turn around and tell me tomorrow that you need h one b visas to bring in talented people to america because we don't have enough don't tell me  a and all the rest of know if you're going to turn away these children if you're going to say america doesn't need you to go about your business find some place in the world don't come back to me and tell me that we need a bigger labor pool and more talent how can we say no to hope how can we say no to these kids when all they want is a piece of the american dream please vote to proceed to the dream act i work with senator hutchison a bipartisan amendment will do our number four thirty one f twenty two zero five the dream act signed by seventeen senators by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call is waived the question is is it the sense of the senate debate on the motion to proceed to s twenty two over five a build authorize the cancellation a review move will an adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long term united states residence and who entered the united states as children and for other purposes shall be brought to a close the azan naser mandatory under mr sheldon mr smith ms snow mr spect mr bond no no mr tester no mr nelson nebraska  mr bennett i mr coleman  this is clinton  any senator wishing to cast a vote for any senator wishing to change their vote if not on this vote the yeas are fifty two the nays are forty four three three of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative the motion is not agreed to this present a majority later move to reconsider that matter you must present that objection i would now tell all members here i've had a conversation with english republican leader and we're going to make a decision in the next hour or so as to what we're going to go to next we were planning of course going to this cloture and most proceed was non vote we have a number of things we're so the senate has rejected a motion to move forward the bill to let some children of illegal immigrants become u s citizens if they attend college or join the military the vote fifty two to forty four failing to get the necessary sixty votes needed to move that bill forward so as you just may have heard senator harry reid the majority leader moving to a period of mourning business while they determine what to go to next earlier the senate confirm the nomination of leslie southwick for a seat on the federal appeals court in mississippi the nomination had been on hold mr president years due to complaints about what were being called racially insensitive writings senator from california thank you mr president i'd like to speak as if on mr president or from california either my colleague senator boxer or i have updated the senate on the caliph fornia wire of wildfire situation senator boxer is in california now and i believe the president is is well i'd like to give a brief update to the senate so far this is the largest evacuation of people in california history it is the largest evacuation in the united states since katrina and san diego remains the worst of the burning regions as of this morning the president has approved individual assistance programs that will allow fema the federal emergency management agency to make payments for rental assistance home repair and pay for some home replacement costs as soon as the fires die down and the wind in places is easing thema will set up centers i'd like to urge californians who have been evacuated from their homes who have had their homes partially burned or burned to the ground to go to fema centers and see what assistance is available to you this morning on television i heard a family speak i think they were from escondido i think they had a few acres twelve they had a home they had children the home was burned down but the father said we have fire insurance then i heard another family for young children no fire insurance the father had no relatives in the area fortunately the wife has a mother with whom the family will be in the near term but they said we don't know what will do for those people that are in the we don't know what we'll do category this is the job of sima to be out there to open those centers and to offer help and aid to these people so please california ins use this more than nine hundred fifty thousand people have been ordered evacuated more than four hundred and twenty thousand acres have burned that's roughly six hundred and fifty six square miles if you think of it it's a huge huge area more than six thousand firefighters are battling nineteen active fires they range from the north of los angeles to san diego and they have crossed the mexican four border more than one hundred one thousand one hundred fifty five homes have been destroyed and sixty eight thousand threatened two deaths are report far i believe there are others now if the winds die down today we'll be able hopefully to get a handle on it the vast bulk of the damage now is occurring in populated areas the good news the canyon fire in malibu is seventy five percent contained the bad news most of the other fires are uncontained and out of control interstate five the main artery between san diego and los angeles was closed in both directions earlier near camp pendleton because of smoke and in the northeast of san diego the town of julian has been evacuated i'm particularly concerned about the coming days and the herculean task of feeding caring and providing shelter to hundreds of thousands of displaced californians we've got more than qualcomm stadium another two thousand is the clubhouse at the del mar racetrack the red cross is doing just great thank you red cross thank you red cross volunteers they are manning at least three shelters that i know about and up to this point food water and sanitary facilities have been adequate i think there is a lot of food for thought for californians in what's happening in terms of the future and perhaps it's too early to begin to talk about it i don't think there's any blame to be cast on anyone i think everyone is responding the governor the mayor homeland security fema and of course the president and i am very grateful for this and i know i'm joined in this by my colleague senator boxer she'll be back tonight and i know she'll have stories to tell on the floor of the senate tomorrow but i think we need to think a little bit in the future particularly those of us who come from local government i spent eighteen years in local government nine as a county supervisor and nine as a mayor and there's one thing i know and that is local governments control zoning and i think the local governments have to begin to look at their zoning about the siting of new housing developments in flood plains in the northern part of the state around levees and the sighting of large subdivisions in the path of santa ana winds in parched dry areas of the state where these winds blow hard and hot in this case at least up to this point we believe that power lines blew down the winds were so forceful they actually turned large container trucks on their side and the fires so strong and burned so hot that it melted the metal of automobiles so that literally nothing was left it could sweep off of or ridge and with minute within minutes come down that ridge and just devour homes and take pieces aboard which are called embers and send them a mile or two away to start a new fire in san diego four years ago there was the cedar fire it destroyed two thousand homes and now there's this fire in the same area so the question comes with local officials be well advised to take a look at zoning codes and to begin to protect areas that are prone to catastrophic wildfire from housing developments secondly community fire  plans community fire plans are very good things communities can come together they've done it in the cedar fire area and they've done it quite successfully to be able to establish a fire plan how they keep a fire break from their house what they can take down the kind of ground cover they should have the kind of roofs that fire resistant the siding that's fire resistant and actually get some government help to implement these fire plans this is now going on in the nevada ta ta ho area in the california tahoe area as well so i believe very strongly that local officials should exercise their zoning control to see that citizens in the future are protected by staying out of heavily fire prone and heavily flood prone areas and i'll be having more to say about that in the future it's also pretty clear to me that we have to develop some catastrophic government helped insurance i've been very cerned allstate insurance company pulled out of california and they pulled out of california because they said it's catastrophe prone it's fire prone it's earthquake prone and we all state don't want any part of it so they are not insuring in california any longer this must not be allowed to happen companies must not be allowed to cherry pick the united states and only insure areas that are safe and secure and say to other areas you're on your own so we are kind of rethinking this area i think the state of california which has an earthquake authority which helps underwrite insurance in earthquake prone areas perhaps should also develop a flood and fire authority where they can enter into the same kind of undertaking just think about what it would be like to have four children to stand in front of a television camera and say my house burned down with it all my possessions all my children's possessions all our photographs and albums and memories and virtually everything we held dear and we have no insurance think about it think about how you would feel if you were in that situation so i think there's going to be a lot of food for thought coming out of these fires in terms of public policy and i am delighted that my colleague senator boxer is there and look forward to her report tomorrow and that we will have much more to say i think about the public policy that goes into the future for our state and other states that are catastrophe  i will just tell you one other little story i received a call a while ago from the head of the san francisco fine arts museum saying that they had an opportunity to bring two paintings to show in san francisco from the map and the insurance for those two paintings was eight million dollars just to bring them out for a show why because insurance was being denied because california was a catastrophe for prone area this is just one other example of what's ricocheting out there under the surface now and i think this body has to become involved because any one of us can have a catastrophe any one of us can have a major bombing any one of us can have a major earthquake a major flood or major fires and i think it's up to us to see that we have in place the regulations and the laws that enable people to get the insurance they need on a cost effective basis to be able to restore their lives and rebuild once again so i thank the chair i yield the floor senator from alabama is any standing business this time we are in mourning business with senators recognize rupture ten minutes from now and speak in morning business and before i do i just want to express my concern and sympathy to senator feinstein in the people of california it's been a horrendous thing i caught some of it last night in my wife we've been watching it off and on all day and just a horrifying spectacle to see the power and that it dealt with some issues that are important to america what we are thinking of as a country and we need to get the immigration issue correct correctly we can do it it's something that's illegally and not focusing on restoring the rule of law to immigration enforcement so i think the senate senate leadership's commitment to moving this legislation would have been a step in exactly the wrong direction i believe the strong vote against it bipartisan vote against it in the case that there remains great concern about this kind of amnesty proposal particularly in worked on this was the terminations in the last several years that i am absolutely come to believe that if we do a series of things we can create aggression in america and that's important because i think a lot of people think it's just not possible that nothing we do will work but that is not true if we have a good legal system and we have a good in force that system at the border if we make it difficult for people to in immigration that would be so good for america it would solve the reduce the frustration and anger that's out there and is that said before i don't think people are angry at immigrants although some of the people that support these legislative acts that i think you have been bad have tried to suggest that the anger that's out there among american people is directed at immigrants is really directed at us they have been requesting the american people have for thirty forty years that we create a lawful system of them aggression and congress has continued to stiff them just refuse to do it and and talked about it and promises and passes this bill or that they allow this provision or that provision all the time suggesting that these are going to make a difference and either we don't fund them adequately so they never really take place on the bill is a discrete piece of legislation that never has had much impact on the overall situation that we have have confronted and does not do any significant does not take us in any significant way a lawful system and i hope this strong vote sends a message that this senate prior to creating a law awful system of immigration both that are born and the workplace is not prepared to go on t ag jobs legislation that senator reid has said he would bring that up again but maybe this vote encourage him not to do so the dream act that way just rejected the dream act would have given and show of order every benefit of citizenship including citizenship for one point three million persons the ag jobs bill that we keep hearing will be brought up will be  point three million or so that a third of the amount of people that would be provided the benefits of amnesty a third of the number that was in the bill a million one point three million and according to the migration policy institute not a conservative group it would give illegal aliens a financial bonus they would be eligible for in state tuition subsidized loans and federal work study so if you if you've got a problem with the illegality and i just want to share this with my colleagues these are not in significant points and mike if you're going to create a lawful system of immigration into america you're going to have to have some sanctions and punishments and prosecution more than that absolutely can't give benefits to people who have violated our laws it's gotten asked our borders and then we start rewarding them with benefits so a number of years ago in one nine hundred ninety six we said that if you were a person coming to our country and illegally and you were illegally here did lay shouldn't get in state tuition when you go to college you ought to not be in a better position than a lawful american who might live a few miles across the state line and that was a decided vote here this would have reversed that not only that as i said he would give them subsidized student loans stafford loans and other loans as well as work study benefits so when you're as i say if you if you're in a hole the first thing you do is stop digging if you would like to and reduce illegal immigration stock rewarding it please that's what we're talking about here so this bill i think went too far in a number of ways and i was actually pleased that president bush's administration analyzed it and strongly opposed it and sent us a letter to that effect so even president bush  strongly supports immigration into america and has supported lots of the legislation here oppose this bill and i think they were right in doing so and i would now that under the dream act individuals once they had been here five years and and did two years of college without a degree or being required they got two years of college they would then be able to bring their family members and some say well they were brought and it does tug at our heart strings and we do care about that and it's something we're going to have to deal with sooner or later how we're going to do with people who came here a long long time ago but many people came here to age fifteen you only have to be here proud  fifteen maybe they came up and live with their brothers or sisters or cousins i answer all calls are god in screw and then they are amazingly put on a path to citizenship they are then able after that and become a citizen to bring their parents maybe the parents are here maybe they are still in their home country they be able to bring their wife and their children plus bringing our brothers and sisters so that's the way the system would work and i think it's not a good process and i'm pleased that the senate agreed  and the question of a rule of law in our country so if we're serious about securing our borders the first thing you do is start providing benefits through all those who come illegally that's obviously the first and most obvious step that we can take the principle is clear if there are benefits to breaking the law people will continue to break the law when you subsidize something you get more of it if you subsidize people who are here illegally by giving them student loans and in state tuition you will encourage that you will also send a message i think even more importantly you'll send a message that really if you can just get into america illegally and hold down a few years you'll be reward we did in advance of those who are flying legally and waiting in line to come this is an untenable position for our nation to be in a nation that serious wants itself to be considered serious a nation that respect its laws and cares about that must follow through you can't just abandon that commitment to the rule of law you have to be consistent and that's what sends the message that bill's respect for the law not just in the united states i would submit but it would be cementing that message broadcasting that message to the world because if we don't do it the message we're broadcasting to the world is if you can bring sand or assist i say niger to come into the united states that the united states will educate them all the way through college and we do that we don't require you to be law legal american citizen to go to schools and alabama on america alabama or anyplace narked a college but you're not supposed to get in state tuition if you're here illegally so not only would you be able to carry through with that but i you would be able to in five years get a permanent resident status ice service and shit and then you'd be able to bring your family in so that's not laws do we have the will to do it when we stand on principle and law and sound public policy all where we allow motion in politics to further erode and our ready weak immigration system and further erode the perception that we are serious about creating a lawful system passing a dream act today would in the wake of the failed comprehensive reform that we had this summer have we done that and before we have been able to secure our borders and before we've been able to create a lawful system of immigration is not the right way for us to go is just not it cannot be gotten around it sends the wrong mess it will say that we have immigration laws that we don't have any intent to enforce them it will send a message that it break our law is not only whether that be forgiven but you'll be put in head of the land and you will be financially rewarded for that is not what we've got to do to create a lawful says now and rule of law in this country is important i was a federal prosecutor for almost fifteen years attorney general of alabama i've worked with law enforcement all our lives i remember distinctly my professional career and i remember distinctly talking with lobsters about the sale of marijuana in neighborhoods sometimes local police would say well you know they are small amounts of marijuana we can't focus on the small cases we only focus on the dealers and that was a man that a lot of police departments had and i  couraged that and what i would tell them was that in effect if you take that policy you have legalize the sale of marijuana in that neighborhood not only that you've created an all lawful system in that neighborhood and it's you will have created violence and instability that adversely impacts the good and decent people that live in that neighborhood and you cannot do that you see them are all legal and practical consequences of having a legal system that's not enforced and it adds up and that's what we've done in immigration we have looked the other way we've denied that it's happening we've let people with special interests dominate the debate and we've talked about making the system lawful but we have never done it and that's why the american people are not happy with us we have not been frost worthy we have not been reliable we just have not and if we would get this system right we could do a lot better job about making it work in an effective way to the american people want to do that and i've got to tell you why do people want to come to america they think that they can make a better life here if they've been if there's been crime and instability and they often abuse and unfairness in their system in the place they came from they feel like if they come to america and they have a problem here they can go to court they will be protected they can make money and build assets and people won't come and steal it from them and they can leave something for their children and they can work hard inside even send their children to college and they'll be able to do even better and that's why they want to come here but it's all founded colleagues on the rule of law a reason we are a unique nation that great him you know our liberty in law our liberty is in along and is that legal system that is my great and prosperous and free and i don't think it's a good policy that we bring in allow millions of people to come to our country in violation of our law i remember in the debate this summer senator grassley such a direct speaker farmer from our chairman former chairman the finance committee ranking member on that committee now made a speech and he said he was here in  he said let me ask you why nobody this time in this debate a few months ago this summer while they're not saying this will be it will not have any more amnesties again why were people not saying that and he said a answer is obvious if we had a m t and eighty six and twenty years later we have amnesty again nobody with a straight face can stand out before the world o the american people and so i we won't have and the activists and this is going to be the last one how silly is that we just said that a you years ago so this is not a small ma what principle can you use alive this site to a young person or any other person who came into our country illegally that day fifteen ten fifteen years from now what principle can you articulate as to why they shouldn't be given amnesty when we gave amnesty to people today you see this is a matter of seriousness it cannot be ignored and i feel strongly about that and i want my colleagues to know that our commitment needs to be creating a lawful system of immigration once that it is accomplished the american people feel comfortable about that we can think about some ways absolutely that would be effective in compassionate for those who are here today  that that's a rational and we can defend but i don't believe we can defend that today when our system is not wor immigration as we do that a lot of things will be become part will become possible in the future that are not possible not appropriate and should not be done today and i would also offer for the record without objection a statement of administration policy that opposed the dream act that we rejected a few moments ago that object president i rise to day to comment on the sad state of the appropriations process as well as our long term fiscal health the new fiscal year began twenty three days ago and we are debating appropriation bills that ha even passed the senate yet as government agencies operate on a temporary stopgap funding we're in trouble when we republicans were in the majority we consistently failed to enact all the appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year we enacted short term continuing resolutions or see ours to keep agencies funded while we wrapped several of those bills into it and of the year all neighbors built after the democrats won the control of the senate i sincerely hope that we would fulfill their promises to manage the budget better but while the party in power has changed the results have stayed the same in fact the results so far have been even worse is the year two thousand and eight has already started and we have enacted exactly zero appropriations bills government by c r has consequences agencies cannot plan for the future they cannot make hiring decisions they cannot sign contracts as a result we get more waste and inefficiency from government we get lower quality services provided to the people and at the end of the day we get higher spending and less accountability and oversight of the taxpayers money on september twenty third the new york times reported that our failures could be devastating effect on cancer research because scientists are waiting around to hear if they will receive grants for the innovative research ideas the same article quoted a transportation industry representative saying that our failure could have major implications for anyone who rides in cars trucks trains buses and subways and if you want more examples of how congress failure to do his job on time affects ordinary americans i invite you to visit my website where i provide several additional examples that's why a bipartisan group of senators agree that we need to adopt by annual budgeting by the federal government like i had as governor of ohio so th congress can get its work done on time while also conducting oversight necessary to ensure that programs that agencies are functioning effectively center domenici has been a leader and by annual budgeting for years and we should adopt it during this congress and name it pete domenici by annual budgeting act as part of pete's legacy to this country putting aside our short term failures and focusing on our long term problems in january i introduced the securing america's future economy our safe commission act legislation that would create a bipartisan commission to look at our nation's tax and entitlement systems and recommend reforms to put us back and fiscally sustainable course and ensure the south and see of entitlement programs for future generations i also want to commend two of my colleagues the budget committee chairman from north dakota and the ranking member from new hampshire were recently introducing a bipartisan bill that would create a tax and entitlement reform task force very similar to our safe commission in fact i saw them on c n b c recently talking about it the only major difference is that senator conrad conrad and gregg would require every congressional appointee to be a sitting member of congress whereas the save commission would include outside experts i've signed on as a co sponsor of this conrad gregg proposal and i'm pleased to learn that they intend to hold a hearing on the bill in very in the very new fear in very near future i look forward to working with them to get the bill passed i also want to commend the democratic congressman jim cooper of tennessee a republican congressman frank wolf of virginia who venner do is a bipartisan safe commission bill in the the house of representatives i've been working with frank for more than a year of this and i welcome congressman cooper's decision to join us this bipartisan buy campbell group of support from corporate executives religious leaders think tanks across the political programs are creaking under the strain of an aging society and runaway health care costs are two x code is imploding from the hundreds of economic and social policies congress pursues through tax incentives and from the dozens of temporary tax provisions that wrecked havoc and families and businesses trying to plan their affairs neither our major entitlement programs in our tax code are sustainable in the current form the appropriation bills that we are debating this week are shrinking as a share of the budget as entitlements crowd out the mystic discretionary spending we must come together and develop a bipartisan consensus to fix these systems so that children and grandchildren can enjoy prosperity and an increasing standard of i want to share with you some extraordinary numbers that reveal our nation's looming fiscal crisis i speak out of concern that only for our generation but also for for our children and our grandchildren they are going to bury the burden of reckless fiscal policy sir edmund burke the father of conservative thought said quote society is a partnership not only between those of us that are living but between those of us who are living those who our debt and those who are to be born in the quote will unless we change course we will break that partnership with those not yet born this grave situation can be addressed only through hard bipartisan work and we must begin our work now for every day we wait the solutions are going to become more painful in the simplest of terms the federal government continues to spend more than it brings in running the credit card for today's needs and leaving the bill for future generations not to be the policy should not be the policy of this country this congress and this administration it represents a reckless list that threatens our economic security and our global competitiveness and our future quality of life the federal government has become the biggest violator of credit card abuse in the world comptroller david walker has said quote the greatest threat to our future is our fiscal irresponsibility and to quote the at it again america suffers from a serious case of myopia or near sightedness both in the public sector and the private sector we need to start focusing more on the future we need to start recognizing the reality that we're at an imprudent unsustainable fiscal path and we need to get started now everyone in this great body should heed kept roller gen walker's warning our commitment to the war on terror to securing our borders to educating our workforce to investing in our nation's infrastructure demand tremendous resources and require long term financial commitments at the same time we cannot ignore the demographic tide that will soon all overwhelm our resources and we need a system for raising the revenues necessary to fund these priorities that it does little damage to the economy as possible and short the need for tax reform  rent reform has never been greater in historical perspective helps to highlight the gravity of our current situation the fiscal year two thousand and seven budget deficit was one hundred sixty three billion dollars but that bigger hides the true degree to which our fiscal situation has deteriorated mainly because it uses every dime of the social security surplus as well as surpluses that all the other trust funds to hide the true size of the government's operating deficit the social security surplus however must be reserved for future retirees as far as i know you can spend the same money twice but congress keep pretending that it can if you wall off the social security surplus so that congress can spend it on other programs as i believe we should do that the government's aberrated deficit more than doubles that three hundred forty four billion dollars not one hundred sixty three billion and if you add back the money that the government's borrowing from other trust funds such as federal employee pensions that the deficit explodes to four hundred forty one billion almost triple the reported deficit in other words really hiding from the public how much debt and how much are  we not in balance because we don't tell them about the government borrowing that we're doing and as a result they just see these numbers hundred sixty three billion it's getting better but we're hiding the fact that we're spending every dime of these trust funds to keep the government going but the annual difference between revenues and outlays is not what's truly threatening our future is the cumulative and going increase in our national debt that really matters mr president remember in one thousand nine hundred two when ross perot ran for the president and he showed us those frightening fiscal charts lammy own charge here i call these the charts my how lowing charts i call them shows number one the government's new fiscal year starts in october and number two because the fiscal picture is terrifying fifteen years ago when ross perot was sounding the alarm the national debt was about four trillion dollars well guess what as of two thousand and seven the national debt stands at almost nine trillion dollars nine trillion dollars ross perot's doomsday predictions turned out to be too rosy in more than two hundred years that passed between the declaration of independence and ross perot's nine hundred ninety two campaign the us government accumulated four trillion in debt we've now added even more than what we accumulated before ninety two more than that in the last fifteen years so here's perot if he's predicting here's ninety two that he's predicting that that in ninety seven will be up here about six that he predicts in two thousand and two that were going to be the oranges is are is is what we are currently and and then here we have two thousand and seven and you can see that we have exceeded ross perot's predictions between ninety two and two thousand and seven and what we're basically saying is that before ninety two going back to the beginning of the united states of america this is where where we were in terms of our debt and since that time we've gone from here all the way up here in other words we have all we have doubled doubled in the last fifteen years the debt that we cumulated between the beginning of our country and  i'll think the american people understand just what's going on in terms of of that debt and nobody talk about it nobody does i haven't heard the administration talk about death for a long time very rarely maybe can't conrad and judd gregg colleagues baby speak about it but nobody else does because everybody doesn't want anyone to really know how bad things really are and this congress is just acknowledge that it will pass right by one trillion dollars just a few weeks ago we very quietly increase the national debt by another eight hundred billion dollars so now we're going to be at nine point eight trillion now what's that mean one trillion how do you even fan fathom that number well for one thing it represents two thirds of our entire national economy the worst in fifty years for another thing it means that each man woman and child in the united states post thirty thousand dollars of the federal government's debt i just want you to think about it these young people here the pages here today every one of the owes thirty million thirty thousand dollars the debt that we have accumulated but the thirty thousand also represents the debt racked up by the government in the past because we continue borrowing more than we bring in that number is increasing every day and those numbers pale in comparison with the budget problems looming in our future as the baby boom generation begins to retire just sixty nine days from now as a matter of fact last week the first baby boomers applied for social security retirement benefits reality is setting in and it's not that far off as a growing storm that threatens to overwhelm our economy if we do not act now and perhaps even more concerning is that fifty five percent thousand to eighty percent eighty percent of the debt has been purchased by china japan and the opec nations think about that eighty percent since two thousand and two has been picked up by the opec nations china and japan and if after hearing all this you still think this is a problem that exist only in the distant future consider recent projections by the major credit rating agencies standard  poor's for decades u s treasuries have been considered the risk free investment against which risks of all investments or judge could place that invest our treasuries and fact the global financial system is largely based on the notion of u treasuries as the only risk free investment out there but in just five years that will cease to be true according to standard and poor's u s treasuries will lose their triple a credit rating in two thousand and twelve because of the government's deteriorating long term fiscal position don't you think that the world markets are looking at what we're doing here in united states what kind of global economic tour turmoil awaits us five years from now when the u s government is considered just risky as a typical corporation what happens if the foreign banks decide that they're going to move their money out of the united states senate somewhere else and what economic catastrophe awaits our children and grandchildren twenty twenty twenty five when standard and poor projects that u s treasuries will be classified as junk bonds junk and if that happens of course the rates will just skyrocket now why do we refuse to see the warning signs signs a decade ago who ever would have imagined that a canadian dollar idea like this the canadian dollar today is equal with the u s dollar a few years ago the euro was worth eighty three cents now it's worth a dollar forty two meanwhile our trade deficit has got through the roof as we americans are forced to buy all the money we need to buy foreign products was driving the train wreck certainly additional revenues will have to be part of the solution if we're kidding ourselves if we if we say we don't need additional revenues but this is not the problem that will be solved simply by reaching deeper into the american people's pockets many of my colleagues are familiar with pete peterson the former commerce secretary he has made it very clear that quote the minute you start looking at tax increase as the primary solution you're confronted with taxes increasing that are clearly be at anything anyone can imagine even the democratic chairman of the budget committee has acknowledged that most of the heavy lifting will have to be done on the spending side here are some of the numbers their cost is tripled as a share of the economy now it's nine percent the congressional budget office projects that over the next forty years this figure could double again to eighteen percent by two thousand and twenty two thousand and forty seven and if you really think about this eighteen point four percent of g d p that's all the money today that we spent in other words what's going to happen here is that if we keep going the way we are our entitlements medicare medicaid and  security will eat this up it reminds me when i was governor of ohio we had we had i called medicaid the pac man the pac man in ohio out today i would refer to as entitlements as the pac man  in in terms of our national finances if this spending continues we will be required to use every cent as i said and entitlements our nation faces one of the most competitive environments  his history and the question is in this new world of global competitiveness will future generations be able to enjoy the same standard of living works you know when my kids will my grandchildren be able to enjoy the same standard of living that i've enjoyed will they have the opportunity for the same quality of life for the largest national debt in fifty years i have to say we are in trouble to remain competitive with foreign economies when we consider entitlement reform we also need to enact tax reform right alongside of it congress must view our tax code in title and system in the budget process as three components are pillars of the nation's fiscal foundation and not as separate problems each is linked to the other two pillars and we must reform all three to raise the necessary revenue to fund the government in an economically efficient fashion to keep our abrogation to future generations and to keep the size of government to a manageable level we must enact fundamental tax reform to help make the tax code simple fair transparent and economically efficient according the president's advisory panel on federal tax reform headed by c only thirteen percent think of this only thirteen percent of taxpayers bille without help of either a tax preparer or computer software since an addict and acting the tax reform act of one thousand nine hundred eighty six we have had over fifteen thousand changes in our code and it's just not a matter of saving taxpayers time and effort this is about saving real money the tax foundation estimates estimates that we spent two hundred sixty five billion dollars a year think of it two hundred sixty five billion dollars a year to pay our taxes even if we could cut that in half think about what that would be in terms of saving americans some money now that's a real tax reduction that would make a difference for for everyone in our country mr president i've been working on tax reform for years two thousand and three i had to remember the jobs and growth tax relief reconciliation act that would have created a blue ribbon commission to study fundamental tax reform the amendment was adopted by voice vote that later removed in conference then in the autumn of two thousand and four i offered my tax reform commission amendment again this time to the american jobs creation at the senate again adopted my and then during conference negotiations the white house contacted me and requested i withdraw my a minute because the president was preparing to take a leadership role by appointing his own tax reform panel i great to defer to his leadership i read through my amendment it seemed to me that tax reform band wagon was finally getting on the way in january two thousand and five president bush announced the creation of the all star panel headed up by sen former senators  spent most of the year in gauging the american public to develop proposals to make our tax code simpler fairer and more conducive to economic growth in november of two thousand and five the panel issued its final report while it wasn't perfect in everyone's mind the panels two plans provided for a starting fort point for developing tax reform they had the simple income tax and they had the growth income tax and and i think that what we have to understand is just take ring with this tax co won't get it done tinkering is what's got us in the mess that we're in today so it's really time to rip the tax code out by its roots and replace it with something that works in the present panel had a number of great ideas that we should incorporate in the tax reform legislation for example we should simplify the code by repealing the complex unfair and i growth alternative minimum tax they had that in the plan that they proposed we should consolidate all the various tax preferred savings plans and adjust two or three plans that average workers and families can understand and utilize we should scale back the tax up of the subsidies that we used to pursue social engineer and dictate economic policy forcing americans who fail to qualify for tax breaks to pay higher rates than make up for the lost revenue we must create a tax system that is conducive to aid to job creation and economic growth and we should start by addressing one of the biggest problems of the current code and that is it rewards moving production over seas basically what we're saying is that what we do is we tax our export hours and we don't tax are important and it's crazy one of my constituents who was in a couple of weeks ago time seeker for norwalk while he has a small business he came into my office and told a story about a trip to china he said that he saw an editorial in a chinese newspaper that was discussing the current concerns of americans about chinese capitation the conclusion of the editorial was that the americans could solve most of their problems with chinese capitation if they'd just reform their own tax code imagine that even communist china knows that the united states needs tax reform to stay competitive but for some reason we  refuse to learn that lesson ourselves we must also understand unless we do tax reform the lower marginal rates the lower capital gains taxes the lower taxes on dividends will evaporate and we will  nothing and in regard to fundamental tax reform and entitlement reform and such reform i think folks must take into account our failure to pay for the iraq war failure to pay for the iraq war without it means is that this administration will have to explain why they're leaving us holding the bad and why they did not keep their promises protection for they promised i know there is a bipartisan support for this dorce their approach they want to take and submit legislation that congress would consider under fast track procedures a proposal basically is the point eight democrats eight republicans including tapped to t administration officials and would require a three fourths vote for submitting a proposal to congress in other words they do their work you know three fourths of them said this is what we want to do for tax reform and entitlement reform we'd have to vote on it up or down and has really important because you can't ask some of our colleagues to spend that kind of time my tax reform and title reform and that guarantee and that they greed that they are there is going to get a vote on it if we don't do that most of them would want any part of it and frankly i wouldn't either i would like to know if i'm going to put in this work get it that we come up something with that work i want to know it's going to be voted up or down now some say to me george you know it's too late to do something well it's  ronald reagan working with congress before of the tax code in eighty six and president reagan is still finally remembered as the leader who set the stage for years of prosperity at the end of the twentieth search since twenty century worked on a bipartisan basis the president i think really has an opportunity folks to do something in regard to this i think the president and the administration should say to congress you know what folks everything's on the table no holds barred ause sit down with you and i'll work at it and you know what maybe we won't get it that but at least will start and we'll let the american people know that we understand that tax reform in the title reform is fundamental to the future of our country what a nice legacy for our president at least say he got into the game and did something about it and didn't say to the loo after he left office and said you guys worry about it it's your problem mr president the time is time is now when you look at the numbers it's self evident that we must confront our swelling national debt we must make a concerted bipartisan effort to reform our tax system slow the growth of entitlement spending and this freight train that is stretton in to crush our children and grandchildren's future and right now in my head mile in my lifetime and where i am at this stage what i'm worried about i'm worried about the kids of america i'm worried about my grandchildren other people's grandchild what is the legacy that we're going to leave those children and grandchildren and i don't know about my colleagues but i'm worried i'm really worried i'm worried about whether or not we're going to develop the infrastructure of competitive so those kids can come can compete in the global marketplace it's in our hands that's that the folks have back home sent us here take on the tough problems make the tough decisions do what's right for our shot at the american dream i for one am very proud of the this reputation and i believe it's one we should continue to promote and maintain unfortunately mr president somewhere along the way amid politics and rhetoric the belief that we should now turn our back on certain children in our communities have gained a voice mr president i'm here on the floor today because i believe that we need to make sure that america remains a country of opportunity for all children no matter where they come from no matter what language they speak at home and no matter what obstacles they have to overcome now earlier today in the senate we had a chance to pay more than just lip service to the idea of opportunity for all unfortunately a few members of this body didn't think that it was an american priority but mr president i still believe in the dream act and its power to not only give hope to many today but to make our country stronger in the future in fact we can still give hope to many by passing the development relief and education for a billion minors act this dream act was narrowly tailored bipartisan legislation that would give a select group of undocumented students the chance the chance to become permanent residents if they came to this country as children are long term u s residents have good moral character and attend college for at least two years are listed in the military certainly mr president those are quite the criteria that all of us would be very proud of this president senator durbin previously brought up the dream act as an amendment to the defense authorization bill to address critical manpower shortages that are facing our military forces under the dream act tens of thousands of well qualified potential recruits would become eligible for military service for the first time these are young people who love our country and are eager to serve in the armed forces during a time of war the dream act would add a very strong incentive to enlist because it provides a path to permanent legal status the dream act would also make qualified students eligible for temporary legal immigration status upon high school graduation that would lead to permanent residency if if they attend college mr president critics of this amendment would have you believe that this is simply a matter of politics well it's not this is about real people and i want to tell you about one of them recently the seattle times a newspaper in my state featured the story of a young woman named maria who has lived in the united states illegally since her parents brought her here at the age of five maria completed high school in my home state of washington she did really well and was an active member of the student body in fact she was elected class officer three years in a row maria was accepted to the university of washington she graduated with a high g p a and honors in her department of study as president maria is now in her second year of law school and to quote the seattle times by all rights one she should have the world by the tail but she is dogged by the questions when she graduates will she be able to take the bard sam will should be able to help keep helping low income people as she's done during her internship this summer with the nonprofit legal organization the dream act is my only hope maria said in the article i hope and i pray for it well mr president isn't maria exactly the type of young person we should be investing in she studied hard she got good grades she has served her school she has served her community and now she wants to continue to serve her community and our country only home she has ever known it's not maria's fault that her parents brought her to america when she was five years old and it's not maria's fault that congress has not yet passed the comprehensive immigration reform that we clearly need but it is the thousands of maria's out there who are living the consequences we do need comprehensive immigration reform but we also need a government that invests in our children and understands that the face of the american dream is not just one class or one race or one religion our nation is filled with young people who love this country have beat the odds and who we should be investing in we will reap the return we invest and the reason i know that mr president is from personal experience when i was young growing up in a family of nine i thought my family was doing fine i knew we didn't have a lot of money but my dad was stricken with multiple sclerosis when i was a young teacher all of a sudden seven young kids under the age of sixteen didn't know if they would ever be able to go to college didn't know if they would ever be able to even graduate from high school or how they were going to face the future because this country was there for them and we had student loans and pell grants and a country that said we're there with you all seven of those children graduated from high school and graduated from college and today this country has a microsoft millionaire person who knows how to do microsoft work they have a lawyer who works very hard they have a young mom who stays home with their two kids they have a newspaper reporter who follows sports around the country they have  eighth grade teacher who's taught now for twenty five plus years an eighth grade students and they have a united states senator as a pretty good investment by our country for those seven kids who thought they lost their hope that was my family mr president i know what it's like to lose hope and i know what it's like to have hope behind you when your country steps in that's what we're talking about with the dream act young kids out there who are just looking for a country to be behind them who have the skills who have the capability who are willing to be a part of this country to give back if they could mr president this is a real issue that touches real communities and real people across our country i actually got a letter from the superintendent of the lake chelan school district in north central washington and i want to read you what he wrote he said each year i watch students who have worked hard to be successful during high school struggle to continue their education after graduation because of their immigration status these students are an important part of america's future and we must give them the opportunity to further their education contribute to society and help build the american dream for generations to come allowing these young people to flourish is not only fair to them but it also adds value to our country's rich vibrant and diverse culture they deserve that opportunity to succeed regardless of the outcome of the current immigration debate that's present i couldn't disagree with i couldn't agree more i think it's important that we remember that this debate is not just about immigration it really is about what type of country we want to be it's about what we stand for it's about what type of future that we want to build it's pretty easy to get up and caught up in the specifics of the policies that we debate but i want to encourage all of my colleagues to not lose sight today as we struggle with this difficult debate about the bigger picture because this debate touches nearly every aspect of american life from our economy to our security from our classrooms to our workplaces and most importantly it speaks about our values i received a letter recently from a high school senior named victor victor lives in walla walla it's a small town in the washington oregon border to me and he said i came to the u s when i was ten years old my most difficult and only challenge i have faced since i came to the u s is education i came to this country not knowing a single word of english therefore i had to learn of this fast as i could i was held back a grade and put into english as a second language classes it took me about a year to learn it well enough to where i was able to be in classes with native speakers he continues on i am currently part of the national honor society and i take part in fall and spring sports i have been accepted to the university of washington and three other washington universities my plans are to go to the university of washington and get a degree in computer science unfortunately i come from a low income family making it hard for me to make for the plans about my education currently the federal government will not help with any financial aid to any non citizen in the united states how do you expect us to improve ourselves and succeed in this country mr president i've lived like to ask my colleagues how they answer victor's question how do we expect our nation to continue to be one of hope one of opportunity if we close down our children's future rather than handing them keys to success all of our children should have the opportunity to become more successful than their parents and none of them should be punished for their parents decisions we have thousands of dedicated motivated and gifted students have who have been forced into the shadows through no fault of their own like victor like maria they've beaten the odds many of us could never even imagine and they want to serve now and contribute back to america's future as the president it would be our mistake to say no i hope my colleagues will reconsider their votes today i hope they will say yes to the dream act and yes to a richer stronger more vibrant and for her vote in support of it it is interesting to me that those who have taken a little time to meet the students who were involved in this issue come away with a much different feeling once this goes beyond the cliches and inflammatory rhetoric that we hear on what passes for entertainment television and radio and you actually sit down and hear these life stories you just can't help but have your heart touched by them it happened to me a long time ago six years ago and it continues to happen to me but unfortunately we didn't have the votes we had fifty two votes when we needed sixty and in the senate sixty vote of the as a threshold requirement i want to thank the eleven republicans who voted with me i'll tell you it took some courage for them to do it it's not an easy vote for anybody it's sure not easy vote for them when the vast majority of their colleagues are gone the other way i also want to thank the forty one democrats who stood by me on this some of them did it with pain in their eyes thinking about how i have to go home and explain this one i understand that and i thank them for doing it i  guess after you've been around capitol hill for a few years and i have that you try to put things in perspective about your public service i don't really there are many if any who come to the senate with the ambition of retiring most of us come here with the ambition of doing something important from our nation and serving our nation and there reaches a point sometimes in a career we're risks have to be taken for important things to happen what i did today was no great risk probably hear about it back home and i already have a little bit but i will just say that in the course of our history the important things that have occurred here in this chamber have involved political risk and controversy whether it's a question of voting on a war or voting on issues involving civil rights and human rights and it's rare the child find that great issue that makes a career that everybody agrees with so i would say to my colleagues who joined in this effort today thank you from the bottom of my heart but thanks also for the thousands of young people across america who continue to follow this debate and follow this issue so closely the toughest part was not standing in the well and being told i lost with only fifty two votes toughest part walking up those stairs and facing three of the kids in my office and i didn't quite know what to expect these young people have been through a lot through no fault of their own one young man who step father step grandfather failed to file the appropriate documents he's twenty years old a few years ago he was arrested and detained in jail over christmas and new years how's that for a high school graduation present be told that you're illegal and subject to deportation another young woman who was her parents were outed as being illegal and deported and i pled with the department of homeland security to let her stay in school and finish a college degree and they've allowed to do that i hope they will continue to but she doesn't know where she is going from here she's lived in the united states and she was a very young girl and this is her country this is where she wants to be and another one who is literally a young woman without a country a refugee from vietnam winter germany came to the united states vietnam is not a safe place for her to return to and germany doesn't want or she is without a country she has a bachelor's degree and no place to turn well i didn't quite know what to expect when i went up to see them after this disappointing vote and they greeted me with smiles and encouragement it's great to work around young people they just have such determination and energy and they are not going to let anything get him down it made me feel better and i'm glad i did it even though we weren't successful and it renewed my commitment to this issue i'm not going to quit on this i don't know when the next chance will be i know we have a busy schedule and senator reid was kind enough to give me my chance today for a vote but this is an idea whose time will come because it is idea based on justice and fairness to think that these young people would see their lives ruined because their parents were undocumented because their parents brought them to this country to think that we would turn them away from america saying we don't need any more electrical engineers we don't need any more ter teachers and nurses and doctors no we know better than them we need them we need all of them and their strength makes us a stronger nation so the day will come and i hope soon we have another chance in to those who follow this debate so closely and to those who really understood that their fate was in the hands of the senators who voted this morning don't give up you haven't given up yet and you shouldn't give up we're going to keep pursuing this we're in a sad and troubling moment in america's history when the issue of immigration is so divisive but let's be honest it's always been divisive there have always been people saying not more immigrants please in this nation of immigrant immigrants have to play by the rules they have to follow the law i understand that but let's not turn our back on our heritage as a nation the strength of america is its diversity the fact that we come from the four corners of the world to call this place home the fact that our parents and grandparents had the courage to pick up and move rather than to be content with a life of mediocre opportunity those of the people that made america those are the ones who define who we are it's why we are special in this world if we are and i think we are and we can't let these young people go we can't afford to let them go and for those several of the senators today who are really stuck their necks out a mile political mile the senate earlier today rejected a motion to move a bill forward to let some children of illegal immigrants become u s citizens of they attend college or join the military that vote was fifty two to forty four failing to get the sixty votes necessary to move that bill forward also earlier today the senate confirmed the nomination of leslie southwick for a seat on the federal appeals court in mississippi that nomination had been on hold for two years due to complaints about what were being called racially insensitive writings mr southwick was confirmed today by a vote of fifty nine to thirty eight the senate is now in a period of morning business still waiting to decide what legislative matters to take on next president that authorized him to use military force in iraq that resolution has proved to be a disaster for our country opening the door to a war that has undermined our national security priority the fight against al qaeda and its affiliates more than five years after the authorization of war america is mired in a conflict that continues to have no end in sight nearly four thousand of our soldiers have died and more than twenty seven thousand ha been wounded hundreds of thousands of iraqi civilians have been killed if not more and at least four point five million have been displaced from their homes the region is more unstable and our credibility throughout the international community has been significantly damaged we have spent over a half trillion dollars and stretched our military to the breaking point who knows how many more billions will be spent and how many brave americans will die while the president a military solution to problems that can only be solved by a political settlement in iraq at the same time al qaeda has reconstituted itself along the afghanistan pakistan border region and as develop new affiliates around the qaeda has been strengthened not weakened since we authorized military action against and then went to war in iraq indeed the senseless war has made us more vulnerable not more secure yet it continues endlessly with only a small token drawdown of forces expected in the coming months and no timeline from this administration as to when more troops will come home the american people know that this war doesn't make sense to do everything in our power to and that doesn't mean neglecting domestic priorities and there are plenty of those to address but it does mean that we cannot in good simply put iraq on the not prepared to say in late october with weeks to go before we adjourn for the year and wait until we come back in two thousand and eight believe me the administration and supporters would like nothing better than to change the subject every time we insist on ending the war this year and if necessary next as well they may be inconvenienced they may prefer to focus on other matters but this congress has no greater priority than making right the mistake it made more than five years ago when it authorized this misguided war i do not want to have to come to the floor again in a year to mark another anniversary of the word's authorization and to again implore my colleagues to act i do not want the american people to lose faith in the elected leaders for pursuing a war that they rightly oppose and i do not want more american troops being killed for a war that does not serve our national security interests or president i thank you and i yield the floor  resident senator from oregon and ask unanimous consent speak as if in morning business without objection we are more in business mr president this country is headed towards a total meltdown on taxes i'm going to spend a few minutes this afternoon to talk about how that can be cooled off a bit yesterday treasury secretary paulson warned that unless the congress acts within the next month on the alternative minimum tax up to fifteen million households more than a third of all taxpayers could be clobbered with new taxes congress is known for some time that unless the alternative minimum tax addressed twenty three million taxpayers would be hit with the double whammy of having to calculate their taxes twice and typically pay a higher tax bill first they're going to have to do their taxes using the regular ten forty form then they'll have to calculate their taxes using the alternative minimum tax which has a completely different and more complex set of forms having to do your taxes once is bad enough on average that takes something like fifty to thirty hours depending on whether attack spare itemizes but having to do your taxes twice mr president is simply bureaucratic water torture now yesterday's announcement by treasury secretary paulson revealed that twice as many taxpayers as previously estimated could be put in bureaucratic limbo by the alternative minimum tax and face delays in processing their returns and getting a tax refund the problem is going to get worse and worse each year as more and more tax payers are drag to the alternative minimum tax is a parallel universe of tax rules and because tax law is now stuck in a time where it was never indexed for inflation if congress doesn't act an estimated thirty million taxpayers are going to be hit by the alternative minimum tax double whammy in twenty ten the congress has not been able to get ahead of the problem it is simply   point trying to keep the problem from getting worse and each year the cost of even the so called temporary patch to keep the a m t from clobbering more persons goes up this year it would cost fifty five billion dollars just to preserve the status quo the next year the cost would go to eighty billion dollars over ten years the cost is an astounding eight hundred and seventy billion dollars the senate finance committee on which i serve is trying to find a way to pay for a one year fix and senators are working in good faith in a bipartisan fashion but there is not a huge pot of money out there to pay for a fifty five billion dollar patch for the alternative minimum tax i will be working with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to look at every conceivable possibility to come up with the money for one year of alternative minimum tax relief but certainly the congress ought to start and start now to find a clear path out of the budget kerry hades and i think that path and all road congress ought to be looking at should lead to comprehensive tax reform in our country this week the house ways and means chairman plans to unveil his proposal that would repeal the alternative minimum tax part of a larger tax reform effort over the summer treasury secretary paulson called for corporate tax reform ways and means chairman rangle has indicated that he is going to look at the issue of corporate reform as part of broader legislation he wants to consider but i think that there's an opportunity now the administration would in gauge the congress  reform and there is a model mr president the model is one where a republican president ronald reagan worked with the democratic congress to achieve historic reform in hundred eighty six and it was based on a simple set of principles those principles were it ought to be possible for everybody in our country to get ahead it ought to be possible for people who work for a wage and people who make money through investments to get ahead it was a system that kept progress city so that there was a sense of fairness for all americans and it was a system based on cleaning out a lot of unnecessary tax breaks really clutter in the tax code in order to finance reform mr president that is what i have proposed to do in legislation and i call the fair flat tax act and i believe that there are real opportunities for bipartisan reform starting with the issue of tax simplification in our fair flat tax act we have a one page ten forty form something like thirty lines long president bush had a tax reform commission that looked at reform there simplification process involved a form that was something like thirty four lines long for purposes of government work mr president just about the same thing we could get a bipartisan agreement on tax simplification in my view if the president engaged the congress fairly quickly now certainly the other issues will take a great deal more thought and involve more complexity but i have been asking witnesses who come before our committee the senate finance committee their views about tax reform and something like nineteen out of twenty witnesses mr president these are experts who come from across the political spectrum they share widely differing views but of the witnesses that came to the senate finance committee nineteen out of twenty witnesses mr president agree with my fundamental premise that the model of one hundred eighty six holding down rates for everybody keeping program city and financing it by getting rid of loopholes and breaks those witnesses nineteen out of twenty all said that the eighty six model put together by the late president reagan and democrats in the congress is still a model that makes sense for today one of the witnesses even said mr president and i quote here baseball fans remember the moment when babe ruth pointed at the stands and hit a home run tax geeks remember the make the tax code flatter to make sure that instead of this six individual brackets you would have perhaps three i start with the rates that ronald reagan started with but i'm not wedded to those particular rates mr president ronald reagan and bill bradley and others nineteen eighty six looked at something in the vicinity of between fifteen and twenty eight percent so the point is members of this body working with the president on a on a bipartisan basis want to get into this it would be possible in my view to look at comprehensive tax reform now and the alternatives as the senate sees how difficult it is to fix the alternative minimum tax to deal with various  proposals as it relates to investment and hedge funds strike me as nowhere near as appealing as dealing with comprehensive tax reform now many have raised question of the issue of the differential treatment between work and wealth mr president it is a fact that the cop walking the beat today makes their money on wages pays taxes at a significantly higher rate than somebody who makes their money from investments that's a fact and it oughta trouble all americans what i think we ought to be trying to do mr president is not pit those two against each other but let's look at an approach like was pursued in one thousand nine hundred six so that all americans have a chance to get ahead that's what we're all about as a nation not pitting one group of people against another we want people who work for a wage to have a chance to get ahead pay for in the south city for their families and i think we all understand how important investment is at a time when we face great economic a challenges globally so the fair flat tax of two thousand and seven states to try to ensure that all americans would have an opportunity to get ahead and provide real relief to the middle class through fewer exclusions exemptions duction deferrals credits and special rates for certain businesses and activities through the setting of one single flat corporate  rate on the individual side the fair flat tax and favoritism for itemize ors while improving deductions across the board standard duction would be tripled for single filers from five thousand to fifteen thousand and raised from ten thousand dollars to thirty thousand dollars for married couples as a result to present the vast majority of americans would be better off claiming the standard duction than having to itemize their deductions so filing will be simplified for all americans we also mr president keep the deductions that are most used by middle class families just as ronald reagan and bill bradley and others who worked so hard in one thousand nine hundred eighty six did we protect the home mortgage interest break one for charitable contributions in the credits for children's education and earned income but nobody would have to calculate their taxes twice mr president under the fair flat tax at the alternative minimum tax would be a limb unaided and in my view this is particularly important right now as citizens look at the challenges that they are going to face next year what makes the fair flat tax act in my view unique is that it also corrects one of the most glaring inequities in the current tax system and that is regressive state and local taxes under current law low and middle income taxpayers get hit with a double whammy once again compared to those who are more fortunate they pay more of their income in state and local taxes for families pay more than eleven percent and middle income families pay about ten percent of their incomes in state and local taxes more fortunate individuals pay only about half that and because many low and middle income taxpayers don't itemize they get no credit on their federal form for paying state and local taxes in fact two thirds of the federal deduction for state local taxes goes to those with substantial incomes under the fair flat tax act for the first time the federal code would look at the individuals entire their tax picture at their combined federal state and local tax burden and give credit to low and middle income individuals to correct for regressive state and local taxes this president what this all means and we had jane gravelle and or excellent team of the congressional research service work on these numbers is that the typical middle  class family a family in rhode island or egon or the typical middle class family in this country with wage and salary income up to approximately one hundred fifty thousand dollars a year would see tax relief in a way that would not cause the federal government to lose revenue finally by simplifying the code there are other benefits with a s would be harder for individuals to take advantage of the system and for the internal revenue service to catch those who do cheesy a present there is a tax gap between taxes owed and collected over three make in addition a significant dent in dealing with the tax gap issue raising a significant amount of revenue from a source that won't increase taxes the fair flat tax act of relates to the tax gap issue is a win for all americans except for those who've been cheating the system mr president and i'm obviously aware the clock is ticking down on this session congress by early next year in the thick of a presidential election something like this is done is daunting but i think it is time for the congress to get started now to get started on what witness after witness after witness in the senate finance committee is saying and that is the urgent need after scores of tax changes to get about to drain the swamp president to give you an idea of what the numbers are with respect to tax changes the latest analysis shows that we have had something like fifteen thousand tax changes it comes to three for every working day mr president and even the regional i r s offices according to practitioners i talked to cannot agree among themselves as to how to apply this increasingly complicated tax code i think it is time to get started the bush tax cuts expire in twenty can certainly that is going to cause  additional confusion and additional chaos for taxpayers and my view is with the problems that congress is wrestling with now such as the immediate crunch  alternative minimum tax and with the hammer poised to come down in twenty can with all of these other expiring pass laws there's a strong incentive for members of both political parties to come to the table and get to work on tax reform i would hope colleagues would look at the fair flat tax act as a way to start debate i don't consider it the last word on this extraordinarily important subject but i would hope that we could begin and the date begin it now present to you before and i would also on this present note the absence of the senate earlier today were ject in a motion to move a bill forward to let some children of illegal immigrants become u s citizens if they attend college or join the military that vote was fifty two to forty four failing because it did not get the sixty votes needed to move that bill forward also earlier today the senate confirmed the nomination of leslie southwick for a seat on the federal appeals court in mississippi the nomination had been on hold for a couple of years due to complaints about what were being called racially insensitive mr southwick was confirmed today by a vote of fifty nine to thirty eight the senate now in a period of morning business we're still waiting for leadership to decide what legislative matters to take on next live senate coverage continues here on c span to senate floor debate on the two thousand and seven farm bill is expected to come up soon the agriculture committee is going through the bill today in fact committee chairman tom harkin proposing two hundred eighty eight billion dollars in farm programs that would continue farm supports nutrition programs land conservation initiatives as well as alternative energy initiatives a live coverage of that markup meeting going on today live right now you can watch it on c span three and the house now is voting on a bill that would grant legal recognition to native hawaiians you can follow our live house coverage over on c span television think it's an important issue it's an important part of our transportation system in america and i believe that for the future development for the mobility of our country for the jobs of maintaining of jobs for safety hugely dependent on the rail passenger system we get some of the benefits of it but part of the probably don't have enough access enough opportunities in that area or you have delays and problems like that why do we have because we haven't modernized amtrak system because we have not worked through the transportation department to put into reforms the sad what is really needed for money how do we get more capitalization we haven't done the  difficult it is in the country right now you can't get an airplane that will leave on time or arrive on time with any degree of certainty for instance travel from here to the newark or or to laguardia airport both convenient to my home in new jersey and flight that takes thirty six minutes of air time takes two and a half hours to get there more often than not so dear  friends understand that this is a crisis moment for this country of ours we've seen incidents so many times where the absence of a rail system for instance we threw away billions of dollars some years ago because nuclear power plants that were built ready to operate couldn't get a license to go because it was a satisfactory evacuation route and it had to be by rail because the highways were unable to provide for if we look at katrina and we see how much better we could have done it for a while was a sufficiently employed down there and we didn't get it and people were jam stuck in there and so i would hope listen there is no difference in what when you cross the aisle when you say when you asked a question do we want to get things operating better do we want to facilitate our corporate if they could travel by rail rather than have to get in the car and who knows what for gasoline is predicted that i was going to go up to two hundred dollars a barrel one of these days well heaven forbid that come if that does come we're not going to close shop and say we'll go home and rest colleagues recognize that those who don't want to let us get this  important to west coast it's an important chicago area it's important all over america this is this is not about one reason or another the region or try and to accommodate business or labor this is about american people and  so i think my colleagues hopefully going to realize that we are a well let's do something about amtrak and this is this is the way to get it done and i thank you for your question mr president  i want to respond to what the friend from mississippi has said we have worked together in the past and we've gotten things done in the past and we know that amtrak finally has come into its place and we have a lot of work yet to do when you think about what travel is like these days and all forms highways are too congested the airwaves the airways are getting even more congested and the expectation is that the laser even gonna be longer there so i hope that those who want to discuss it want to amend it you're right to consider amendments  we want to we as a matter of fact i think it's good if we do hear from people and see what what problems say they foresee but we can't get it done lest we talk about it last we take care of it all you have to do is spend more time away from home away from your job away from things that you might enjoy just get used to america the american people just get used to spending more time away from home and useless activities like a like an idling engine or listening to the car radio or something like that we can't we can't function this way now the time is upon us when we have to do something about this and this i believe is an opportune time and i know that a lot of colleagues on that want to see this happen we after all touch forty states across the country and wherever you look and see where there's been new or upgraded realtors that people are responding to in the west coast some of the lines the routes out of chicago people are responding to it they're getting on the trains i used to train frequently and the other day i got on the amtrak train here full train train barely a seat left and some people had to manage and you know if we were if we look at the example that exists let's say and europe or in japan and see what happens when i want to take a train one time a plane one an hour and twenty minutes and you imagine what it would be do for travel in this country and business progress and so forth so i'm ready whenever my my colleagues and our friends on that i do have one other bit of a the gentle prod like to inject you i would like say the people it's not quite so congested crowded down in our neck of the woods so you know you might become alone down south it'll be a lot less crowded higher live f be able to get their own amtrak like wouldn't be able to catch that train in washington and washington and newark run on down come through atlanta right on down to jackson mississippi and i think they really enjoy it once i got there and i'd  to invite the senator new jersey to take that route all the way to jackson mississippi and we'll we'll show you around down there response i say i'd i'd like to do it and i wonder if people realize how many new lines are being dreamt up and i say dragged up because unless we got get the base going when nothing else is going to happen but i hear from colleagues in other beside mine who say oh you know where we could use a reverend here we could use a train service there and and we have seen something in new jersey that exemplifies the value rail service we had a line that was recently open from the southernmost tip of our state to trenton our state's capital and the ridership at first was very low and before you know it we began to see buildings factories warehouse et cetera built along the transit way and now areas beginning to prosper where it was just a dead nothing nothing going on and that's what we see wherever rail service there's there's now a lot of talk about something called transit villages and we don't in new jersey most crowded state country we don't think about villages really but we have a place that's being built now transit dollars centered around a rail hub people know they get back and the company you know they that their employees can get back and forth to work and run and efficient operations and so this is a point in time when opportunity is present present itself and we ought not to miss it if we can't succeed well we ought to let the public see that but certainly at this point in time we ought to be able to scotch that we shouldn't have  any obstructions the brain the issue to the floor of the senate let's get on here in this public forum and have a discussion and see where there is anything that  president i don't know the absence of doing some work to see exactly when we might be able to get this up in a couple of the points that i would like to make one of them is you know we've got a catch twenty two here our members want to make sure they have a chance to offer amendment committee to work with members to get him which but also not to let this just become a dad buying punching bag and band members can start coming in here and throwing everything but the kitchen sink so i believe we can move this through in a reasonable time i think we should  the observation you know as i worked on this another part of the equation of having good national real pastor system is as encouraging our states and regional concerns to be able to push states be able to do more on their own and build lines like we've got from san francisco to l a and in the chicago area there's incentives in this bill for states to do more same down without telling states for states you've got to do more way more than they're capable of doing but also  p and i mean they're all of the jack they're headed to new orleans and only had about six or eight cars relatively short the important thing was they were going lickety split we're going to be able to get these trains where they want to go and get in there no reason way we also have to acknowledge that part of their problem is a problem freight lines and if they're going to be able to get all of it on side track and let that amtrak train go through they've got to build side tracks we need more c in america we need more lines all across america or even all in santa fe they need to build more lines always across this country we need more lines all over this country we need to encourage the freight lines to build more capacity more lines and more side tracks so that they can work with amtrak so that amtrak is not adding to the cost of doing business lance i'm looking at that equation too we don't want conflict between amtrak and freight lands we want to both be able to make a profit and deliver the goods and services to the american people and so we're working on that side of the equation too to make sure that amtrak has a way and that traffic is going to be up some forty four percent by two thousand and twenty scuse me and they're concerned about how you get it done and at the same time we have to provide for passenger rail service is a good time for all sides they get together and start moving on this and and does the senator remember that this bill was processed here on the floor last year and we had a ninety three to six i remind ourselves here that this was popularly supported totally understood we were on our way to the next station and then it just didn't work out things were a little to mull to us to put it mildly here but now there is a cooler moment think about it for senate we have time available on the floor and the waste to waste that i think would be a terrible loss when we can discuss this important problem with a solution for the country you it is in a quorum call waiting for a member to come to the floor and speak now in a period of mourning business waiting for leadership to determine the next item legislative business earlier today the senate rejected a motion to move a bill forward to let some children of illegal immigrants become u s citizens if they attend college or join the military the vote was fifty two to forty four but it failed because it did not get the sixty votes needed to move the bill forward also in the senate today senators confirming the nomination of leslie southwick for a seat on the federal appeals court in mississippi the nomination had been on hold for a couple of years because of complaints about what were being called racially insensitive writings mr southwick confirmed today by a vote of fifteen nine to thirty eight over on the other side of the capitol the house passed a bill today granting legal recognition to native hawaiians according to wood jim abrams of the associated press native hawaiians should regain some of the self governance powers lost when the island's queen was overthrown more than a century ago the house decided today the white house threatened a veto saying the legislation that passed by a two sixty one to one fifty three vote would divide americans along sussed suspected lines of race and ethnicity the bill would give the four hundred thousand people nationwide of native hawaiian ancestry the right to form a governing entity that could negotiate with the state and federal governments over such issues as control of natural resources lands and assets that according to the a p this afternoon you can follow the house live on c span our live coverage of the senate continues on c span to senate today i rejected a motion to move a bill forward that let some children of illegal immigrants become u s citizens if they attend college or join the military abode fifty two to forty for failing to get the sixty votes needed to move that legislation forward the senate also confirm the nomination of leslie southwick for a seat on the federal appeals court in mississippi that vote her calmer his confirmation fifty nine to thirty eight mr southwick was confirmed nomination had been on hold for a couple of years and due to complaints about what were being called racially insensitive writings right now the senate is in a period of mourning business still waiting for senate leadership to determine the next item of legislative business senate floor debate on the two thousand and seven farm bill is coming up the agriculture committee is working on the farm bill today in a markup session committee chairman tom harkin proposing two hundred eighty eight billion dollars in farm programs it would continue farm supports nutrition programs land conservation initiatives as well as alternative energy and there should is the harken plan increases conservation spending by four billion dollars nutrition programs by more than four billion dollars alternative energy programs would increase more than one billion you can watch the senate agriculture committee work on the bill live right now on c span three and the house says finished up legislative business for the day passing a bill granting legal recognition to native hawaiians up for consideration in the house tomorrow a small business contracting bill and we're hearing possibly a revised s chip bill the children's health insurance program bill lifehouse coverage over on president few moments a few minutes ago in the last couple of hours president of states took the opportunity to speak at the state department on the condition of relations between the united states and cuba for me as a immigrant from cuba born in that island and immigrant to this country it was a very very moving and transcending kind of moment the president for the first time i think in many many years that any american president might do this detailed the problems in cuba and the cruelty of that regime towards its own people to put a human face on the suffering of the cuban people by inviting to the stage with him three families of human political prisoners these families each with their own tale of spoke about their plight the unjust nature of their relatives incarceration which is nothing more than a representative sampling of what the cuban people have suffered over so many years of brutal replay repression the fact is that he also detailed the many failed promises of the cuban revolution towards his own people he spoke of the failed promises that the revolution would bring a better life for so many other things that have simply not occurred it detailed the frankly economic misery that the cuban people suffer from today the fact that housing is deplorable and difficult that many families obviously have to live together he spoke about the irony that while the cuban system touts the greatness of their medical prowess in fact the cuban people do not have access to the kind of quality medical care that medical tourists can obtain just an anecdote sitting next to me was a foreign diplomat who  mentioned to me that she had been to cuba for eye surgery some years earlier i mentioned to her that about that same time i think you mention one thousand nine hundred two that i had had a relative an uncle of mine that we ha brought to this country and he had eye surgery here because he couldn't get it in cuba so for visitors for dollar amounts can get a first rate medical care in cuba but not always available to the cuban people he spoke about the oppression of those who seek to be a voice for change the fact that many of these imprisoned patriots i imprisoned for nothing more than having a fax machine in their home or  willingness to speak can talk about the human rights condition within the the island the fact is that each of these brave souls takes great risks in order to the opportunity for cubans to speak to one another for the opportunity to speak in freedom the opportunities freely express an idea these are things that are important to the cuban regime the president made an offer he made an offer that the united states through non governmental organizations and religious entities would send computers and providing a net access to the cuban people if only the cuban government would allow the average everyday cuban to do what today is part of international trade commerce and communications internet access internet access in cuba today is only allowed under strangest of government authority and it is a way in which the cuban people are held back from achieving the promise that the twenty first century has for so many people in so many other places but he also spoke about the opportunity for human children to be a part of a scholarship program and that all they would have to do is to be freely allowed to participate he spoke to the international community he spoke to the international community using the example of the czech republic hungary in poland to have us so with such a determination stood clearly on the side of freedom so clearly on the side of those in cuba who are not satisfied with the current condition but look to the moment of of their liberty look to the moment of freedom these new democracies in europe that still well remember the days of their own oppression at the hands of another communist dictator are very much involved in helping the cuban dissident movement in allowing them to come to their embassies and just in the or lobby have access to a magazine or a newspaper or a book that would otherwise not be permitted by the cuban authorities we can all do more united states has been at the forefront of assistance to a free cuba but no doubt many other countries many other capitals across the world could well heed the example that these eastern european governments are today giving to the rest of the world as they stand clearly on the side of freedom the fact is that the most important takeaway if you will that i heard today in this very moving emotional and i thought historic speech was the fact that the president today said that in the future of cuba we should be clearly on the side of freedom and not on the side of stability you see the cuban people are in this rose of change change is happening and that imprisoned island today and that change can take one of several forms one  be for us to side with stability and more of the same for the sake of stability the other would be to chart that uncertain path of freedom often brings but a path that ultimately leads to the opportunity for free people to live freely that opportunity to simply stand in the town square and speak your mind soften people ask me have i ever been back to cuba and i say no and then they ask me will you ever go back and i said yes i'll go back today that i can stand in the park of my little town where i grew up in and so i want to go down to cuba and stand there and freely express my thoughts the day that i could pick up a book and read it freely those are the times and those other conditions under which the cuban people will really begin to taste freedom all of latin america today in one measure or another is moving into the march of democratic government and clearly enjoying the fruits the free market that free trade agreements that are currently pending with latin american countries would only continue to expand the wave of prosperity that is today sweeping the continent one example remains one example of absolute care any one example of all fashion brutal military dictator and that is cuba the fact is that i do believe that freedom is on the march and their freedom can come to the cuban people i hope that we can continue to encourage the voices of freedom within the island the president spoke to the military he spoke to the governmental structures of the cuban government and pleaded with them to side with the people of cuba that seek to live free and not use the elements of repression at a critical and decisive moment in time in the future of cuba the fact is that i don't have any doubt that many of those that today might have been at one time supporters of the cuban regime who believed in the promises of the revolution as at one time or another all of us did that they would now understand that this failed system has a limited lifespan and that it is time to side with the forces of freedom and not with the forces of repression and tyranny and for those who have no blood in their hands they do have a future in a future cuba and i think that one of the more touch expressing his own believes and his desire to see a change within cuba he is on the deplorable conditions in rat infested prisons needing medical care and getting none here as the face of the future of cuba he is the face of the dissent within cuba is a young man he was born and raised under the castro regime he does not belong to any rich families of the past in fact he happens to be an afro cuban he is a physician it believes in life at all stages from conception to death and that was one of the big sense that he had for which he was going for which is been punishing cuba and so i would say that today is an important day in the history of united states relations with cuba i hope it will also be a historic marker for the future of the cuban people the president spoke about a popular song both in cuba and outside and he basically talks about our day is coming and i don't think there's any doubt that the freedom of the cuban people is coming and that our day without a doubt is coming i look forward to continuing to that this is a movement in psych you going any way that we can continue to help the voices of freedom that so much yearn for an opportunity and i do believe that the president made it clear that the the standard by which we should judge our future relations with cuba is in my view the way in which the cuban government treats its own people by releasing political prisoners by allowing freedom of expression by allowing freedom of the press by ending these despicable acts of repression a repudiation which are nothing more than a whole government organized gang of neighbors ganging up on someone that for whatever reason seems to be out of step with the orthodox of the government of that day these are horrible beatings and harassment that that cut across age groups is not just about maybe the head of the household who has expressed himself in a way that the government deems negat or maybe think guilty of that ill defined crime of dangerousness but the children of that family suffer are the elderly all of the members of any family that has chosen for these repudiation acts they all suffer those are despicable acts those have to end it is that kind of repression and it is the freeing of political prisoners these are simple things people talk about what is going to be the future the future is in the hands of the cuban people and i know the united states will stand clearly on the side of freedom that is what makes our country so very different and so very special is a fact that we do put freedom first that we do put a value on the value of every human being of every human life and the dignity of each one that we do understand there is a difference between freedom and oppression and we choose to stand clearly on the side of freedom i will always be proud to stand with a president who so clearly spoke today about his desire to stand on the side of freedom i hope that many of my colleagues in the senate will take the time to read the speech of the president gave today if you care about latin america if you care about cuba if you care about the future of that imprisoned land i think this was a very good moment i see my dear colleague from new jersey and  fellow cuban americans here in the in the senate floor i know we share the same passion for the opportunity for cuba to be free this isn't a partisan issue between us this isn't about ours and these this is about the the right of the cuban people to live freely senator menendez it was a momentous speech and i think one that will be a historic marker as i said in the relations between our countries and the opportunity for the cuban people to live in freedom i think it event there from new jersey and i'm president i come to the floor primarily to speak about a vote that we took earlier today on the dream act i do appreciate my distinguished colleague from florida's comments about the president's speech and we look forward to getting a further focus on what the president had to say we certainly appreciate any movement any policy that tries to create an opportunity for freedom for the people of cuba for them to be able to achieve what we enjoy here in the united states to choose our representatives to worship at the altar that we choose freely to be able to associate with others freely to be able to protest when we believe our government is moving in the wrong direction to have freedom of press and freedom of religion and freedom of speech all of those things are denied the cuban people and so certainly in the efforts that the president's speech talks about in trying to move in a direction that creates that moment in which those freedoms can be fulfilled for the people of cuba we applaud it but madam president i came to the floor to talk about the the earlier vote on the dream  t i've heard some of my colleagues to find it in ways that even though we didn't get to cloture and cannot move to have a full debate on the bail and therefore and a vote to move in a direction in which we could give young people in this country who made no choices of their own and who in many cases could achieve great success for the nation an opportunity to earned their way to earn their way to a process of legalization and to see that those hopes have been snuffed out by the votes that were taken here gives me an incredible pause to believe that the future of any other form of immigration reform is going to be incredibly difficult if we cannot give children and if we're going to insist that the sins of their parents in making the decisions they did to come in an undocumented fashion to the united states we are going to visit the sins of the parents on those children hard to make a decision about where you're moving to when you're in a stroller if that's our standard then it's not the america i know it's not the america i know you know under the proposed bill what we said was if you were within a younger age group and in fact with no choice of your own came to this country and now grew up and grew up probably for many of those children that i have met across the landscape of the country grew up as americans that's what they thought they were and then came a point in time in which they wanted to go to college or enlist in the armed forces and they found that their status was not that of an american and they wanted badly to either serve or to be able to fulfill their god given abilities by achieving a college education and they had to earn all of this all we need to do is give them a chance now i have a lot of sectors  colleagues who represent a lot of sectors like ag jobs and they want to to come to this country and use their human capital to do some of the toughest jobs that exist in america to bend their back and be on their knees picking crops for americans to be able to consume and there are some who suggest that no we're going to even change the nature of what ag jobs is which is even though you come year after year you bend your back you give us what you do some of the toughest jobs that no one wants to do by the way we won't give you any pathway to earned legalization i don't know how those who want to see the a jobs bill move think it can move when we turn down children who had no choice of their own i don't know how our friends in the h one b industry think that in fact when they say that we need to bring people from other countries in the world because we don't have enough human capital here to meet the high tech demands that our nation has as an economy how we think that's going to happen when we are not even willing to take advantage of the human intellect the proven human intellect of so many children in this country some of them who have graduated as valedictorians and salutary and high school but we're not going to use that human intellect you know let's bring somebody from outside of the country to perform that service i think that's going to be a tough call there's going to be a tough call for those who are in the service industries like the hotels and motels of our cities and highways who want people to clean the toilets in the bathrooms or those who want them to pluck the chickens at poultry plants or those who want them to do it at sea food establishments and the list goes on and on let's give those people visas to come to this country and let's use their human capital i'm for any american who wants to do any of those jobs first and foremost and whatever is necessary sorry to create that opportunity on for but in the absence of it and the absence of it i want to challenge some of our colleagues who continuously take votes like these children when they come and talk about the big growers and their needs when they come and talk about the high tech industry and their needs when they talk about the hotels and motels in the poultry plants in the seafood i want to hear i want to hear how they can justify the differences but the dream act said if you had no choice you made no choice in coming to this country your parents brought you here you grew up here and you've been a good citizen you've lived and the type of life we want all of our young people to live in terms of being good citizens being of exemplary character being individuals who have the intellectual capacity on their own to get into college we just want to give them the opportunity to have the status to do that or rather have these kids going to school and hanging out in the streets of our cities but i guess we rather have them hanging on the streets of our communities instead of getting an education and serving the nation i don't understand how a military that  is straining in terms of the volunteer armed forces that we have that is now down graded who they're willing to accept in the armed forces including people who have criminal records and those who are high school dropouts will  have those people serve but we won't have young people who are incredibly talented have no record whatsoever no record whatsoever exemplary individuals and some of them some very smart ones but who want to serve america because they believe themselves to be americans oh no that's not have them serve the armed forces of the united states and by virtue of that service including the possibility that they could die on behalf of the service of their of their of their adopted country no let's not give them that opportunity that would rather take people who have records criminal records and rather take people who haven't even finished high school i'll tell you the first person who died in iraq was someone who wasn't a united states citizen was an even a permanent resident died in iraq in the service of this country so i just believe it's going to be incredibly difficult the members of the senate who represent different parts of our economy come forth and say well you know i need to help the farmers because we need to get people in those fields can't get anybody to do the job or i need to have someone do that plant and make sure that we're being able to block chickens and goats with a bone breaking job when their hands are cut from the processing or those to repair those rooms when we visit across the landscape of the country for business or pleasure i want to see how in fact that's all going to take place and we certainly will be here to challenge our colleagues to think about how can you can promote those desires and yet snuff out hopes and dreams and aspirations of a young person who didn't have anything wrong to do on a country want to do everything they can to serve the country and we say no to them and yet will bring people from other parts of the world to do these things are going to be very difficult  to be very difficult to see without reforms the process to make sure we're not outsourcing jobs in the process without labor protections i think it's all going to be very difficult and i hope people will think about amnesty can't wait to the age to be comes up sure will and the state so those sectors the american economy will fall and we won't get the productivity that we need because i'm sure they're not going to find a way to say that that's not a so at the end of the day i'm looking forward to those debates as we move forward i really believe that we have set a precedent in today's vote that people will rue as they try to understand the very essence of some of the economic sectors of our country that are going to need help have needed help will need help and need help today so i think that we should  hopefully have a little introspection and think about whether or not a process in which you have a journey to go through in which you have to start off with an exemplary record in which you have to be willing to meet all types of challenges in which you must give of yourself to the nation or you must be able to create personal achievement that ultimately will be in the value of the nation whether released nothing out that senate floor debate on the two thousand and seven farm bill is planned for next week the agriculture committee has been working on that bill today committee chairman tom harkin proposing two hundred eighty eight billion dollars in farm programs the committee began their meeting this morning it has continued through much of the day during the senate quorum call we're going to watch the committee meeting live here on c span two is one part of the three legged stool and i can't think of another example outside of katrina where this kind of abuse happened but in any case i is i said i did put in my amendment a two thousand and nine if active date applies to crop year two thousand and nine gives us an opportunity to work through this and hopefully provide as much flexibility as possible so that farmers can respond to market signals i think that's what we all want to do and we want to preserve the the direct payments the countercyclical payments in the l d p is the three legged stool in the commodity title the bill chairman for their discussion one other point why why i would ask u s d a c b s says there is no cost to the government but of the amendment by the senator from south dakota isn't it true that you can accomplish the same thing through a farmer could do it through a marketing law through the cert program and that's the c b l calculation and so that the amendment from the senator from south dakota doesn't cost the federal government money what it does is it leaves the farmer with some additional flexibility that could be too but you know what but i'd ask u s d a why is it that there's no score to the senators amendment a lot think you just it's crap that senator i think farmers would opt to utilize the marketing loan program they would put their crop up for collateral take out a loan if the price goes below the loan right that's what the program was established to do in the first place and if the price is below the program allows the farmer to sell his commodity at a price below the loan rate and pay back the government the lower the lower amount  and basically pocket the difference and that's the real intent of how the market loan program was designed to operate and that's why we get very little i'm assuming can't read c b s miles why they score things the way they do but i'm assuming that's why they that that is why and so really the problem is i think what you guys are trying to do is close the barn door after the cows are gone and what senator thune is amendment does doesn't cost any money but leaves the farmer with some additional flexibility which they could have through a different in a different way through a different mechanism in any event if there's no further discussion and consultation w yes well we're i think if i to respond on that again i think there's some questions about this we'd like to accept it work with the offer of the amendment as we proceed to the floor to see whether or not there really is any cost of this or not we don't know i know the administration feels strongly about this and and hopefully we might be able to just get a handle on it prior to going to the floor that's why should we accept it as at at this point and and try to work it out with the administration with others oh good all right well all right we'll move from title one now i get i want to make it very clear this is been the rule in this committee since i first came on it in eighty five and that is that we do it but title by title but that doesn't mean that someone who isn't here maybe has been a member of the title one can go back and revisit it's not closed out until the end but we just want to do it in an orderly fashion ok so i don't want someone to feel because they weren't here they were gone because they had something else they had to attend to that they will be locked out so that will go to title to any members on title two going going t and i will be withdrawing the amendment so we can be we can be briefed on it but let me i don't need to see a copy then go ahead but i you didn't listen i want you to listen to this one mr chairman let me just say the  the ground and surface water conservation program of the two thousand and two farm bill was a very important part of that legislation and it provided sixty million dollars for each of the fiscal years during that time  keep our staff conversations down and appreciate senator from colorado thank you mr chairman this amendment is about the ogallala aquifer and it's an aco for that affects many of the senators who are sitting on this committee ogalala underlies eight states colorado kansas nebraska new mexico south dakota texas in wyoming it is by far the most intensively used underground aquifer in the nation the aquifer is being rapidly been depleted as water is being mined from that aqua for ninety five percent of the water in the oglala that is being used for irrigation under the ground and water surface conservation program there are many water conservation measures that are being implemented to stop the past decline of the aco for it's been a very effective program but the amendment would do that senator nelson and i have offered here would be to require a minimum allocation of funds from the ground and surface water conservation program to these conservation programs in the overall october it would require that three million don't believe that we need to have a vote on it but i just want to bring it to the attention of this committee that when you look at the breadbasket the nation and you look at the number of acres that we have under irrigation in those i believe eight supreme court which i personally participated in the u s supreme court several years ago and all has to do with what is happening with the will withdrawal of water from from the oglala and so i am hopeful that as we move forward and we look at  the attorney general for colorado will be supportive of this on the floor for further consideration but if we thought it was it was important to get it introduced for consideration center and to withdraw the meme i withdraw the amendment but i definitely would appreciate it senator harkin if you and other members of the committee continue to have an open mind to this issue that we're facing on the oglala it's a huge issue that's we're literally are running out of even drank in order much less irrigation water in some parts of our state and thank goodness our agricultural areas sits on top of the largest aquifer and in the southeastern part of the  country and i know that this was included in two thousand and two farm bill and let's hope that we can figure out a way to to maybe work something out within a quick program for not only for your region but maybe for some of the rest of us chambliss and i i do think that the importance of water is the lifeblood for agriculture especially in the arid west is becoming even more apparent now that we have droughts in places like georgia and i've watched several specials on the impact that the water shortage is now having on water supplies in many places in georgia including some on agriculture and i do think that the the incentives that have been created through the history of the farm bill that help armors and ranchers make sure that we're making the most out of a very precious resources something that's very important and we have some special challenges that we're facing whether it's in the southeast or around the oglala so i look forward to working on this issue with you and other members of the committee program and the farm land protection program we would ask for an additional five hundred ten million dollars into the farm land reserve program and six hundred forty eight million dollars into the graphic into the grass and reserve program the increases in this program are important for the country they enjoy these two programs enjoy widespread support from our country's cattlemen from conservation groups and from land trusts and i know that everybody in this committee would like to fund all of our priorities to their full capabilities i also know that this committee and the finance committee have done tremendous work in the area of conservation and i appreciate that very much but i do think that these programs are so important the grass and trees are programming the farm land protection program that we have to continue to look at ways in which we can expand them but i know the limitations that we have on the budget here i fully support the paygo doctrine that we're operating under with senator conrad has the lettuce for the last or the last year and because of those budget constraints i withdraw the amendment but will look for other ways in which we can hopefully be helpful in expanding these programs mr chairman let me just just think of just think the senator for withdrawing the amendment we do have what is really a very carefully balanced bill at this point financially and i very much appreciate any other members to title to if not we'll go to yes sir and i was waiting on my friend and fellow member of the former chairman mr chairman they the eclipse program we feel currently limits the car share payments to four hundred fifty thousand dollars this number was reached in the two thousand and two farm bill after considerable debate and a lot of consideration the underlying mark would reduce this limit to two hundred forty thousand nearly half of the current law production concerns not only me but many producers of livestock  throughout the country where our numbers are great i have more cows and people in my state and they're usually in a better mood as well you see in cattle country our feed yards and ranchers use equip as you know to comply with the federally mandated environmental policies and compliance is very expensive equip is a ninety percent car share program yet in many cases four hundred fifty thousand dollars dollars sounds like an awful lot of money doesn't come close to covering ninety percent of the actual costs incurred and ample manning the waste handling requirements as dictated by the e p a if you cut that down even further i think our producers will be harmed gravely that they will face penalties for noncompliance if they can't meet their requirements subsequently they could be forced out of the business now i'm not talking about huge feedlots either i'm talking about operations of less than one thousand head it could be hit by this lower limit and we reached an agreement in two thousand and two on this level we should stick to it there's a mammoth does provide stability in the vastly popular equip program by keeping the limit set and current law i urge my colleagues to support this amendment the kansas we're not adding any money whatsoever to the to the budget we're simply keeping the he quit or environmental quality incentive program limitation for the life of the is keeping current law it doesn't add anything to the budget as i keep emphasizing that this house produces all sizes  shapes some of the biggest environmental problems cost the most to deal with and as senator roberts pointed out the government says clean up the environmental problem it will be another drag their feet  flat out not cleaned up or actually cleared up and everybody's better off they do but the largest problems have the largest environmental impact but they also cost the most ne my part of the country i state but we've also seen i mean it's the most part for us the conservation program i think if we if we change it we're not asking for more money but if we change the limitations they're currently in the bill you're going to find a real problem with those farmers who actually like a program that works my argument would be i think here on payment limits some comments by several folks i was pretty silent on and i'm i have an awful lot to say about that once we get to the floor but you know this is the reason folks that we have a payment limit issue is there's a good reason wow the payment limit in the current underlying bill in two thousand and two bill is four hundred fifty thousand dollars on this the cost of operating cost of technology on up methane digest right thing to do i would hope that we could leave the current payment limit provision like it is and i'm going to fight very hard to make sure that the real reforms we made in the underlying bill remain and but this is exactly clip contracts are above two hundred fifty thousand dollars one quarter of one percent now why doesn't this cost any money because it's going to that going to cost more money but it's going to shift who takes advantage who is going to go is going to go to the bigger operators at the expense of the medium sized and smaller so one quarter of you know i said in my opening statement that i think that the farm bill is probably the most environmentally friendly bill that we were on congress we battle over environmental issues in many different context but the one thing that we always agree on is how that we can work together to make major progress in improving our environment under the farm bill and the equip program is probably if not one of the lead programs in our conservation title to help us achieve that under the clean water act  it's very clear that some of those broad projects like the digesters and so forth do require very expensive fixes but that's not the main reason that i'm the co sponsor of this bill i understand it projects for cattle operations to meet the clean water act which by the way is it's estimated that there are fourteen thousand k folks in p t e s permits needed those projects typically run from between one hundred fifty thousand to three hundred  fifty thousand dollars that's not the big operators the big operators that's that's folks in any number of different ranges and so it's very important that as senator leahy said this this program is not only is not broken it is one of the leading workable so working programs we have in our conservation title and we should not be implementing something to try to fix a problem that doesn't exist i might add chairman that it may be a and that if you have a significant environmental situation than it costs a significant amount we're not trying to raise the amount of money where making it possible for those  areas where it does cost more certainly in my part of the country just simply because of votes a part of a population and there are strict environmental laws it does cost more and we will we do have people pushing up towards a limit i'm just asking keep the law the way it currently is working well u s d a is very how to deal with it i don't really have that in the impression that they've been throwing money away for the for the heck of filling it away mr chairman well if i might concern that we're trying to figure out here relative to as senator conrad would say having the want fit the size of the wallet here and i don't know if anybody has addressed the answer the question as to as to what the cost would be if the differential was that four hundred fifty thousand as opposed to two hundred fifty thousand dollars in terms of the payment limit i don't think there's a score on this but i want to speak in opposition to the amendment and i'm going to read for the record the number of contracts in each of the states represented at this table that's over two hundred fifty thousand dollars arkansas had five thousand three hundred forty six contracts they had five above two fifty colorado as six thousand and seventy nine they had fourteen ga had five thousand four hundred fifty contracts zero not one above to fifty idaho two thousand two hundred fifty four contracts at twelve about to fifty indiana two thousand nine hundred thirty one contracts seven above to fifty iowa seven thousand five hundred twenty contracts we had three above two fifty kansas eight thousand two hundred and twelve contracts they had ten above two fifty kentucky three thousand and fifty five contracts zero above to fifty michigan one thousand seven hundred forty seven contracts eighteen of up to fifty minnesota seven thousand four hundred forty eight contracts fourteen above two fifty mississippi twelve thousand to twelve thousand two hundred  sixty six contracts one one above to fifty montana four thousand four hundred sixty two contracts they had twenty two above nebraska three thousand six hundred sixty five contracts two above to fifty north dakota four thousand three hundred forty six contracts one two fifty ohio six thousand one hundred forty five contracts one above two fifty pennsylvania one thousand six hundred forty three contracts two above two fifty south carolina two thousand seven hundred fifty eight contracts zero about two fifty vermont two hundred ninety eight contracts ten above two fifty so why if there is no impact why well well i would just let me finish that we know that the average eclipse is about sixteen nine sixteen thousand nine hundred and during the life of this last farm bill many farmers have been turned away because of a lack of funding available in their state in two thousand and five and  thousand and six over thirty two thousand eclipse applications were turned away at the payment limit was lowered from four fifty to two forty the money could be distributed to more farmers who want to implement conservation practices on their land i think improving conservation outcomes and reducing the backlog and i might add that the house bill put in a sixty thousand dollars per year cap when he quit we don't do that in this bill we worked this out we put into forty for the life of the bill so it could be to forty maybe someone needs that much money in one year to meet a requirement but we put the life the bill it two forty and so i think this is a way of distributing the money more  lastly if there are one or two or five or ten that are above to fifty i would suggest that in many of those cases if not all of these are very big operations and i think they have the wherewithal to perhaps meet those and i agree with senator leahy that these could be had the biggest impact that's very true but they also have a requirement of the clean water act  it's not that we're not helping them it's just that we're let me get to two forty they can still get to forty but i think this will help spread it out a little bit more and help reduce that backlog of people that are waiting in line to get equal money  impact thirty two thousand the backlog would be to dramatically increase the amount of money in the quit that's out not to change this limit we have contrary to the numbers from new hampshire and goes into massachusetts has an effect on on that these are significant thanks so if you want if you're worried thirty two thousand backlog the voting against but those are the people that are probably going to have the highest environmental impact and that's something we should we should take care of otherwise you're going to buy in a lot of these places somehow dividing up and doing it doing it piecemeal and not doing this well i would point out that in response my friend from vermont if we took the last five years of the farm bill we had five hundred seventy contracts that were above to fifty now again i assume two hundred thousand we went from for fifty to to fifty or to forty if we took two hundred thousand dollars times five hundred seventy if we assume the same number in the next five years that is one hundred  hundred forty or three hundred three hundred fifty thousand dollars some are much much smaller than that i understand but they're all above to fifty and so i don't know exactly what the savings would be but i do know that would be enough if you took the maximum that would be one fourteen if you took the president bush announced that he will ask this congress to provide an additional forty six billion dollars for the war in iraq next year that is forty six billion dollars more than one hundred fifty billion dollars we already told you would ask for and taken together that's close to two hundred billion dollars more than the hundreds of billions of dollars the taxpayers of this country have already poured into the sands and marshes of iraq for a war this president has made clear he has no intention of ending the people of rhode island are tired of watching their sons and daughters their neighbors and their friends set off to war by a president who won't trouble himself to make a plan to bring them home they're tired of spending money our country has to borrow on a war whose burdens our country should no longer have to bear and they are sick and tired of hearing this president veto or threaten legislation passed by this congress that supports the real and urgent needs of americans and their family it's all because he says it costs too much clearly the president is an expert when it comes to irresponsible and excessive spending look at the war look at the private contractors look at the national debt has run up but how can he keep a straight face and tell the american people that it's more important to borrow and spend thirty five billion dollars for three and a half more months of the iraq war than it is to provide budgeted health insurance for five years ten million american children what a sobering revelation of this administration's misplaced priorities no american should doubt for one minute what is going on here every time president bush the fund children's health care every time he threatens to veto legislation that will send our nation's children to college keep families warm during the winter months invest in job training and technical education programs or offer the promise of medical cures through research at the national institutes of health president bush is making a choice he is choosing prolonging a war in iraq over battling cancer he is choosing he has no plan war over helping families in poverty it is a choice and it's the wrong choice last night the senate passed a bill to provide funding for the departments of labor health and human services education and other agencies on october seventeenth the administration expressed its opposition to this appropriations bill based on what it calls an irresponsible and excessive level of spending well as i said this president's certainly expert at irresponsible and excessive levels of spending but what does he mean here the president means that ten point eight billion dollars spent to help millions of americans lead healthier more productive lives is irresponsible and excessive but nearly two hundred billion dollars additional he wants to borrow and spend on the war in iraq is just fine let's look at two areas in this bill the funding levels we propose exceed those in the administration's budget to see just how irresponsible and excessive we really are the first is at the national heart lung and blood institute at an i h our bill fund the institute at sixty seven million dollars more than the president's request providence rhode island who hopes one day to become a meteorologist rich also suffers from him ophelia and right now lies in a hospital bed in rhode island too sick to attend his classes at western connecticut state university where he hopes to graduate this may sadly rich now twenty four has missed two and a half years of school due to his illness one of these absences was caused by an activity most of us would never even think about something that we do in fact to save lives putting on a seat belt three years ago rich unfastened in seat belt from the airplane collected his things and walked off into the airport and suddenly started to feel tremendous pain he started vomiting blood simply wearing his seatbelt had caused rich to bleed internally inside of his stomach eventually requiring that his gallbladder be removed which spent roughly three weeks in the hospital accumulating bills totaling nearly one point five million dollars luckily blue cross blue shield of rhode island his family's insurer covered most of these costs but rich is desperately afraid what will happen to him when he graduates from college and no longer qualifies under his parent health care plan hemophilia as one of the most expensive conditions a person can have one that few insurance companies will want to take on richard as a fighter he's an example for us all but he will continue to face tremendous difficulties with his health throughout his life soon thanks to research going on at the national institutes of health specifically at the national heart lung and blood institute him ophelia could be the first disease cured by gene therapy the funding in this appropriations bill will go towards research which could save richard's life and the lives of eighteen thousand people across this country who suffer from him a failure but the president this spending is not irresponsible the spending is not excessive this spending is vital and it is working and it has the potential to save thousands of people like rich  place where this bill calls for spending above the president's budget one hundred twenty eight million dollars above his budget to be exact is that the national cancer institute here i want to share the story of benjamin hayes i met ben's parents this summer when they came down to my office from warwick rhode island to share their little boy's story ben was diagnosed with neuroblastoma early in one thousand nine hundred nine when he was just four and a half years old at the time ben's dad was a senior chief in the navy serving aboard the u s s miami he was airlifted off the submarine to join his son and been underwent five rounds of chemo surgery radiation and endured to stem cell transplants these treatment treatments left ben with no high frequency hearing requiring him to wear the two hearing aids and they left him with a severely compromised immune system but then refused to let any of this keep him from being a kid he told his doctors that there would be no treatments during science class and the you know have to be out by three to go to come scouts or baseball or soccer or other activities he often left his chemo therapy sessions dressed in his little league uniform ben was a snorkeler a sailor a swimmer a fisherman a climber an artist and an animal lover he was that his parents say a child first and a child with cancer second though ben and his family enjoyed two years of remission he relapsed again in october two thousand and one of the start of second grade this new round of treatment consisted of more chemo and over two hundred blood and platelet transfusions ben lost his battle with neuroblastoma on august eighth two thousand and three at the age of nine the night before he died ben turned to his mom and asked can't we try a stronger medicine well then at the patriotic pediatric oncology branch of the national cancer institute they are trying to create that stronger medicine ten phase one and for phase two clinical trials are currently being conducted on neuroblastoma and scientists are closer and closer every day to the stronger medicine you asked for is it really so irresponsible and excessive to provide the funding for these studies to find the treatments that could have saved been haiti and could save so many more children like him because to me irresponsible and excessive borrowing and spending four hundred fifty billion dollars for an endless war that undermines our national security and then asking the congress for another hundred ninety six point four billion without a plan to bring our troops home all while nearly fifty million americans go without health insurance and millions of families hover at the door of poverty and we should be clear that the nearly two hundred billion dollars its present had requested for the war in iraq on top of the hundreds and hundreds of billions you'd already spent is not even the whole story when this administration tells us about the financial cost of this disastrous war they don't tell us about the interest payments w have to pay the congressional budget office tells us that interest on the war will total four hundred fifteen billion dollars by two thousand and seventeen and there will be more interest on the additional two hundred billion the president wants us to borrow and spend the final interest cost of this war could approach a trillion dollars passed on to our children and grandchildren president bush i think most americans would argue with you i think most americans would argue that twenty two billion dollars to keep our families healthy is a pretty sound investment in our country's future and that trillions of dollars in spending and hundreds of billions of dollars in interest for a war you won't take action to end that is what is irresponsible and excessive the president threatened veto of this appropriations bill is just another illustration of his extraordinarily misplaced priorities the sixty seven million dollar for to fund the national heart lung and blood institute is a few hours of the cost of the war in iraq not even a full day not even half a day a few hours in fact the entire and i budget in this bill is only a billion dollars above the president's request a billion dollars sounds like a lot of money of course but it is in fact only a few days of the war in iraq not a month not a week only a few days president bush would prolong the war in iraq than fund additional research at the national institutes of health into pediatric cancer into him ophelia and into other diseases like diabetes heart disease arthritis multiple sclerosis autism parkinson's and alzheimer's he would rather continue an endless war and provide hope for millions of families around the country i hope president bush will listen to rich because elos story i hope he will listen to ben hates parents i hope he will listen to the thousands of rhode islanders who've reached out to me to demand a new direction not only in iraq but here at home in america and i hope he will listen to americans across this country who think that people like rich and band should be our first priority as mr president i am proud that this bill puts people like rich and ban ahead of the extreme right wing ideologies and reckless wars the president pursues and i hope we in congress will stand our ground when of all people this president charges that putting rich and ben first is irresponsible and