October 2, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10413 

holdings would be bolstered, giving those 

banks the ability to sell and restructure assets and get on with their rehabilitation. No 

taxpayer money would be spent, and the 

asset sale transactions would remain in the 

private sector where they belong. 

If we were to (1) implement a program to 

ease the fears of depositors and other general 

creditors of banks; (2) keep tight restrictions 

on short sellers of financial stocks; (3) suspend fair-value accounting (which has contributed mightily to our problems by marking assets to unrealistic fire-sale prices); and 

(4) authorize a net worth certificate program, we could settle the financial markets 

without significant expense to taxpayers. 

Say Congress spends $700 billion of taxpayer money on the loan purchase proposal. 

What do we do next? If, however, we implement the program suggested above, we will 

have $700 billion of dry powder we can put to 

work in targeted tax incentives if needed to 

get the economy moving again. 

The banks do not need taxpayers to carry 

their loans. They need proper accounting and 

regulatory policies that will give them time 

to work through their problems. 

Mr. HARKIN. I suggest the absence of 

a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF 

TORTURE AND TERRORISM ACT 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I know 

this is kind of a hectic time in Congress. We are trying to get bills passed. 

People want to get home to campaign 

and for the election. But I want to 

highlight a very important bill I am 

working on with my colleague, Congressman BRUCE BRALEY from the 

State of Iowa. 

I would like to urge my colleagues to 

take the time to look at this important 

measure. It is H.R. 5167, the Justice for 

Victims of Torture and Terrorism Act. 

I am hopeful when we are back in November—and we will be back on the 

17th doing business—we will be able to 

pass this bill and send it to the President for his signature. 

Let me highlight some of the bill’s 

most important aspects. H.R. 5167 will 

finally provide justice for American 

prisoners of war and civilians who were 

taken hostage and tortured by Saddam 

Hussein’s regime. 

These victims include 17 American 

prisoners of war who were tortured 

under Saddam Hussein’s regime and 

who sought compensation through the 

courts. These victims also include CBS 

reporter Bob Simon and his cameraman, Roberto Alvarez, who were captured and tortured along with the 

POWs. 

These brave POWs were beaten and 

starved by Saddam Hussein’s regime, 

and they were awarded compensation 

from a U.S. judge until the Bush administration lawyers intervened in the 

case and said it should be thrown out. 

These victims were, again, denied 

justice by the Bush administration 

when President Bush vetoed H.R. 1585, 

the fiscal year 2008 National Defense 

Authorization Act, which would have 

allowed Americans tortured by Saddam 

Hussein’s regime to pursue justice in 

U.S. courts. 

This bill, H.R. 5167, is the result of a 

bipartisan compromise that passed the 

House unanimously—unanimously—on 

September 15. The bill gives the Government of Iraq 90 days to resolve the 

claims of American victims of Iraqi 

torture and terrorism for minimal 

amounts before the waiver that was 

put into last year’s DOD bill would be 

terminated. As a result of the bipartisan compromise made in the House, 

the waiver would remain in place as 

long as the President certifies that 

Iraq has not settled commercial claims 

or that the administration is engaged 

in good-faith negotiations with Iraq to 

settle the claims of the victims. Let 

me point out, the compensation due 

these victims would not be U.S. taxpayer money but coming from the Iraqi 

treasury. It is time these victims are 

compensated. This bill will allow that 

to happen. 

Right now, the Iraqi Government is 

depositing billions—billions—of dollars 

in U.S. banks in the U.S. and billions 

in other places around the world. Surely—surely—they can help compensate 

the 17 American prisoners of war and 

others who were tortured and beaten 

under Saddam Hussein. 

So, again, as I pointed out, it passed 

the House unanimously. I urge my colleagues to take a look at this bill. I am 

hopeful when we come back in November we can take it up and pass it unanimously just like they did in the House. 

With that, Mr. President, I yield the 

floor and suggest the absence of a 

quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO SENATORS 

WAYNE ALLARD

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise 

today to pay tribute to my friend and 

colleague, WAYNE ALLARD, the senior 

Senator from Colorado. As all of us in 

the Senate know, Senator ALLARD will 

retire from the Senate at the end of 

this legislative session. 

Senator ALLARD is a Coloradan 

through and through. Raised on a 

ranch in Walden, CO, a very small town 

in the northwest corner of our State, 

he found his calling in animal medicine. He followed this passion to Colorado State University at Fort Collins, 

where he received his doctorate of veterinary medicine. Even today, he 

proudly wears his tie as a Colorado 

State University Ram. At CSU, WAYNE

met his future wife Joan who was 

studying microbiology at the time. 

After graduating, WAYNE and Joan 

built the Allard Animal Hospital in 

Loveland together. They made their 

home there. They had two wonderful 

daughters, Christi and Cheryl. Living 

and working in Loveland, WAYNE developed a passion for public service. He 

developed a passion for the good that 

could come from serving in politics. 

He began his political career in the 

Colorado State Senate. There, he 

served the people of Weld and Larimer 

Counties in the State legislature for 7 

years. A strong believer in preserving 

the idea of citizen legislators, Senator 

ALLARD championed a Colorado law 

that limits legislative sessions to 120 

days, a law that is still in our Constitution today. It works to ensure that Colorado representatives are able to spend 

the bulk of their time in their communities as opposed to the corridors of the 

State Capitol. 

In 1991, the people of the fourth congressional district elected Senator ALLARD to the U.S. House of Representatives. Five years later, Coloradans 

elected him to serve as Colorado’s 

United States Senator. 

Throughout his career on the Federal 

level, Senator ALLARD has been a 

strong voice for fiscal responsibility 

and ensuring the security of America 

at home and abroad. He has used his 

position on the Senate Appropriations 

Committee to champion priorities important to Colorado. He has played an 

active role on the Senate Budget Committee to restore integrity to the government’s use of taxpayer dollars. 

Yet, even as Senator ALLARD served 

in Washington, he has never forgotten 

where he came from and who he works 

for. He was always traveling throughout Colorado, engaging his constituents, hearing their hopes and concerns. 

It is there, in those communities of 

Colorado, that Senator ALLARD feels 

most at home. 

I have been privileged to work with 

WAYNE ALLARD in the Senate for the 

past 4 years. We fought together for 

clean and safe drinking water for the 

communities in the Lower Arkansas 

Valley and through the construction of 

the Arkansas Valley Conduit which we 

hope will happen in the next several 

years. We worked to ensure the Animas 

La-Plata Water Project in southwest 

Colorado and making sure that project 

is fully funded to implement the historic settlement between Colorado and 

its Indian tribes. Over the past few 

months, we came together to move judicial nominees for the Federal Court 

in Colorado through the often contentious Senate confirmation process. It 

has been a productive and fulfilling 

partnership. 

Now, to be sure, Senator ALLARD and 

I have not always seen eye to eye on a 

number of issues. But in spite of our 

differences, I have always respected 

him. He works hard. He is humble. He 

loves the people of Colorado. 


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S10414 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 2, 2008 

But more than his love for Colorado 

and his country, Senator ALLARD is devoted to Joan, Christi, Cheryl, and his 

five grandsons. You will never see him 

have a smile wider or laugh harder 

than when he is in their company. I am 

happy that his return to Colorado will 

afford him the opportunity to spend 

more time with them. He deserves it. 

I know Senator ALLARD is a great admirer of a Democrat from Colorado by 

the name of Wayne Aspinall, who 

served in this Congress for a very long 

time. Wayne Aspinall was a strong protector of Colorado’s water and the 

champion of the people of the Western 

Slope during his 24-year tenure in Congress. Congressman Aspinall once said: 

We all have moments when we feel that 

‘‘the system’’ is wrong, but that does not entitle us to assume that only we could be 

right and therefore permit us to secede from 

our society. We have to learn to live with 

it—to improve on it if we can, to change it 

through established procedures, if we must, 

but we must always remember that individually we are only one person and that the 

views and ideas of others might be equally 

valid as our own. 

For the past 25 years, Senator ALLARD has committed himself and his 

talents to the people of Colorado in 

this spirit—a spirit of reform and a 

spirit of humility. He has served with 

honor and distinction and with an 

unyielding focus on what he thinks is 

best for our State. I thank him for his 

service and his friendship, and I congratulate him on his retirement. 

Mr. President, I thank the Presiding 

Officer. I yield the floor and I note the 

absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. 

SALAZAR). Without objection, it is so 

ordered. 

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent to speak in morning business for up to 10 minutes. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

LARRY CRAIG

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, as the 

110th Congress comes to a close this 

fall, a chapter in Idaho politics also 

comes to a close. After serving in public office, first in the Idaho State Legislature from 1975 to 1981, then in the 

U.S. House of Representatives from 

1981 to 1990, and finally in the U.S. Senate from 1991 to 2009, my colleague Senator LARRY CRAIG is retiring from elective office. Over the years, he has doggedly pursued initiatives important to 

Idahoans and staunchly defended Western values. 

Our colleagues in the Senate know 

about Senator CRAIG’s work over the 

years ensuring that the U.S. agricultural community has the support needed to thrive and continue ensuring our 

food security and playing a major role 

in the global economy. 

Our colleagues know about Senator 

CRAIG’s consistent stand on public 

lands, his unflinching defense of private property rights and reliably supporting those who are caretakers of 

this invaluable national resource. 

Our colleagues know Senator CRAIG’s 

stalwart defense of our second amendment rights and his tireless call for a 

balanced budget and lower taxes. 

Our colleagues in the Senate know 

that Senator CRAIG has, on a number of 

occasions, reached across the aisle to 

promote bipartisan legislation. 

Our colleagues in the Senate know 

and have depended on the leadership 

exhibited over the years by a man with 

humble beginnings, born in a small 

Idaho town, on a family farm where he 

returned after college until the people 

of Payette and Washington Counties 

elected him to represent them in the 

Idaho State Legislature. 

What may not be so well known 

about the senior Senator from Idaho is 

his commitment to adoption, to our 

youth, to community service, to our 

veterans, and to our seniors. 

Senator CRAIG’s three children are 

adopted. Over the years, he became a 

congressional leader in promoting 

adoption and working on policy initiatives that help adoptive parents and 

young children needing to find loving 

homes. He also helped found the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. 

Senator CRAIG did not only champion 

adoption in Congress, he took a strong 

leadership role in the Congressional 

Awards Foundation. This is an outstanding program that encourages 

young people to set high goals, to work 

toward them, and then when they have 

achieved these goals, it gives this body 

the opportunity to recognize their extraordinary accomplishments. The 

sense of community service this program grows in young people imparts a 

lifelong sense of civic duty and responsibility. In short, it grows great Americans. 

Speaking of great Americans, Senator CRAIG has been a champion of veterans as well, prioritizing their changing needs over the years and helping 

remind all of us that when a man or a 

woman defends the United States of 

America, that individual deserves to 

have this Nation care for them in their 

return and in their time of need. 

A believer in bringing Washington to 

Idaho, Senator CRAIG has hosted over 

300 townhall meetings since his election to the Senate. He has also made 

national priorities that involve Idaho 

and his priorities; namely, Department 

of Energy and defense operations and 

research at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Mountain Home Air Force 

Base, and Gowan Field for the home of 

the Idaho National Guard. 

Senator CRAIG has not only supported children, young people, the 

military, and our veterans, he has also 

worked to champion the cause of the 

aging, serving on the Special Committee on Aging and keeping important senior issues at the forefront of 

our legislative policy. 

Senator CRAIG’s public service demonstrates a rich history of strong, conservative leadership, characterized by 

an unapologetic defense of democratic 

ideals of private property and personal 

liberty, woven together with an abiding and proactive concern for those 

without a voice in Washington. Idahoans across the State have come to 

know they can depend on Senator 

CRAIG to defend their economic wellbeing and their values. 

It has been a privilege for me to serve 

with Senator CRAIG during my time in 

the Congress. I wish him and his wife 

Susan well as they enter this new chapter in their lives. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I thank 

my partner and colleague from Idaho, 

soon to become Idaho’s senior Senator, 

MIKE CRAPO. MIKE and I have had a 

working relationship and a friendship 

for literally decades, and it is one I 

have greatly appreciated over the years 

because of his consistent and wise 

counsel. 

While I came to the Congress before 

MIKE, Senator CRAPO was in the legislature during a period of time after I 

was there, and so he brought with him, 

first to the House and then to the Senate, the very similar experiences I had 

as a State legislator. I highly recommend that to anyone who wants to 

serve in the Senate, that they have 

that experience on the ground in their 

home State in a way that brings the reality of State governments and the 

Federal Government together. Certainly, over the years Senator CRAPO

has had that experience and has shared 

it with me. Together, I think we have 

made a very valuable team for our 

State. 

There is another aspect of Senator 

CRAPO I have so highly regarded over 

the years, and certainly the Presiding 

Officer from Colorado would appreciate 

it. there is probably one single most 

valuable commodity in the high deserts 

of the West—such as many parts of the 

Colorado and the State of Idaho—and 

that is water. There is an old phrase 

that many have heard over the years, 

which is that whiskey is for drinking 

and water is for fighting over. And 

there is a lot of truth to that. Our 

States historically have that in their 

background as we sorted out our water 

problems and began to recognize these 

phenomenally valuable commodities. 

MIKE CRAPO, in his other life, spent a 

lot of time with water law. I always 

said that when it came to water issues 

here in Washington, while they best be 

fought out in the State Capitol in 

Boise, I wanted MIKE CRAPO by my side 


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October 2, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10415 

as we worked through water issues that 

were for our State and certainly for the 

Nation. Not only does he know the law, 

coming out of a high desert environment of the kind that is in southern, 

southeastern, and southwestern Idaho, 

he knows the reality. He knows the importance. He knows that water is life 

and death. It is economy or no economy based on its value. That is the 

kind of partnership we have had over 

the years. 

I will be replaced by Idaho’s lieutenant governor, Jim Risch. I am confident he will be elected, for a lot of 

reasons. First, he is a highly competent person. Idaho knows him well 

and respects him. He has served Idaho 

well and he will serve us very well 

here. He will become the junior partner 

of the soon-to-be senior Senator, MIKE

CRAPO. That teamship, that organizational effort, that combining of forces 

on by far a majority of issues will be 

held for Idaho’s interests. 

MIKE and I rarely split our votes. 

When we do, we talk about them, we 

know our differences and we understand them. But we have realized over 

the years that the team approach for 

Idaho and the Idaho delegation is very 

important for a small State—small by 

population, at least, certainly not 

small by geography. So the friendship 

and the relationship I have had with 

Senator CRAPO over the years has been 

personally very valuable to me, but I 

trust it has been very valuable to the 

State of Idaho. But that kind of working, teaming partnership is going to 

continue as I step down and Jim Risch 

is elected in November to continue to 

work with MIKE CRAPO. 

So I say to my colleague, Senator 

CRAPO: Thank you. Thank you for the 

kind remarks and the working relationship and friendship we have had 

over the years. 

And to the presiding officer, while he 

has not served here as long as either of 

us, I would say to him that he fits in 

immediately, because he is a westerner 

who understands our issues, because 

they are his issues, and we have already begun to work those kinds of 

partnerships and relationships that are 

very valuable to the West, to the public 

lands, and to the interests of our 

States’ people. 

I thank the Chair, and I yield the 

floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho. 

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I came 

down here to pay a tribute to our senior Senator from Idaho, Senator LARRY

CRAIG, and you can see the caliber of 

man he is—he came down and paid tribute to me. That is the way he is. 

I want to add to my remarks by 

thanking Senator CRAIG personally for 

his tremendous assistance to me. From 

the very first day that I stepped foot 

on the floor of the Senate—in fact, before that, when I was trying to get 

elected to the Senate—Senator CRAIG

was there to help. And once I was elected, Senator CRAIG set about making 

sure I could be successful. 

As he has indicated by his gracious 

remarks, that is the kind of man he is. 

He is a tremendous friend and he is a 

tremendous advocate and he has the 

kind of principles and values that have 

helped him to represent the people of 

Idaho so well over the years. He has 

committed his life to public service 

and has shown the people of Idaho and 

the people of this Nation the kind of 

leadership we should have in this country, fighting for those kinds of principles that I have mentioned—whether 

it be private property rights, a balanced budget, lower, smaller government, protecting those without a voice, 

working for the veterans, working for 

senior citizens, and his commitment to 

working for our newest citizens of our 

world, those who need adoption. The 

list goes on and on and on. 

I want to personally thank you, 

LARRY, for the opportunity to serve 

with you here in the Senate, and to tell 

you that I and all of us in Idaho will 

miss you and look forward to continuing to work with you as you enter 

this new chapter of your life. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I 

suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The legislative clerk proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

ECONOMIC CRISIS 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, for the 

next few minutes I wish to connect the 

dots. What am I saying? Well, I wish to 

take us from where this Senate was 

last night, when on a 74-to-25 vote it 

voted out one of the largest financial 

assistance packages in the history of 

the Nation—700-plus billion dollars—to 

try to stabilize the credit markets of 

our country and make sure that Main 

Street—whether it be in small-town 

Colorado or small-town Idaho—still 

have credit in its banks for its citizens 

and its small business people to conduct business and make payroll. 

We have, by a series of actions over 

the last decade, placed the American 

economy and the American consumer— 

the taxpayer—in peril. Last night was 

an effort to recognize that and to do 

something about it. Because of its size, 

and because of its early billing—that it 

was a ‘‘Wall Street bailout’’—I suspect 

your constituents and mine backed off 

and said: ‘‘Whoa, wait a minute, government; wait a minute, politician, 

don’t put the taxpayer at peril with 

this kind of effort.’’ 

At the same time, you and I, and 

many of us here, were looking at all of 

the issues at hand, recognizing this was 

not a bailout for Wall Street. In fact, 

from its original concept to its evolution to the bill that was passed last 

night, it was a much different document—safeguarding and protecting the 

taxpayer and trying to recognize the 

need of a growing credit crisis on Main 

Street USA. I think, and I hope, we 

have accomplished that. 

But how did this come to be? Well, 

there are a lot of fingers that can be 

pointed. We can point at the liberal 

lending policy and advocacy of Fannie 

Mae and Freddie Mac, and subprimes, 

and too much credit in the market, and 

the explosion of the housing industry— 

or at least the explosion of the bubble 

in the housing industry. But something 

else came along about the time all of 

those elements in our economy were 

coming together that I think was probably the tripwire that helped create 

the current situation. 

Let me connect the dot, the dot of 

too much credit, of subprime, of an 

economy that was maxed out, of a consumer who was maxed out. Let me connect the dot of the average consumer 

having to pay anywhere from $100 to 

$150 more a month on his energy bill at 

the gas pump. What happened in our 

economy as energy prices went through 

the roof and that spread out across our 

economy in food costs, in transportation costs, in the costs of everything 

we do because our economy is so intricately linked with energy and the 

availability of energy? You didn’t hear 

anybody on the floor last night talk 

about energy. You did not hear anybody on the floor last night talk about 

the $4 gas or the $140-a-barrel oil that 

was true a few months ago, but it was 

there and it was lurking in the background. It had already hit our economy 

along the side of the head with a fatal 

blow. We have over the last several 

years tried to recognize that. 

When we left here in July for the August recess, Democrats and Republicans were at odds over energy. I was 

saying let’s drill, let’s produce, and the 

American consumer was awakening to 

this energy shock that our economy 

was having and they were saying the 

same thing; 65 to 70 percent of the 

American consumers were saying, 

What’s wrong, politician? Why are you 

locking away the great resources of 

this country? In the name of the environment? In the name of no growth? In 

the name of good feelings? The bad 

feelings were at the pump. The bad 

feelings were in the pocketbook. 

Stay with me for a moment and 

think about this. Think about that 

consumer. He and she, working hard, 

maybe bringing home $45,000 or $50,000 

a year amongst the two—mom and 

dad—they have their credit cards 

maxed out. They have maybe $5,000 on 

their credit cards and they are paying 

a couple of hundred dollars a month 

each month on that credit card and 

making their house payment and barely getting by and, all of a sudden, in 

the last year and a half or two, their 

energy bill goes through the roof and 

they are paying $150 to $200 a month, 

and they don’t have it. 

Then the value they had in their 

house that they might have taken a 

second mortgage out on to bail them 


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