S10458 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 2, 2008 

committee process to work, this bill 

has not been subject to the rigorous 

analysis and debate that the legislative 

process should require to avoid unintended consequences and poor decisionmaking. This process should be permitted to take place before legislation 

of this magnitude is sent to the full 

Senate. That is the committee’s role 

and it is an important one. 

If the full Senate were to routinely 

bypass the Finance Committee and 

consider major Medicare bills like this 

one that have not been processed by 

the members of the committee, then 

nothing would prevent the Senate from 

legislating on other Medicare and Medicaid issues without the benefit of 

hearings or committee action. Occasionally, the committee does process 

extensions of current law and smaller, 

generally technical bills through a 

more informal committee process, but 

it is a committee process nonetheless. 

If the committee is routinely bypassed 

entirely and not allowed to perform its 

vital role in the legislative process, it 

would be almost impossible to cope 

with the number and assortment of 

Medicare, Medicaid, and other issues 

that would come directly to the Senate 

floor in bills like S. 3656. To avoid that 

result is why the Senate has committees in the first place. 

Just an initial review of this legislation today produces more questions 

than answers and many obvious and serious concerns. It is disappointing that 

some of the important provisions in 

this bill, like the rural health center 

provisions and IME policy, are packaged into a bill that has not been presented in a timely way or brought before the committee for appropriate 

consideration, debate, and amendment. 

Just a quick review of this bill today 

quickly reveals, in any case, that both 

in terms of process and policy, this bill 

does not sufficiently achieve a balance 

I think is necessary, and I must, on behalf of myself and other members of 

the committee, object to discharging 

S. 3656 from committee for consideration by the full Senate. 

f 

NUCLEAR POWER 

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I 

don’t want to repeat what has already 

been said by Senator VOINOVICH recently, but I do want to explain why I 

am cosponsoring legislation designed 

to tackle in a comprehensive way the 

biggest issue still outstanding in our 

efforts to revitalize nuclear power for 

this Nation, that being how we handle 

the waste. 

I also want to talk about the retirement of the ranking member of the 

Senate Energy Committee, Senator 

PETE DOMENICI, who I will so deeply 

miss in the future. 

Concerning the nuclear bill, I am cosponsoring the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Management Corporation Establishment 

Act that has been crafted by Senator 

VOINOVICH, with Senator SESSIONS and 

a number of other Senators, and I have 

already cosponsored the SMART Act, 

which was crafted by the ranking member of the Energy Committee, Senator 

DOMENICI, and cosponsored by Senator 

SESSIONS and others, since the two bills 

work together to set up the policy and 

the management structure to improve 

how we handle the waste that nuclear 

powerplants generate. 

While it is obviously too late in this 

session of Congress for either bill to advance, I want to say that I am certainly intending to help reintroduce 

both bills next year and in working 

next session to merge them into a comprehensive plan to recycle and then 

properly store the remaining waste 

that results from nuclear power production. 

I am interested in working on these 

bills because I care about reducing 

greenhouse gases. And nuclear power is 

the best proven technology to produce 

power for this country without producing any carbon emissions. For anyone serious about tackling carbon 

emissions, finding a way to grow the 

next generation of nuclear power is 

vital. 

Today nuclear energy provides about 

20 percent of the Nation’s electricity. 

As Senator VOINOVICH may have mentioned those 104 operating powerplants 

save America from producing about 681 

million metric tons a year of carbon dioxide. If we are going to deal with global warming, we must find a way not 

just to keep nuclear power going, but 

also growing to help meet this Nation’s 

growing thirst for electricity. 

I was in France in late June and 

toured the French nuclear waste recycling facilities at LaHague. Recycling 

allows you to gain twice as much nuclear power from a given amount of 

uranium ore. More importantly, it cuts 

substantially the amount and the halflife, and in some cases, the toxicity of 

the waste that you later have to store. 

That is important for the environment. 

In these two bills, the Nuclear Fuel 

Management Corp. will set up a Government corporation to take authority 

to manage spent nuclear fuel and provide both interim storage, the development of geologic repositories, such as 

the Yucca Mountain facility currently 

under consideration, and also to handle 

the construction and operation of any 

reprocessing and fuel fabrication facilities. 

The SMART bill is designed to further the process of siting and advancing the construction of up to two reprocessing plants, since it would help 

to encourage cities in this country to 

welcome such plants. These bills, perhaps pared with one introduced last 

year to remove some potential regulatory hurdles to construction and 

opening of a Yucca Mountain repository, would effectively amount to a 

comprehensive solution to the waste 

issue. They would be the final pieces to 

the puzzle. That is the case because of 

the efforts of Senator PETE DOMENICI. 

PETE DOMENICI 

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, at 

the risk of embarrassing him, I want to 

take a moment to say how vital Senator DOMENICI has been in solving most 

of the nuclear puzzle. He really led the 

rebirth of the nuclear industry and I 

want to say how much I will miss him 

since he has been a prime mover in the 

effort to bring about a new nuclear age 

in this country. 

As most of you know Senator DOMENICI has served 36 years in the Senate. 

But some of you may not know that he 

gave up a promising career in baseball 

to become a public servant. He started 

playing when he was 10, eventually 

pitching for a minor league team called 

the Albuquerque Dukes. But he left 

baseball to become a math and science 

teacher at Garfield Junior High in his 

native State of New Mexico, later went 

onto law school and ran for the U.S. 

Senate in 1972. And he’s been here ever 

since. 

About a dozen years ago the Senator 

realized that this Nation desperately 

needed a new source of electricity. He 

realized that there are higher uses for 

high-priced natural gas than to burn it 

for power generation, and that until 

carbon capture and storage can be perfected and widely practiced that the 

expansion of coal-fired power might 

have environmental drawbacks. So he 

crafted the forerunner of policies that 

today make up the Nuclear Power 2010 

program, which is designed to have the 

Government partner with industry to 

approve the design and speed the licensing of the next generation of power 

plants that absolutely preclude the 

type of radiation accident that happened three decades ago at Three Mile 

Island. 

He has been the sponsor of the loan 

guarantees, the architect of reauthorizing a responsible liability program 

and the person most responsible for 

harnessing the research capacities of 

America to breathe life into the research and nuclear construction sectors. One news outlet called him ‘‘the 

nuclear renaissance man.’’ And he is 

recognized by all as the driving force 

behind the industry’s resurgence. 

But he has done so much more. His 

work on the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

and on last year’s Energy Independence 

and Security Act were landmarks in bipartisan legislating. He helped renewable and alternative energy, from wind 

and solar to biomass, and especially 

biofuels to develop, helping create 

Clean Renewable Energy Bonds to pay 

for the construction of renewable energy plants. During the bills he refereed more policy disputes and generated more compromises than I have 

time to mention. 

But he also was the sponsor of so 

much other landmark legislation during his storied career. One bill finally 

passed the Senate earlier this week to 

require parity for mental health treatment benefits. As Senate budget chairman, he helped set up the Nation’s 

budgeting system, which was still 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with SENATE
October 2, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10459 

working well when he assumed the 

chairmanship of the Energy Committee 

in 2003. 

PETE DOMENICI’s legacy has inspired 

so many of us and his retirement will 

leave some pretty big shoes for us all 

to fill. I will miss the Senator’s smile, 

as well as his lighthearted and joyful 

presence. He is known as a man, who is 

firm in his convictions, but gracious in 

his negotiations. He is an example of a 

true statesman who has served his 

country well. 

I will truly miss him. I could say a 

lot more, but I clearly am out of time. 

f 

GULF COAST HOSPITAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, as I 

mentioned earlier this week, I have serious concerns about the way the appropriations process was handled this 

year. One of my greatest concerns was 

the removal from the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of $350 million to aid Mississippi and Louisiana 

hospitals with problems they continue 

to face from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This funding was extremely important to these hospitals 

to be able to retain the workforce needed to address the health concerns of 

the area. I was pleased, however, to 

learn that the majority had increased 

the amount of funding available under 

the Social Service block grant program 

specifically for this purpose. It is my 

understanding that the House Appropriations Committee included an additional $288 million under the program 

to help assist these hospitals. It is my 

hope that when the Department of 

Health and Human Services awards 

these funds that they consider this intent. 

f 

TAX TREATMENT OF EMPLOYERPROVIDED CELL PHONES 

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, Senator 

ENSIGN and I would like to engage in a 

brief colloquy with the distinguished 

chairman and ranking member of the 

Finance Committee, Senators BAUCUS

and GRASSLEY, regarding legislation we 

have sponsored to fix an archaic provision in the Tax Code that adversely affects employees and businesses across 

the country. Under a little-noticed provision added in 1989, cell phones, blackberries, and similar devices are treated 

as ‘‘listed property.’’ As a result, employees must keep detailed records of 

all calls made on their employer-issued 

cell phones—indicating whether they 

are personal or business-related—or 

have the value of the phone and phone 

service included as taxable income. 

The current law provision was added 

at a time when cell phones were considered a luxury item. Now, they are a 

common and necessary part of conducting everyday business. Imposing 

strict substantiation requirements on 

the business use of cell phones and 

blackberries is burdensome and highly 

impractical given their frequent use in 

a fast-paced global environment. To 

protect tens of thousands of employees 

and their employers from potential audits and tax liability, we should pass 

legislation as soon as possible next 

year to fix this problem. 

Mr. ENSIGN. I want to join my distinguished colleague from Massachusetts and express my hope that legislation can be passed early next year to 

fix the out-dated tax treatment of employer-provided cell phones. The bill he 

and I have introduced has broad bipartisan support with over 60 cosponsors. 

Similar legislation has already passed 

the House. And both Treasury and the 

IRS are supportive of the fix. Thus, 

Senator KERRY and I would like to ask 

the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee, 

for their help in passing this legislation early next year. 

Mr. BAUCUS. I want to thank my 

distinguished colleagues from Massachusetts and Nevada for raising this 

issue with us. I want to assure them 

that we are aware of this problem and 

we will work with our colleagues to 

consider legislation to eliminate the 

burden for employees and employers as 

early as possible. 

Mr. GRASSLEY. I also want to join 

the chairman and express my intent to 

have the committee consider legislation that addresses this problem as 

soon as we can. We should not be imposing unreasonable rules on employees’ use of cell phones and blackberries. 

Mr. KERRY. Senator ENSIGN and I 

want to thank the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee for their willingness 

to work with us to address this important problem. 

f 

OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS 

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I will ask 

to have printed in the RECORD a timely 

opinion piece that was written by Mr. 

Robert M. Morgenthau, the District 

Attorney of the County of New York, 

and appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, September 30. Since 

the 1960s, Mr. Morgenthau has been a 

leader in the fight against the abuse of 

offshore havens for fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and a host of other 

illicit activities. 

As Congress votes on a plan to restore the soundness and credibility of 

our financial system, Mr. Morgenthau’s 

column correctly reminds us of a factor 

that contributed significantly to this 

financial crisis—the activities of financial institutions that have hidden away 

trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens and that claim to be domiciled in 

those offshore havens, when all of their 

key personnel and operations are here 

in the United States. Mr. Morgenthau 

points out that this charade places 

these trillions of dollars, and the activities of the entities that control 

them, outside the oversight and supervisory control of the U.S. financial regulatory system. As the hearings held 

by the Permanent Subcommittee on 

Investigations, which I chair, have 

demonstrated, this charade is also a 

breeding ground for tax abuse, draining 

our system of billions of dollars in 

needed tax revenues. 

In his article, Mr. Morgenthau reminds us that the supervisory and safety mechanisms that have been established to protect our citizens and their 

savings are dependent on transparency 

and strong regulatory vigilance. So is 

our tax system. When funds are hidden 

in offshore jurisdictions that promote 

secrecy and weak regulatory standards, 

and the funds are controlled by entities 

that claim they are not subject to our 

regulatory system, the safety net that 

we have established cannot function to 

provide our citizens the security it was 

designed to offer. 

While we have voted on a plan to alleviate the current crisis, we have a lot 

more work to do to rectify the root 

causes of this problem. As Mr. Morgenthau points out, the abuse of offshore 

jurisdictions by financial institutions 

must be high on that agenda, and I 

look forward to addressing this matter 

in the next Congress. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the opinion piece to which 

I referred printed in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

[From the Wall Street Journal, Sept. 30, 

2008] 

TOO MUCH MONEY IS BEYOND LEGAL REACH’ 

(By Robert M. Morgenthau) 

A major factor in the current financial crisis is the lack of transparency in the activities of the principal players in the financial 

markets. This opaqueness is compounded by 

vast sums of money that lie outside the jurisdiction of U.S. regulators and other supervisory authorities. 

The $700 billion in Treasury Secretary 

Henry Paulson’s current proposed rescue 

plan pales in comparison to the volume of 

dollars that now escape the watchful eye, 

not only of U.S. regulators, but from the 

media and the general public as well. 

There is $1.9 trillion, almost all of it run 

out of the New York metropolitan area, that 

sits in the Cayman Islands, a secrecy jurisdiction. Another $1.5 trillion is lodged in four 

other secrecy jurisdictions. 

Following the Great Depression, we 

bragged about a newly installed safety net 

that was suppose to save us from such a hard 

economic fall in the future. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the 

Currency and others have ignored trillions of 

dollars that have migrated to offshore jurisdictions that are secretive in nature and outside the safety net—beyond the reach of U.S. 

regulators. 

We should have learned a long time ago 

that totally unsupervised markets, whether 

trading in tulips or subprime mortgages, will 

sooner rather than later get into trouble. We 

don’t have to look back very far in history 

to understand this. 

Long Term Capital Management, a hedge 

fund ‘‘based’’ in Greenwich, Conn., but composed of eight partnerships chartered in the 

Caymans, was supposed to be the wunderkind of the financial world. At its peak in 

the late 1990s, its gross holdings were valued 


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