and i asked to speak as if one morning business out of your concern is recognized thank you very much mr president i want to take a few minutes to do it senator boxer did yesterday which is saying essentially update the senate on the catastrophic fires in california and i offer these words on behalf of senator boxer and myself today there are fourteen fires big fires burning in california the bulk of them are uncontained and out of control the containment factor is very small more than a half a million people have been told to evacuate their homes more than three hundred and nine thousand acres have been destroyed by fire over four hundred miles from north of los angeles to san diego and now across the mexican border and more we fear will be destroyed the deaf fortunately today are limited to one with thirty four injuries throughout southern california some of them firefighters high winds and high temperatures persist a red flag warning is in effect for the california coast from monterey to the mexican border more than a thousand homes have been destroyed eleven thousand five hundred are now threatened today more than one hundred commercial buildings have been destroyed and two thousand are threatened fifty two out buildings have been destroyed and five hundred and fifty are threatened health warnings have been issued because of smoke and particulates matter now you know these fires are driven by hurricane and gale force santa ana winds which are hot and contrary to the prevailing westerly blow east to west they are fuelled by bone dry brush from years of drought and virtually no humidity humidity is below ten percent fires are raging still in malibu at lake arrowhead in irvine and santa clarita the arrowhead area is particularly dangerous because there are half a million acres of pine infested beetle dead trees waiting to go up my and of course they're raging in san diego county which is bearing the brunt of two major fires which well could join already three hundred thousand people in san diego county alone have been told to evacuate more than ten thousand of them are now taking  qualcomm stadium home to the san diego chargers and these people will be there for forty eight to seventy two more hours and possibly more sanitary supplies are going to become a problem and it's going to be a real effort to get food and water to these evacuees and to the hundreds of thousands of people displaced around southern california both senator boxer and i spoke to the governor and he declared seven counties disaster area yesterday the president declared southern california a disaster area to be able to speed the federal emergency management agencies relief which is critical this is going to be a real test of the money we're going to learn whether fema actually learned from the hurricane in new orleans a test of whether fema has gotten it act together post trina fema must act quickly and urgently to get help to california the state is going to need cots it's going to need blankets it's going to need water food and most importantly those sanitary facilities that are needed for people who are camping out today sleeping in cars located in schools or in qualcomm stadium and most importantly this spread half of this fire excuse me this help has to be spread throughout the fourteen different fire areas it's not going to be enough to simply put it in one place last night the secretary of interior informed me that the fires have crossed the line and are entering into baja california mexico and urge that the mexican authorities begin to speak out the thing about these fires is they're fast moving you see them in a distance on a hill and you don't believe you'll be affected because the winds are contrary to what you expect and then suddenly within a short period of time two hours the fire is upon you so people must be alerted and they must evacuate these fire areas the military is pitching in fifteen hundred national guard personnel are actively engaged or directly supporting firefighting efforts we have five hundred fifty active duty marines seventeen thousand california national guard personnel are available and i believe we have more than fifty three hundred state of california firefighters on the line and hundreds more from local jurisdictions today a combination of national guard navy and marine corps aircraft are either supporting fire fire effort or are or are prepared to pitch in the problem is with the wind and d smoke it is difficult for a plane or helicopter to know where they're going simply put this is a disaster of huge proportions it is catastrophic in terms of property loss and environmental damage hopefully it's not going to be a huge catastrophe in terms of loss of life i don't think there's anything other than a catastrophic health incident that's more serious to a person or a family than losing their home by flood or fire and i know that californians will respond in their traditional stalwart and generous manner to help their neighbors both senator boxer's and my heart go out to all californians today i would ask that a specific statistical roundup of the larger fires be added directly following my remarks in the record without objection thank you i mr president i know the absence of a quorum afternoon i understand that a number of republicans are at the white house for a white house meeting until three thirty and so there won't be any votes between now and three thirty however we want to go ahead and get the amendments up get them debated and hopefully that around three thirty or shortly thereafter we can start a series of votes right now we have three right now we have four amendments pending and we have for three more amendments three more amendments that are not pending but will be called up as shortly and i think one of those will be by the senator from new mexico very shortly so that's sort of the lay of the land it looks like we're down to about seven votes possible starting at around three thirty or maybe shortly thereafter i thank you for joining us sure and i yield the floor and i know is recognized as president as i understand there are still some checking to see if there's any objection to a setting aside the pending amendment something i can offer or a an amendment call often offer an amendment but  we are waiting on that i'd like to describe the substance of the amendment that i intend offer as president this amendment is intended to reduce the social security most of us who go back to our home states on weekends and during recesses know about the social security backlog we hear from individuals in our states about how long they have to wait to find out whether their social security disability claims have been approved we hear about elderly people waiting in long lines for service at social security offices we hear about busy signals when they call the one eight hundred number that's provided for people trying to find out the status of their social security claim but i'm not sure most of us understand the extent of the backlog the consequences of the backlog or the reasons for the backlog so let me talk a little about that for more than seventy years social security has provided millions of american workers and their families with a basic level of protection against poverty when a worker can no longer work due to old age of course we're all aware of disability now being covered by social security so security benefits are the only means of survival for millions of individuals with severe disabilities these individuals rely on social security administration to promptly and fairly adjudicate their applications for disability benefits unfortunately we are witnessing a trend where this is simply not happening according to the so security administration there are currently over seven hundred fifty six thousand cases waiting for a hearing that's not waiting for a final determination waiting for a hearing the average time to get a hearing is five hundred twenty three days that is the longest it has been in the history of the social security administration the average processing time for a hearing is projected to increase next year based on the numbers we have in the appropriations bill before us this is a real problem for individuals with disabilities in my home state of new mexico currently the average processing time per case in the albuquerque hearing office is five hundred twenty eight days keep in mind this again i'll say mr president this is just the time that it takes to get a hearing this does not include the time it takes for on the national determination or for a final determination is passed may the finance finance committee which i'm privileged to serve on receive testimony indicating there are thousands of individuals with disabilities that currently have cases pending with the social security administration and have had those cases pending for three years or more the finance committee received testimony regarding the extreme hardship that our ships that individuals with severe disabilities must endure while awaiting a final decision on their disability claims we heard instance after instance where individuals was their disabilities were unable to work and were forced to clear bankruptcy they lost their homes they suffered deterioration in their medical conditions and some even died while their claims lingered in social security administration offices according to the social security administration staffing levels are at their lowest since one thousand nine hundred seventy two thirty years ago so security administration had more than eighty two thousand employees in two thousand and five a so scared administration had sixty six thousand employees and in a few months the expected employment at social security administration will drop below sixty thousand thousands of employees are leaving so security administration field and hearing offices without being replaced as many of us know the field offices around the country are reducing their hours in carlsbad new mexico which i visited two weeks ago due to a reduction in hours of service seniors and people with disabilities are forced to line up around the building often waiting hours to get served even or some field offices are shutting their doors permanently meanwhile since nine hundred ninety the number of disabled workers drawing disability benefits says more than double that number has gone from three million to six point eight million today field offices are averaging over eight hundred and fifty thousand visitors a week in during this current year as we know from the press the first baby boomer officially filed for social security last week so the demands on social security are only going to increase in addition congress has significantly increased so security administration responsibilities as part of the medicare part the legislation so so mr president so security administration finds itself in a very dire circumstance so security administration has over fourteen hundred field and hearing offices in cities and towns across the country mandatory costs such as program integrity rent guards postage employees salaries and benefits are continuing to rise unfortunately congress appropriated on average about one hundred fifty million dollars last each year for the last seven years then the administration requested the current budget situation has simply been compounded by years of sustained underfunding by the congress according to the social security administration the present cost of processing the hearing backlog would be seven hundred ninety four million dollars the difference between the amount of funding requested for administrative expenses and the amount appropriated for fest we're all one through zero seven is nine hundred sixty two million dollars more than enough to address the backlog so if we had actually appropriated what the administration asked for during fiscal years oh one through zero seven we would largely have this backlog problem solved unfortunately we did not do that i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee on the appropriations committee for their significant efforts to address the backlog as you know mr president the chairman of the subcommittee has been a tireless leader on issues affecting individuals with disabilities for decades he has led the way in the senate on reducing barriers for individuals with disabilities censuring fall community participation fortunately the chairman in the ranking member recognized the current challenges that individuals with disabilities are facing in accessing disability benefits and they have worked hard to increase administrative funds for the social security one hundred twenty five million dollars over the amount that was requested by the president i believe we all recognize how important that infusion of funds will be in the committee report accompanying the bill that we're considering here the chairman request of the commissioner so security to set forth a plan to reduce the backlog as submitted the commission's commissioners plan would include accelerating review of cases that are likely are certain to be approved improving person hearing procedures increasing adjudicatory capacity and increasing efficiency through automation and improved business processes unfortunately the amount of funding in this bill does not go far enough in my view to to to substantially reduce the backlog according to the commissioner this amount of funding will merely stem the tide it will not address the backlog in a significant way the fiscal year two thousand and eight budget resolution which we all considered here on the floor and many of us voted for recommends an increase of four hundred thirty million above the president's request for social security administration administrate a budget in order to reduce this backlog amendment that i'm intending to offer here later today would give us reduce the backlog to help get rid of these long lines and the administration and the amendment as paid for amendment would shift excess medicare funds to pay for this critical increase in funding to the social security administration in this one year these offsetting funds have been have been identified in close collaboration with with finance committee staff and of course  amendment importantly these funds would be immediately replaced at the beginning of fiscal year two thousand and nine with generally available funding that was passed as part of the traditional medical assistance extenders package finally the amendment would also permit the u s treasury department to invest in excess operating capital so this represents responsible oversight by the treasury department this policy has been recommended by the general accounting accounting office the general accountability office and others it is estimated that this policy will generate tens of millions of dollars for the federal government over the next ten years mr president the bottom line is that million millions of american workers and their families people whom we represent rely on social security to protect them against poverty in the event that they are no longer able to work this incredible insurance program is breaking down because of our failure to fund the administration of the program so i urge my colleagues to support my amendment it is being offered on behalf of myself  senator snowe from maine senator baucus from montana mr president i i don't believe we we have yet gotten to a point procedurally where i'm able to offer the amendments  president twenty four years ago today at six twenty in the morning in beirut a yellow mercedes benz truck drove into beirut international airport where the first battalion eighth marines was keeping its headquarters the truck crashed through a barbed wire fence through the parking lot passed between two sentry posts and then crashed through a gate and into the lobby of the large building where the marines were keeping their headquarters at that point an explosive was set off on this truck and ending up with the death of two hundred forty one american military service members this was the largest loss of life for the united states marine corps in one single day since it will jima it was the largest loss of life or american service people from the beginning of the tet offensive on thirty one hundred sixty eight and it remains the largest single loss of life in one day since that time i believe it's appropriate for us to take a few minutes and remember today the sacrifices that were made and the contributions that the united states was attempting to make in that particular circumstance i make these comments of someone who is proud to have served in the united states marine corps brother who served in the marine corps as a son who's now serving in the marine corps and as someone who covered the marines in beirut as a journalist and had recently left the country when this incident occurred the marines who went to beirut came in peace they had been sent in after  several incidents occurred regarding multi party incidents which i'll describe in a minute but at the request of the lebanese government we had a united states marine representation we had military people from the united kingdom from italy from france they were asked to help separate the warring factions inside beirut during a vicious civil war and also to help separate the result of an israeli incursion in which the israelis were attempting to take out large elements of the palestinian cycles of rotation for a little more than a year when event occurred they operated under enormously difficult rules of engagement the situation in beirut at that time i was just making a few notes this morning thinking about memorializing this event was rather similar to what we see in iraq today in terms of having a weak central government and many many different factions around it seven day our marines in french as i said the italians all operating this environment as well as the israeli military that head at this point pulled back over the shoot mountains these were very very fine marines i spent a good bit of time them on their different different positions they were commanded the overall command by colonel tim garrity who was an extraordinarily capable officer who had spent more than two tours in vietnam to over time commander  took fire they could only return fire with the same type of weapon that they were receiving fire from this very restrictive and it ended up contributing to the situation where this truck bomb went off where the sentries at the gate when the truck came in were not even allowed to have ammunition in their weapons at that time and they were precluded from being able to take out the struck when it came in because they had t o once they saw what was happening they had to attempt to load their weapons and then fire at this truck this is an incident which combines so many different  factors that are still in play right now in the middle east we should be remembering it we should be remembering and we look back on it at the united states must play its hand very are fully in that part of the world as one marine said to me during a firefight at one outpost that i was covering as a journalist it is always difficult when you get involved in a five sided argument to think about that and we're looking at what's going on in other parts of the middle east today but the main purpose of me speaking today is to urge all of us never to forget the courage the risk and ultimately the sacrifice that so many of our young people are required to make on behalf of our country and under the direction of the leadership of those who decide to send them into harm's way  mr president i rise today to address not only a major public policy issue for the state of pennsylvania but also a fundamental fundamental issue of fairness in the proper role of government which i think will have an impact on the country as a whole recently the united states department of energy designated fifty two fifty two out of pennsylvania sixty seven counties as part of a power transmission card or more formally known as the national interest electric transmission card or this means that the united states government will be able to turn three quarters of the state of pennsylvania into a superhighway of transmission towers their authority to designate this corridor was granted in the energy bill passed in two thousand and two thousand and five in the previous congress this designation would allow the federal government to override state authority and construct high voltage power transmission lines wherever they please virtually wherever the federal government pleases this could place the lines on farmland through neighborhoods through someone's backyard and for example through a beautiful vineyard like the one that i saw most recently in green county in the furthest southwestern corner of pennsylvania so are virtually anywhere in the commonwealth and anywhere in the country the department earlier this year had a public comment period where i and other public officials and most importantly my constituents spoke out loudly in opposition to the draft carter plan that draft plan is virtually identical to the final plan let me just give you a sense of what we're talking about here this is a map which depicts the draft mid atlantic and southwest area national corridors now there are people in washington for years been talking about creating opportunities for more power and this is a national priority they say and yet you can see just by the dotted areas that there are a lots of states in the northeast that will be impacted obviously new york and pennsylvania west virginia maryland and a few others and then out west and in the further this reaches of the southwest of our country principally and in the state of california so for for all of or all of the talk about a national priority there's very little that impacts the middle of our country now i sent letters as senator specter did to the department of energy but so far  not happy to report the department of energy has ignored my constituents and i think this is an outrage for a government bureaucracy to ignore the people they're supposed to serve they pay their salaries those taxpayers pay their salaries the least that this department should do is respond not just in a timely way but to respond completely but that we haven't seen that yet now last week i met with an assistant secretary of energy to discuss my opposition to the transmission carter as it's presently drafted i sent letters to the energy secretary mr samuel bodman most recently in early october we're still waiting for a response to that  a letter signed by both senator specter and me waiting for a response i know people get busy but i think it's time now to respond to that letter and we're also waiting for him to respond secretary bodman to respond to my requests for a meeting we're getting a little resistance there is well so while i'm waiting for these responses from the energy secretary i want to put him on notice i want to put the federal energy regulatory commission which we know by the acronym for f the r c f the r c i want to put firk on notice and i want to put the united states senate on notice that i have grave concerns as lots of people in pennsylvania have grave gr concerns about this transmission karner as presently designed or drafted and i'm outraged by how my constituents have been treated so far in this process i would argue they've been ignored in this process so i intend to use every means at my disposal every means at my disposal to prevent the national interest electric transmission current or for moving forward until pennsylvania is at a minimum treated equitably so i intend to place a hold on the renomination of joseph keller who is now serving as the chairman of the federal energy regulatory commission known as for the place a hold on his renomination and i'll be introducing tomorrow in connection with the amendments to the farm bill an amendment to prevent the use of eminent domain to take farm land for use as a part of this power transmission carter one more chart before we conclude the second chart here depicts the number of counties affected in the northeastern corner of the united states i'll speak just to pennsylvania for today fifty two out of those sixty seven counties basically what the federal government has told us in essence implicitly that's this is what i derive from their their failure to include or failure to respond to the state of pennsylvania is there's going to be a superhighway of power lines of cross pennsylvania and there's nothing anyone can do about it the federal government is going to take over this this effort and put those lines across the state of pennsylvania well i got news for them pennsylvania is full of a lot of people who are concerned about this whether they're in small towns or urban areas and as we're going to be speaking to tomorrow to rural areas in pennsylvania farm communities in most of those counties designated designated there are in rural communities and if the federal government and the department of energy or the federal energy regulatory commission or anyone else in this town wants to fight about this we are ready to fight and we will fight morning noon and night until our state the commonwealth of pennsylvania is treated equitably madam president i y a ranking member senator specter and his staff as well the reality is that the needs facing the people of our country who are impacted by this bill are enormous there is unfortunately not enough funding available to accommodate those needs and within that context senator harkin instead of the specter of done their very best i want to say a few words about one particular program which is important to me which is important to the people of vermont and which is vitally important to this whole country as we try to deal with the health care crisis that our country is now facing a crisis in which forty seven million americans have no health insurance even more are under insured and the cost of health care is soaring every day and what this legislation deals with and deals with i think quite well is understanding that it is important for us to grow the number of community health centers in this country the community health center program is a wonderful success story and it is widely recognized as one of the most cost effective programs in the entire federal government community health centers are community run they are run by the people in the community themselves they are run in a nonprofit basis they provide not only affordable health care to their people but affordable dental care which is a growing crisis all over rural america and in the state of vermont they provide mental health counseling another serious issue and they provide low cost prescription drugs and in fact the lowest cost prescription drugs available in america and these federally qualified health centers serve people from all walks of life and all incomes whether you have private insurance whether you have medicare whether you have medicaid or whether you have no health insurance your welcome into these community health centers for those with no health insurance payment is based on a sliding scale so you don't have a whole lot of money you don't have to pay a lot for your health or dental care about a president today of a sixteen million american sixteen million benefit from the services that help sent does provide in every state and almost every can get gresham ill district in our country for an average federal grant expenditure of only one hundred twenty four dollars per patient per year these centers offer a comprehensive health care regardless of ability to pay and at a time when more and more americans are losing their health insurance when they're fin primary health care these centers play an extraordinary role and they deserve to be adequately funded this legislation provides two point two four billion dollars for the community health center program a two hundred  fifty million dollar increase above the fiscal year two thousand and seven level and i want to thank senators harkin and specter very much for they are support for this program it is estimated that this increase will allow us to expand or create some five hundred new community health centers all over this country serving an additional two million americans that is a big deal at a time when millions would be millions of people are unable to find primary health care but just don't have the funds to pay for it given the fact that we have forty seven million uninsured it is clear that this is not enough but it is a significant step forward the president in vermont in recent years we have expanded the number of federally qualified health centers from two to six and my hope is that we can add an additional three or four more senses in the next three years these centers now serve over eighty six thousand vermonters and provide quality health care quality dental care low cost prescription drugs mental health counseling in some twenty three different locations around the state of vermont the senses of the medical home what twenty four percent of the months of medicaid beneficiaries and serve nineteen percent of our uninsured nationally health centers are not only providing quality efficient care in under served communities they are building a major gap in our nation's health care system where primary care is becoming a lost profession it is no secret that in many parts of america especially rell america it is very very hard for people to locate a primary health care physician it is also imperative that these centers play a role which allow people to go to them rather than flooding emergency emergency rooms in hospitals which are much much more expensive than a president in addition to this appropriations bill we are also in the process of reauthorizing the community health so i think this issue of community health centers is very much an issue an area that is supported by people from different political perspectives it is doing an enormous job providing health care to millions of americans today and i'm glad that  president in september the finance committee held a hearing on the echo efficacies over the past year of the combat methamphetamine epidemic act or what we call the combat meth act for short the combat meth act implemented restrictions on drugs that go into the production of methamphetamine methamphetamine abuse has devastated lives families and communities across our nation and across the world the testimony given at the hearing by the u s department of homeland security the u s department of state and state agencies indicated that while the combat meth act has helped reduce the home production of methamphetamine across the united states methamphetamine is now flowing in historic levels across our borders from countries where production controls are much less rigid a two thousand and six substance abuse and mental health services administration report found that my home state of idaho had one of the highest rates of methamphetamine abuse in the preceding twelve months among those aged twelve and under in rural idaho especially the issue of methamphetamine abuse has become almost commonplace i visit with local officials  community leaders in idaho and hear about problems affecting their community every time i'm home when i ask if the problem continues the response is almost always of course as if the question is a little bit naive this troubles me greatly chairman and founder of the highly successful montana meth project also testified at our september finance committee hearing the montana meth project was established in two thousand and five as a nonprofit organization created to reduce first time methamphetamine use through public service messaging policy and community outreach in the two years since the project has been active in montana the state has gone from being fifth in the nation four per capita use to thirty nine today a staggering change adult meth use is down in montana by as much as seventy percent the montana meth project is an example of a highly effective private sector education and prevention efforts the success is also good news for arizona illinois and my state of idaho because all three have started their own meth projects and while this is very encouraging we have a long way to go montana and idaho are just two states that have been overwhelmingly affected by meth production use and addiction rural communities nationwide have been hit particularly hard by the demand and presence of this lethal drug creating major problems for law enforcement health and welfare education and environmental protection agencies not to mention our families and school systems i've been approached by police officers community leaders health advocates school administrators and criminal justice leaders about the severe toll that this drug takes on our citizens particularly on our teenagers and our young adults they've witnessed destroyed relationships and families torn apart all suffering from this drug that invades neighborhoods families and friends according to idaho's department of health and welfare the number of children in foster care in idaho increased by forty percent between two thousand and two and two thousand and six and approximately three thousand children enter foster care in idaho every year the telling point though is that the majority of them are children of meth addicted single mothers our children are the unwitting and helpless victims of this menacing drug drug epidemic there is some encouraging news but as is the case with drug trafficking it is tempered with alarming trends in one thousand nine hundred nine idaho implemented an initiative to fight meth production coordinating regional and state law enforcement efforts these efforts have proven highly  thousand one hundred eighty six meth labs were seized in idaho in two thousand and four the number had dropped to thirty eight thanks to this enhanced coordination strategy according to idaho law enforcement agencies meth lab seizures are now at an all time low which has resulted in less danger in neighborhoods and communities as well as to environmental protection workers who are responsible for the cleanup at these sites after they are seized at the finance committee hearing last month gary kendall the director of the state of iowa governor's office drug control policy testified that iowa had also seen success with state and local prevention efforts and multi jurisdictional task forces at the national and international level according to the state department bureau for international narcotics and law enforcement since the passage last year of the combat meth act methamphetamine abuse has been trending slightly downward in the united states unfortunately worldwide consumption is still growing this is due in large part to the fact that compared to organic illegal drugs such as opiates and cocaine methamphetamine production is easy it can be produced just about anywhere and has a very substantial profit margin it is the state department's assessment that international mitigation and control of this disturbing and worldwide trend can only be maintained by a strong u leadership we've seen some successes in recent months and the years during the first six months of this year operation crystal flow a joint operation between the united states government and the governments in north and south america and west asia saw the halting suspension or seizure of fifty three tons of chemicals that go into meth production the so called precursor drugs this operation was a joint effort of the international narcotics control board through its project prism task force which includes the united states drug enforcement agency and authorities in one hundred twenty six other nations this is just one of a number of international efforts in which the u s is participating with the crackdown at home on methamphetamine production the supply source has changed today mexico is the principal foreign supplier of methamphetamine to the united states according to the department of state eighty percent of the drug addicts in mexico alley and taiwan are using meth mexico itself has a very serious methamphetamine addiction problem among its population and because of the success of the combat meth act and activities undertaken by individual states the united states demand for the drugs has gone south so to speak meth from so called super labs in mexico is reaching beyond the already established demand of my state and surrounding western and southwestern states to other areas in the united states we're seeing it in the great lakes in the northeast and in the southeast again the lure of an enormous profit margin coupled with the highly addictive nature of meth is a proven recipe for even greater disaster the mexican government has been working over the past few years to exert a sweeping control over the movement of large amounts of methamphetamine precursor drugs our government is working with the mexican government in ongoing border security with and drug trafficking initiatives but as supply lines are squelched in one area they restart in other areas and in other countries where controls and law enforcement are lacking as i stated earlier this is an international problem and efforts led by the united states must be global in scope according to the department of homeland security and immigration and customs enforcement methamphetamine seizures has steadily increased although immigrations and customs enforcement has increased its bilateral and multilateral drug interdiction efforts in recent years and drug seizures are up the supply is also increasing as it becomes the drug of choice for fifteen to sixteen million people worldwide our work to combat meth is a multi pronged process and as i said earlier rural areas  states have been hit particularly hard by these trends small towns in idaho montana and wyoming and other states remain under siege by the meth epidemic these are not communities with substantial numbers of law enforcement personnel and resources massive revenue bases or specialized departments and offices to fight back recently and i to hold on with over twenty years experience working with drug endangered children shared an idea with me on how to best fight the meth problem in rural communities his recommendation was that the federal government should assist local communities in forming multi organization school parent and agency task forces to educate children and adults about the perils of meth addiction he reminded me that these task forces exert community and peer pressure to report the presence of labs and those selling and using meth in the community in idaho this approach has proven to be the most effective way to combat meth problems in our rural communities educating people before they try meth like the montana meth project enables and energises local collaborative task forces to spread the word that their communities say no to meth and maintaining a zero tolerance policy that includes severe penalties for breaking the law will help reduce the supply and dry up the demand integral to fighting methamphetamine in our communities is educating our children to that end in idaho i've partnered with the idaho department of state excuse me idaho state department of education safe drug and free schools program and have issued a call for idaho high schools across our state to create public service announcements that seek to educate other students about the dangers of methane fetterman abuse on the model of the highly successful montana meth project getting our youth directly involved in this outreach and this education effort will significantly reduce the potential for methamphetamine use considering the growing international methamphetamine epidemic it's in our nation's best interest to remain very active in cooperative endeavors such as those in which the state department the u s drug enforcement agency and the department of homeland security are currently involved in these successful programs deserve continued funding in order to stop the supply of meth coming into our neighborhoods it's time for our nation to mobilize to fight this deadly drug it's time to let foreign drug traffickers know that the united states is closed to meth business we've witnessed enough children with ruined bodies ruined minds and ruined lives we've seen enough adults abandon their parental responsibilities and their societal responsibilities for the lie that is a meth high we've seen the tragedy of newborn babies taken away from mothers unable to care for them and the infants themselves suffering from the very same terrible addictions mess continues to ravage america's communities large and small and this will require an increased effort from the federal government to bring an end to meth use and meth production in these places it since it's especially important to focus federal dollars where they are truly needed in rural communities nationwide that don't have the manpower or other resources to fight this battle alone i call on my colleagues to support the critical effective efforts in their respective states some of which i've outlined here today toward meth finding meth free communities and to continue to support u s leadership and involvement in an international drug trafficking and suppression effort madam chairman there are many things that we can do from the federal level to the state level to the local community and frankly the family and individual level to fight meth in this country but one of the most important things that we have found is simply educating people about the risks involved in the use of methamphetamines is critical to our ability to reduce the demand and to be able to get a handle on fighting the supply madam president i yield back the balance of my time or um any kind of unanimous consent agreement there is not ok just to alert the managers of the bill i probably won't talk for more than about ten minutes total the first amendment i want to talk about is the amendment that deals with the totalization agreement between the united states and mexico it's the latest attempt to drain the social security trust fund two thousand and four the commissioner of social security totalization agreement with the director general of the mexican social security institute while the president has not yet submitted the u s mexico totalization agreement to congress i am concerned that the agreement severely impact the social security trust fund and threaten the retirement benefits of hardworking americans the proposed totalization agreement with mexico does not contain protections against fraud and there are too many unanswered questions about its cost to american taxpayers the government accountability office has already warned us that the proposed totalization agreement with mexico will likely increase the number of unauthorized workers and their family members eligible for social security benefits mexican workers who ordinarily would not receive benefits because they lacked the required ten years of legally documented employment in the united states could qualify for partial social security benefits with as little as one and a half years of work history more family members living in mexico would also qualify for u s social security benefits because the proposed agreement waives rules that prevent payments to non citizens such as children and spouses living outside the united states because the mexican government doesn't keep sufficient records of birth death marriages it would be nearly impossible to determine whether someone died so that the social security administration could discontinue sending benefits the social security administration estimates that fifty thousand additional mexican workers would qualify for these benefits in the first five years for a total estimated cost of over five hundred million dollars and during that same time period the agreement would save u s workers a little over one hundred million dollars if you do the math it appears that the cost of the agreement could be almost four times the same needs but for all we send scarce social security dollars to a foreign country congress must first determine whether a totalization agreement is in the best interest of our country we've done that with under other countries and it's worked well but this agreement has serious flaws to protect social security benefits to the united states citizens and to preserve the program for future generations i am offering this amendment today my amendment would bar funding for the administration of benefit payments under a totalization agreement with mexico president i am also offering a second amendment there have been many media reports recently about those who are here illegally stealing american social security numbers every year employers are advised that nearly eight hundred thousand employees do not have valid maxine social security numbers and in too many of these cases the numbers that are used belong to somebody else in america today i'm going to take a few moments to share with my colleagues just a few of the stories of victims of identity theft i have shared some of these stories in the past last year i spoke about audra who had been a stay at home mom since two thousand her social security number was being used by at least two hundred in eighteen different illegal immigrants mostly in texas to obtain jobs the i r s accused her of all in back taxes of over one million dollars on other people's illegal work there was also caleb who lives in the battle with his wife and two young children in december two thousand and three caleb was unable to work in a plot was a unable to work and he applied for unemployment benefits he was denied benefits were rightfully his and was told it was because he was already working as a landscaper in las vegas or las vegas and reno about five hundred miles apart would have been a little difficult for this unemployed worker in matter but stories like this are all too common states of experience a crime spree involving illegal immigrants using the stolen identities of children in one case in utah a child apparently owns a cleaning company works as a prep cook at two restaurants in salt lake city that's a lot of responsibility especially for a little eight year old boy and another boy in salt lake city supposedly works for an express air freight company quite an important job for an eleven year old man and president these stories are quite shocking and americans are being denied unemployment benefits and are being unfairly targeted for failure to pay taxes on money that they did not earn my amendment prohibits the social security administration from using funds to process claims for work performed under a stolen or fraudulent social security number we should not reward individuals who have knowingly engaged in illegal behavior my amendment will ensure that the two hundred eighteen a little illegal immigrants who stole social security number will not receive benefits from the social security trust fund the landscaper who stole kaleb social security number will not get credit for his work using one of my constituents number and the prep cook in salt lake city who stole an eight year old boy social boy social security number will not get credit for it's a very it's a real learning process not only to see what goes on during the time that there's a debate going on in the floor that all the things going on as happened today outside the microphones so be i have knowledge publicly that the two managers have done everything within their power to move this bill and twelve thirty has passed but the good faith is still here we're going to work this through this and ten minutes each they will be voted on in the following order number one carton number thirty four hundred number two ensign thirty three forty two number three ensign thirty three fifty two number for vitter thirty three twenty eight that be in order for number five bingaman three thirty four forty with two minutes each being many kyl number six kennedy thirty four thirty three as modified seven grassley sanders thirty three ninety six and that the men be modified with the change that the desk and it's my understanding will be a voice vote on that number eight schumer thirty four zero four as amended way by the durbin amendment or thirty four forty nine voice vote number nine demand amendment as first class air travel the offering agreed to number ten chambliss thirty three ninety one is modified number eleven republican motion to commit further the majority further i asked consent that upon the passage of vote most to proceed asked twenty two of five the dream act is their objection that must present minority leader regretfully reserving the right to object after the majority leader began to read this consent agreement i have one  under the previous order the dorgan amendment number three three four five is withdrawn without objection the the senator from iowa and to vitiate the previous unanimous consent regarding thirty four thirty without objection and without objection amendment thirty four thirty is edified is agreed to i thank you for signing up at this point we will now proceed  into i called up the kennedy men at number thirty four thirty three and i have a modification i send to the desk the clerk will report under the previous order the amendment is agreed to i think presiding officer under the previous order there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided on the carden amendment number thirty four hundred number thirty four hundred i think resigning office to present the senator from maryland i'm the president i urge my colleagues to support the amendment it's offered by senator smith and myself mr president refugees who come to this country are entitled to loans to help them to pray the cost of transportation and resettlement assistance once they arrive and i'm for that this amendment provides similar benefits to those who qualify for special immigration these laws these are iraqi and afghan translators who helped us and now and risk of their lives allowed to come to a safe haven in the united states this amendment extends a helping hand to those who helped us under very difficult and dangerous  circumstances as i indicated trans refugees are entitled to this benefit for up to six to seven years this provides benefits road the up to six months at the outside beholders it's carefully crafted it has been the scored a dead knotted adding additional cost to the budget i think this is just a matter of basic fairness and i urge by colleagues to support the card and s mrs boxer mr brown mr brownback in the hall mr in no way lincoln mr lott mr lugar mr martinez mr mccain mrs mrs murray mr nelson of florida mr nelson of nebraska mr obama mr pryor or mr reed of rhode island mr sanders mr schumer mr sessions mr shelby mr smith madison known mr spect webb mr white house mr wyde senators voting in the affirmative bennett bang him in carton coleman durban finegold grassley menendez and specter no senator voted in the negative m r mr salazar mr sala stevens mr stevens  mr sanders mr sanders