S10876 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 10, 2008 

TRIBUTE TO ILYSE SCHUMAN 

Mr. ENZI. Madam President, it is one 

of the great traditions of the Senate, 

when we pass legislation that will 

change the direction of the Nation and 

our economy, that we pause for a moment after final passage to acknowledge the efforts of those members of 

our staffs who worked so hard behind 

the scenes to help us bring the matter 

to the floor for a vote. 

We all have great staffs, people who 

are committed to the future of our 

country and to making a difference 

that will last for generations to come. 

Although that is true, I have always 

said that my team ranks with the best. 

In fact, if there were an Olympic event 

for staffs, I have no doubt my team 

would win the gold medal. 

Because of the role they play in our 

work, they have a tendency to get noticed by the groups and organizations 

that are involved in the issues that 

come before the House and the Senate. 

The working relationship they develop 

with our staffs often leads to increased 

opportunities and sends some of our 

best workers off the Hill and into the 

private sector. 

When that happens, I like to believe 

we are not losing a staffer; we are just 

expanding our field of influence. Still, 

when you lose someone who has played 

such a key role in the day to day work 

of our offices and the Senate, it is a 

great loss to the team as a whole. 

I thought about that when I learned 

of Ilyse Schuman’s plans to leave the 

committee and take a leadership position with the Medical Imaging and 

Technology Alliance. Although I was 

sorry to hear the news, I was pleased to 

know that she would be working for 

such a well respected and effective organization. It will be another great opportunity for her and I know she will 

make the most of it. 

I can say that with certainty because 

that is the kind of person Ilyse 

Schuman is—thoughtful, reflective and 

committed to the future of our country 

and our health care system. Her interest in the problems we face as a nation 

and her ability to work with staffs on 

both sides of the aisle to find solutions 

that work and make sense was one of 

the principal reasons why we hired her 

several years ago. 

I remember standing on the Senate 

floor earlier this year, when we passed 

the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This groundbreaking legislation will unlock a door that 

will allow people to get the kind of genetic testing they need to give them an 

advance warning about something that 

might happen to their health down the 

road if they don’t take the steps today 

to prevent or at least weaken its effects. The legislation we passed that 

day will ensure the results of our tests 

will be used for our benefit, and will 

not be allowed to be used against us in 

our employment or our insurance coverage. 

That bill had been a key part of the 

committee’s legislative agenda for 6 

years. That was just about the time 

when we hired Ilyse Schuman. In my 

remarks on the bill’s final passage, I 

said that I had often heard it said that 

it usually takes 6 years to get an important idea through the Senate. I said 

I wasn’t sure I believed it, until I realized that she had been working on the 

bill for 6 years and that fact seemed to 

prove the idea has some merit. 

I should have known that if it were 

possible to get the job done, Ilyse 

would have been a part of it because 

she has a history of excellence and 

making the impossible possible. She 

graduated cum laude from Tufts University and then earned her J.D. from 

the Georgetown University Law Center—with honors. More recently, she 

was named a John Stennis Congressional Staff Fellow for the 109th Congress. 

She had been working as the senior 

counsel at a firm in Chicago when 

someone we interviewed suggested we 

talk to her about a position on the 

committee. She hadn’t given much 

thought to government service, but the 

time must have been right because we 

were very pleased when she decided to 

pack her bags and come to Washington 

to begin this chapter in her life. 

Now, as it comes to a close, Ilyse has 

a lot to look back on with a great deal 

of pride and personal satisfaction. 

Among the legislation she helped to 

shepherd through the legislative process, in addition to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, was the 

Food and Drug Amendments Act, 

Health Information Technology legislation, FDA Drug Safety Reform, the 

Pension Protection Act, Head Start, 

Patient Safety, the Workforce Investment Act, and many more. In addition, 

she has played a vital leadership role 

on the Committee and served as more 

than its staff director, she has been 

more of a coach who helped the whole 

team to work together and function as 

a more efficient unit. She is going to be 

very difficult to replace. In fact, she is 

one of those people who can’t be replaced. We will find someone with special talents and abilities to take over 

the responsibilities of our new staff 

leader, but she will be missed and remembered with great appreciation for 

her outstanding efforts and her winning personality and attitude. 

Ilyse was once asked about her position on the committee and how much 

it meant to her to have a chance to do 

something that would last, something 

that would make life better for us all. 

She said it meant a lot to her to be a 

part of the work on ‘‘the issues that 

are most personal to everyone’s lives.’’ 

She saw it as ‘‘an opportunity to have 

a huge impact on the quality of life 

across the country.’’ 

Ilyse knew that to have the impact 

she hoped to achieve, she would need to 

forge good working relationships with 

staffs on both sides of the aisle. Fortunately, it was one of her strong suits. 

Ilyse knows how to disagree without 

being disagreeable. That was important 

because, at the end of the day, when 

she went home after a long day’s work, 

she left with the respect of her colleagues in every office she worked 

with, a respect that was mutual and 

will prove to be lasting. 

Now Ilyse is leaving to take on another exciting adventure in her life. 

Diana and I will miss seeing her every 

day because she has become part of our 

extended family. We wish her the best 

of luck in this and in all of her future 

endeavors. In the months to come, I 

know we can continue to look to her 

for her leadership, direction and guidance on our efforts to make our Nation’s health care system better, more 

effective, more efficient and more responsive for all Americans. It is a 

heartfelt goal Ilyse is determined to 

achieve and I know she will continue to 

be a part of that effort in the years to 

come. Knowing Ilyse and the operation 

of the Senate, I would say that we will 

be seeing the results of her efforts in 

just about 6 years. 

I won’t say goodbye, Ilyse. I know I 

will be hearing more from you and 

about you in the months and years to 

come. So I will just say keep in touch 

and we’ll all look forward to seeing you 

around this special campus on the Hill, 

I hope, for a long, long time. 

f 

IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH 

ENERGY PRICES 

Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, in 

mid-June, I asked Idahoans to share 

with me how high energy prices are affecting their lives, and they responded 

by the hundreds. The stories, numbering well over 1,200, are heartbreaking and touching. While energy 

prices have dropped in recent weeks, 

the concerns expressed remain very relevant. To respect the efforts of those 

who took the opportunity to share 

their thoughts, I am submitting every 

e-mail sent to me through an address 

set up specifically for this purpose to 

the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. This is not 

an issue that will be easily resolved, 

but it is one that deserves immediate 

and serious attention, and Idahoans deserve to be heard. Their stories not 

only detail their struggles to meet everyday expenses, but also have suggestions and recommendations as to what 

Congress can do now to tackle this 

problem and find solutions that last beyond today. I ask unanimous consent 

to have today’s letters printed in the 

RECORD. 

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

RECORD, as follows: 

This in response to your request for stories 

from Idaho citizens about the impact of rising gas prices on our lives. We are fortunate 

in that, though the increased prices are a 

drain, they do not put us in financial jeopardy. However, we are taking steps to decrease our use of gasoline. We both have bicycles and have started using them to run 

some of our errands, visit friends and, on occasion, travel to and from work. We consolidate errands to avoid multiple trips. When 

driving I avoid quick stops and starts and 

December 10, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10877 

get off the gas when on a down slope. If I use 

a drive up and will have to wait, I turn off 

the engine. We never let our vehicles idle in 

cold weather to warm up. This is a waste 

that is endemic in Idaho. 

As regards for suggestions for ways the 

government can help, I agree with supporting alternative energy sources; however, 

I do not see how nuclear energy will offset 

gasoline use. My understanding is that part 

of our problem is lack of sufficient numbers 

or modern refineries. With the oil companies 

enjoying record profits, they should be dealing with this issue. It does not make sense to 

me for the taxpayer to foot the bill for this. 

More can be done to support development of 

non-food sources of ethanol, e.g. switch grass 

and other non-food plants; and waste products from wood products industries and crop 

waste such as corn and other grain stalks. 

Support is needed for development of better 

public transportation such as buses and light 

rail. Use of roundabouts instead of signals or 

stop signs at intersections will also consume 

less fuel and produce less pollution. I am not 

sure how you provide incentives to people for 

conserving energy in their driving practices 

but anything that can educate people about 

how to conserve would probably be useful. 

One positive about the high cost of gasoline 

is that people are finally thinking about how 

they can conserve. Gas has been so cheap 

that we have been very careless in our usage 

and neither the populace nor the government 

has had much incentive to conserve through 

driving practices, design of vehicles or development and use of public transportation. I 

love the convenience of my car but I think 

all of us are going to have to look at some 

lifestyle changes if we want to decrease our 

dependence on foreign oil. 

Thank you for soliciting input from your 

constituents. 

FAYE, Boise. 

Energy costs have taken it is toll in our 

household. Both my husband and I have gotten second jobs part time just to make ends 

meet. If it were just the hike in energy costs 

we would have to say to ourselves grin and 

bear it. But everything across the board has 

increased. 

Soaring food prices: What was an average 

of $70 per week has now increased to $140–$150 

per week. And it is increasing each week. 

Standard monthly bills have increased by at 

least $3 per month. It might not seem much 

of an increase but there again, across-theboard monthly increases add up over the 

months. 

We have definitely changed our life styles. 

No dining out. We drive only when we have 

to. And when we do have to go out, we make 

sure we do everything we have to do in one 

trip. We make sure lights are turned off 

when not in use, and we refrain from using 

the air conditioner. Laundry day is now only 

twice a week. We try to BBQ as much as possible so we can save by not using our gas 

range. 

We have never seen things as bad as they 

are today. We do not except any hands-outs 

from our government, but there are millions 

of people who are suffering right now and 

were afraid millions more to follow. 

Where is the government in all of this? 

Why cannot government solve these problems? We Americans pay taxes, but it would 

seem our tax money is being mismanaged. It 

is plain to see this government does not have 

its peoples’ best interest at heart. Congress 

does not have their priorities straight. Energy and the economy should come first! 

Without middle-class Americans, where will 

the government be? Sad as it is, middle-class 

America is fading! 

Government (Congress) needs to stop discussing the problems and start taking action 

now. Wind power, nuclear power, with all the 

hi-tech advantage this nation holds, they 

cannot find a way? Stop playing the blame 

games and work together to solve these and 

many other problems. 

THE MARSHALLS, Meridian. 

We are a small family living what we consider to be a decent life in a rural Idaho community. The increasing gas prices have affected the costs of other things, such as groceries, to increase in price as well. In an effort to keep the added costs from impacting 

our standard of living too much we have 

taken a few steps, such as: 

Attending church closer to home. 

Limiting shopping trips to a bare minimum. 

Watering lawns less, so that it will grow 

less, requiring less mowing. 

Driving a 40 mpg car, when we’d rather run 

something more comfortable and safer. 

Passing on taking trips to see family; our 

nearest family members are 350 miles away. 

Buying things locally, as opposed to shopping at places like Costco since the cost of a 

trip to Costco down by Boise is very costly. 

Buying a whole beef, as opposed to supermarket cuts, saving a couple of dollars per 

pound, depending upon the cut. 

Buying items in bulk, including flour, detergents, etc. 

Baking our own brownies, cookies, rolls, 

and breads. The cost of grain products has 

gone very high, and bakery products have increased substantially. 

Making sourdough waffles and pancakes to 

save on the cost of pancake flour. 

Making our own ice cream. 

Making our own fruit rollups. 

Foregoing physicians visits as much as absolutely possible, passing on new eyeglasses. 

Taking Benadryl as opposed to prescription allergy meds, even though the Benadryl 

makes us drowsy and does not work as well— 

the cost is much lower. 

Making our own pastas. 

Making homemade salads as opposed to 

buying deli salads. 

Doing our own haircuts, hair coloring, and 

perms at home, using home products, instead 

of going to the salon or barber shop. 

Quit dining out, all meals can come from 

home—this includes packing lunches. 

Mowing our lawn ourselves, instead of hiring a neighborhood boy to do it for us. 

Giving up ‘‘date night’’, and movies, both 

in theater and rental movies. 

Staying home more. 

Changing our son to a less expensive day 

care. 

If things get worse we will have to look at 

other things, such as: 

Growing a garden, and canning/freezing 

fruits and veggies. 

Putting in several fruit trees. 

Buying a whole pork, instead of retail cuts. 

Fishing to put in freezer for future meals. 

Raising chickens, both for eggs and meat. 

Sewing some of our own clothing items. 

Walking to work—a round trip including 

daycare is about 4.5 mile. 

These higher costs have us very concerned; 

something must be done to bring things back 

into balance. 

If many other people adopt habits like we 

have, and are considering, there will be a ripple through effect of job loss. We are spending less in the grocery store, less from the 

butcher, less with diners, delis, movie rental 

places, theaters, the bakery, barber shop and 

beauty shop, just to mention a few. We are 

also buying fewer ready to eat or cook with 

products, and are making our foods from 

scratch. 

If we start actually growing and raising 

our own foods the effects will ripple through 

the economy as well—especially if lots of 

other people feel the need to do the same. 

We are not living in ‘‘pioneer’’ times, but 

we may have to live like we are if prices continue to spiral out of control. Going into 

debt just to cover daily living expenses is 

simply not an option. 

Please encourage your fellow members of 

Congress to require the development of domestic oil. 

Furthermore, please press a mandate on 

the production of hydrogen fueled vehicles, 

with the availability of fueling sources mandated as well. We need to be getting ourselves weaned off of the fossil fuels—since 

they cannot possibly last forever. 

SHARENE, Weiser. 

Four of us are employed at Grounds Maintenance Equipment, Inc. in Boise, by the 

fairgrounds. We all live in Emmett. Three 

commute together. Last week we all shifted 

to a 10-hour, four-day week, because the 

commuting costs (gasoline) left us no choice. 

There is no quick solution. It seems that 

the Left cannot do more than one thing at a 

time. They cannot promote conservation—a 

worthy enterprise—and consider drilling, in 

the same year. It is my opinion that there is 

a long-term agenda being promoted by the 

Dems to turn America into a socialist dictatorship. I cannot envision any other reason 

they do what they do. 

MEL and ROSIE, Emmett. 

Thanks for the email. You are completely 

correct—high gas prices are making things 

difficult. Although, gas is only one of the 

many things that are getting more and more 

expensive. Food costs are going through the 

roof. The only thing that is not rising fast is, 

unfortunately, our wages. I would like to see 

our leadership make a real effort to raise 

wages to a livable level. A livable wage in 

Idaho is like $10 something per hour, higher 

in counties like Ada and Blaine. 

Unfortunately, I believe your policy solutions are sadly misguided. Domestic drilling 

will not significantly reduce prices for the 

consumer. Nuclear energy is among the most 

expensive ways to produce energy. It relies 

on taxpayer dollars to make it economically 

viable. And both are terrible for the environment. I hope you take the time to reassess 

these policies. 

DOUG. 

My husband and I live very frugally. Due 

to his brain injury, we have to wait incredible lumps of time for Social Security Disability appeal. He and I are in agreement 

that the ‘‘energy crisis’’ is a social agenda of 

the green movement that has been in place 

for decades. 

With that said, we are in favor of nuclear 

energy that is a proven benefit and drilling 

for our domestic oil. Often the legislators 

and others opposed to such drilling say it 

would be too long to build refineries to find 

relief. I believe that the American people 

would be patient with the time it takes to 

build them and be willing to suffer the gas 

prices knowing we had hope to sustain our 

own oil provisions and not be dependent on 

foreign oil. 

YVONNE and MARK, Meridian. 

Thank you for inviting our comments on 

this problem. My wife and I retired in 2003 

with a financial plan that made a lot of 

sense: we sold our home and bought a motor 

home, which we used for two years to see 

some of these great United States. Then we 

lived in it in Emmett while building our retirement home here. We cleaned up the 

motor home to sell it, which was an integral 

part of our plan because the payments on it 

were $1200 per month. 

You probably guessed the rest of the story. 

We have a large mortgage on our new house 

S10878 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 10, 2008 

and our investments have performed less 

well than we might have hoped. But the biggest problem we have is that in a year and a 

half we have not had a single offer on our 

motor home. Friends tell us we will not be 

able to sell it. We took it to Bretz RV in Missoula, MT, one of the leading sellers of RVs 

including consignment sales. That was last 

August. We have dropped the price below 

what we owe on it and still cannot get any 

offers. The price of diesel is what is causing 

the market for motor homes to dry up. In 

short, our retirement cash flow is in trouble 

due to fuel prices, not to mention our costs 

have skyrocketed. 

We are thoroughly disillusioned by our 

government’s refusal to tell the environmentalists to go pound sand and let our oil 

companies develop the enormous oil and natural gas reserves we have, while competitor 

nations drill for our right off our shores. The 

‘‘pristine parkland’’ in ANWR is a hoax—we 

have seen pictures of the small area where 

drilling rights were sought. We need nuclear 

power plants to be built as quickly as possible, oil refineries as quickly as possible, 

and the development of those resources. 

Yes, alternative energy sources are a good 

thing, and we need eventually to phase out 

the gasoline auto, but this takes time. The 

government is responsible for our predicament, in our opinion, and needs to start putting the needs of America ahead of politics. 

TIM and PEGGY, Emmett. 

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to 

share our story with you. We are most definitely feeling the effects of the ever-increasing costs of fuel. We are a family of six. We 

own three cars and have four drivers. Our 

college-age daughter chose a summer job 

that was close to home just so she can save 

on gas money. We have been discussing how 

we will make ends meet with the rising fuel 

costs. We have decided to pull our youngest 

children (ages 11 and 13) out of piano lessons. 

They were in their 3rd and 5th year respectively. Our daughter, Katie, may have to 

give up flute lessons. Katie has been volunteering at St. Luke’s Hospital for the past 

two years. She was hoping to volunteer there 

through her senior year of high school, but it 

may soon cost too much to get her there and 

back. Our son is volunteering at the Garden 

City Library. He is enjoying it, but we are 

uncertain how long he will be able to participate once again because the amount it costs 

us to get him there. We are a family that believes in volunteering and giving of our time 

and resources—but there is only so much we 

can do. We have recently switched to a doctor in Eagle just so we would not have to 

travel into downtown Boise. We evaluate 

every time we plan to go somewhere—can we 

really afford the gas? We have even denied 

our kids the opportunity to go to mid-week 

youth group at church because it is in 

Southeast Boise—too far to drive. We feel 

badly for the other families/organizations 

our decisions will affect—two moms who give 

piano/flute lessons from their homes, the volunteer office at St. Luke’s, the library, etc. 

We do not have the luxury of buying newer 

more fuel-efficient cars; we must do with 

what we have. 

We are extremely frustrated with Congress 

over its inability to do anything constructive to solve the problem, which for the most 

part they are responsible for causing. We 

support drilling for our own oil both offshore 

and in ANWR. We support building more refineries. We also fully support the expansion 

of our nuclear energy facilities, mining of 

coal and oil shale in addition to renewable 

forms of energy such as wind and solar. More 

hearings and investigations on ‘‘Big Oil’’ and 

speculators is a waste of time along with 

taxing ‘‘windfall profits’’. Pleases urge your 

peers to do something constructive to solve 

the problem. 

Thanks again for this opportunity. 

KELLY and KRISTI, Eagle. 

I work at the INL but commute 45 minutes 

both ways to work; my husband also works 

in Idaho Falls. However, we work at different 

times—my work begins at 7:00 and off at 4:30. 

He starts at 10 and off at 6—so we both drive. 

At the present time, we are considering selling our home of 35 years and moving closer 

to Idaho Falls. We are spending over $110 a 

week with the two cars making the trip to 

Idaho Falls five times a week. I have started 

a car pool with a few employees that will 

help some, but the fact is—it hurts. For the 

first time in many years, we are finding ourselves in financial distress. 

We do not want to sell the house, we have 

raised our kids there—we love it. And, we do 

not want to sell it at this time when the 

market is such that we will not get from it 

what it is worth. 

There has to be a better way. I hope you 

can find it. Good luck. 

UNSIGNED. 

We should not lean on foreign oil providers 

to lower their prices when we have enough 

oil under American soil to last for hundreds 

of years. The so-called environmentalists 

have caused this massive problem which has 

the possibility to sink America. 

I like the scene of oil rigs on the horizon, 

it is a beautiful landscape. I do not believe 

the so-called environmentalists care one 

whit about our environment, they are out to 

see America die, and they are well on their 

way to accomplishing their goal. 

A word to the wise. 

CURT, Wilder. 

As a country, we had plenty of time to 

both prepare for and possibly prevent the situation we are in. However, we cannot change 

the past and now we are going to march into 

a new and different world. I wonder whether 

we will be smarter this time. 

Frankly, I see the silver lining in the increased cost of energy. We are going to have 

to incentivize the discovery and use of new, 

sustainable forms of energy. Maybe we’ll 

think long term instead of searching for the 

short term fixes. 

We will get a chance to pay more attention 

to our local communities rather than driving 

away for fun or shipping produce (and 

water!) from the other side of the planet. We 

will get a glimpse of how a large part of the 

rest of the world lives. We’ll start appreciating and caring for what we have rather 

than strive for ever increasing heights of 

consumption. We’ll ride bikes, fix sidewalks, 

meet neighbors and save our energy use for 

when using energy is really necessary. 

Maybe we’ll even revisit one of the most 

taboo of subjects—whether we should curb 

population growth. (Just think—1⁄100th the 

population means 100 times the resources.) 

So, there you have it. The energy ‘‘crisis’’ 

is of our own making. We had our chances, 

but maybe now we’ll pay attention. The 

question is whether the transition to a world 

of scarcity will be peaceful or turbulent. In 

times of stress, those with the most resources are often the least affected, yet they 

often control positions of leadership. By the 

way . . . if you thought an energy shortage 

was a big thing, wait till the water crisis 

hits. It is going to be a lot worse. 

f 

GEORGE, Idaho Falls. 

(At the request of Mr. REID, the following statement was ordered to be 

printed in the RECORD.) 

TRIBUTE TO ALBERT CORCOS 

∑ Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, it 

is a privilege to bring to the attention 

of my colleagues the remarkable 

record of humanitarian work and numerous accomplishments of Albert 

Corcos, one of the truly great humanitarian leaders of our time 

He is now 98 and lives in Concarneau, 

France, with his loving wife Camille. 

He recently completed his memoir 

spanning his incredible career, during 

which he was awarded the Legion of 

Honor in France and a distinguished 

Royal Award from Thailand. 

I first became acquainted with Mr. 

Corcos’s humanitarian activities when 

I was serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugees in the 1970s. In 

fact, Mr. Corcos had begun his extraordinary career a generation earlier, by 

coordinating the international effort in 

1945 to resettle millions of displaced 

persons and refugees uprooted by World 

War II. He was a young man of immense energy and compassion and had 

been persuaded to use those talents to 

work with the new United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration 

to help refugees and displaced persons 

in Europe. He had actually had an even 

earlier role, performing the hazardous 

duty of a young courier for the French 

resistance during the war. 

The good work that best exemplifies 

Mr. Corcos’s compassionate concern for 

the disadvantaged was his indispensible 

role in coming to the aid of the Indochinese refugees. After an already very 

full career with the International Organization for Migration and its predecessors working to resettle the displaced, he blazed a unique trail in developing and implementing the initial 

response to one of the great humanitarian crises of the time—the international response to the exodus of 1.5 

million Indochinese refugees in the 

1970s. 

As Indochinese refugees flowed into 

neighboring countries in Southeast 

Asia, in 1975, it was a monumental 

challenge to find opportunities for 

their resettlement in the United States 

and other Western nations and to provide the logistical support to make it 

possible. It was vital to move the refugees out of the region rapidly, in order 

to keep the doors open in the first asylum countries of the region. The goal 

was to prevent the land borders from 

being closed, which would have forced 

refugees to take to the sea in desperation and cost thousands of lives. 

Mr. Corcos postponed his retirement 

and put together and oversaw the system for processing and transporting 

refugees to the United States and other 

countries for resettlement. The challenges were extraordinary. The refugees were strewn across dozens of 

camps from northern Thailand to Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the 

Philippines. Each refugee had to be 

documented, fingerprinted, photographed, given medical examinations 

and issued transit papers. The refugees