{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2004-12-08-pt1-PgS12022-4", "2004-12-08", 108, 2, null, null, "THE 108TH CONGRESS", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S12022", "S12024", "[{\"name\": \"William H. Frist\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "150 Cong. Rec. S12022", "Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S12022-S12024]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                           THE 108TH CONGRESS\n\n  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as I mentioned earlier, we will shortly be\nclosing the Senate. But while we are waiting to process some of the\npaperwork, I would like to make several brief statements, the first of\nwhich looks back at what has truly been an extraordinary period of\nlegislative progress during this 108th Congress. From tax cuts to\nintelligence reform, we took on the big issues, and we made great\nstrides for the American people.\n  One major reform bill over a congressional term is remarkable. Two\nmakes this Congress truly unique. In both cases, efforts at reform have\nbeen stymied for decades. The 108th Congress finally broke through the\nlogjam and delivered for the American people.\n  Our mission in the 108th Congress was clear--to expand freedom and\nopportunities, and to strengthen America's security. As we return to\nour home States over the course of the afternoon and tonight and over\nthe next several days, we can all be proud of what we have\naccomplished.\n  As majority leader, most of the time I spend on the floor focuses on\nfloor activity and events that are important to the entire country.\n  What I would like to do for several minutes is to speak directly to\nmy fellow Tennesseans who see me many times working for the large\ndomestic issues and sometimes do not hear me talk directly about how\nthat affects them in their everyday lives in Tennessee. Thus, I would\nlike to take these moments to speak directly to my fellow Tennesseans\nabout how what we have accomplished here in Washington will benefit the\nStates.\n  It begins with that first reform bill, a bill that strengthened and\nimproved Medicare for the first time in 40 years--really since the\ninception of that program. Medicare will offer a reform which allows\nthe provision of affordable health care for prescription drugs. It is\ntruly remarkable looking back. We have a health care plan, a health\ncare program that focuses on our seniors' security, the health security\nfor our seniors, and it has been without prescription drugs. Up until\npassage of this bill, the seniors have been denied coverage under\nMedicare for outpatient prescription drugs. Yet today--very different\nthan even 20 or even 10 years ago--we know that prescription drugs are\nthe most powerful tool in the arsenal of modern medicine in order to\ntreat illness and to prevent illness.\n  Under the new Medicare law, seniors will now have access to a\nprescription drug benefit that will begin in January of 2006.\n  Over 40 million seniors and individuals with disabilities will soon\nenjoy true health care security. Without including prescription drugs,\nthere is no way we can look a senior in the eye--it might be your mom,\nyour dad, your grandparents--and say: Our government is going to help\nyou with health care security. It is impossible because up until now\nprescription drugs simply were not included. But they are today because\nof the leadership, the efforts, and hard work of my colleagues in the\nSenate.\n  How many Tennesseans does that affect? There are 40 million seniors\nand individuals with disabilities nationwide affected by this\nlegislation. In Tennessee, there are 870,000 Tennessee seniors who will\nbenefit from this provision we passed in this Senate.\n  In October, I joined my staff as we crisscrossed the great State of\nTennessee, describing to and helping people enroll in the prescription\ncard drug program we passed. We wanted to let seniors know in these\ntown meetings, seniors at retirement homes and retirement centers who\nare currently eligible for a Medicare-approved discount card which\noffers them savings of anywhere from 10 percent of what they are paying\ntoday to 20 percent, 25 percent on average, and sometimes as high as\n50, 60, and 70 percent. We realized the impact of this legislation when\nwe witnessed how much they were paying for their prescription drugs\nwhen we contrast it--it is all on the Internet today--with what they\ncan save by having that prescription drug card which seniors are\neligible for today.\n  In addition to that average 10 to 25 percent average discount, and\nsometimes 50, 60, 70 percent discounts, low-income seniors will receive\na $600 annual subsidy in extra assistance to help pay for their\nprescription drugs. I mention it now because if low-income seniors\napply for the card, they get $600 over the next 30 days and then\nanother $600 after January 1 for next year. If you do not apply for the\ncard today and wait until after January 1, you only have that $600. I\nencourage seniors, especially low-income seniors who have not applied\nfor that card, to do so today.\n  As I have said many times in the Senate, if you are listening to me\nnow through our radio or C-SPAN, I encourage you, if you do not have\nthe card, call 1-800-Medicare tomorrow and ask what that card can do\nfor you. The benefits are huge. I encourage seniors to take advantage\nof it.\n  In addition to that major reform of Medicare, we passed $350 billion\nin tax relief, which is the third largest tax cut in history. We have\ncut taxes across the board for 136 million hard-working, tax-paying\nAmericans. For Tennessee, that includes 1.7 million who saw their tax\nbills go down in the year 2003 because of this legislation. It comes\ndown to the philosophy, the belief we have that taxes are the people's\nmoney, not the Government's money. We think Americans simply pay too\nmuch, and thus this Senate acted, and people's taxes have all gone\ndown.\n  Our goal is straightforward: To put more money back into the pockets\nof hard-working Americans, thereby giving those Americans the\nopportunity to save for the future, to invest, to spend on their\nchildren, their children's education or school books or school\nsupplies, buying that computer or being able to go on the Internet--\nthose tangible items, those real advantages that were made possible\nbecause of action in this Congress.\n  That is the same reason we acted to extend key parts of the\nPresident's tax relief plan for middle-class families. What does that\nmean? It means the marriage penalty. We acted to give true marriage\npenalty relief, and we acted to extend that key part of the President's\nplan. The $1,000-per-child tax credit we acted to extend through the\nyear 2010. We made sure low-income Americans will continue to benefit\nfrom that very low 10-percent tax bracket, benefiting in a direct\nfashion.\n  The Jobs and Growth Act of 2003, which we passed and was signed by\nthe President, also provided Federal funds for States to carry out\nessential government services and to pay for Federal mandates, mandates\npassed on to the States. How much does that mean? We are always talking\nabout such big dollars. For the State of Tennessee that provision of\nfunds amounted to $97 million for 2003 and another $97 million for\n2004.\n  Regarding Medicaid, an issue that is receiving a lot of focus in my\nown State of Tennessee--how best to reform Medicare so that it can be\nsustained\n\n[[Page S12023]]\n\nover a period of time--Tennessee received $264 million for Medicaid for\n2003 and received $193 million for 2004.\n  An area that does directly affect Tennesseans--did not affect all\nStates but did affect about one out of five States in this country--\nthat was part of tax reform we addressed in this Congress and that we\npassed in this Congress is the sales tax deductibility. Tennessee is\none of a small number of States which does not impose State income tax.\nWe do not have a State income tax in Tennessee. In the past, when tax\ntime arrived, that fact put Tennesseans at an unfair disadvantage. But\nthat is no longer the case because of action in the Senate. Because of\nthe action we took in the 108th Congress, sales taxes can now be\ndeducted in States that do not impose a State income tax. As a result,\nabout a quarter of Tennesseans filing their taxes for 2004 will save an\naverage of $470 on their taxes.\n  In addition to making the tax system more equitable for Tennesseans,\nthere is another provision passed in this Senate that very directly\nimpacted farmers in Tennessee and the farming families in Tennessee.\nThat is the quota system that had previously applied to tobacco. Quota\nowners and growers will now receive their fair compensation. In total,\nthe tobacco buyout was $767 million to Tennessee's tobacco communities\nover the next 10 years. Farmers will get a fair deal, and the State\nwill reap the economic rewards.\n  Another area where we tackled real reform for Tennessee, really for\nthe whole Tennessee Valley, focused on the Tennessee Valley Authority\nBoard bill this Senate passed. This legislation expands and\nrestructures the board of directors for the Tennessee Valley Authority,\nor TVA, and brings it in line and modernizes it, brings it up to date\nwith the management structure of corporations of similar size and\nscope.\n  The TVA for too long had a board structure that was aligned into a\nframework of about 70 years ago and that inhibited its ability to\nreact, to be flexible, to be nimble, to be responsive, and, I argue, to\nbe fully accountable--all of which is absolutely necessary to this\nchanging environment we have as we look at our energy needs all over\nthe great State of Tennessee and throughout the valley.\n  It is interesting to me because I first introduced that bill in 1997.\nNothing moves quickly in the Senate. Indeed, it took 7 years for that\nbill, introduced in 1997, to pass, which it did about 3 weeks ago. It\nwas endorsed by the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, which is\nthe organization representing TVA's power distributors. We passed the\nbill, a real accomplishment in the 108th Congress.\n  Another local issue but an issue that as a physician is very\nimportant for me to address with my colleagues--and again, all of these\naccomplishments, I should say up front, we were working hand in hand\nwith Senator Alexander, my colleague in the Senate, as well as our\ncongressional colleagues in the House of Representatives.\n  One cannot go to Tennessee without hearing--and it does not apply\njust to Tennessee--about the growing problems of methamphetamines.\nMethamphetamines are sometimes called the poor man's cocaine. Meth is\nhighly addictive, and it is an extremely dangerous drug. You see the\nravages in rural communities and in the urban areas throughout\nTennessee. Communities are being torn apart. Crime is being driven up.\nDrug addiction is on the rise, as is the cost of methamphetamines.\nTennessee has been hit hard. Our State is now one of the top five\nmethamphetamine-producing States in the Nation. It has to stop. We will\nstop it.\n  In response to this rising problem, we passed the Methamphetamine\nTask Force Act. States will get extra help to specifically tackle meth.\nIn Tennessee, we will receive an additional $2 million for the East\nTennessee Methamphetamine Task Force. I am hopeful that, coupled with\ntough law enforcement, we will bring down the sales and methamphetamine\nuse and will help shut down those labs and lock up the dealers who are\npeddling this poison.\n  There is a whole range of other programs that are critically\nimportant to Tennesseans that we addressed in the 108th Congress. The\nomnibus bill, which we just passed in the Senate, now several weeks\nago, the bill that was sent to the House just 2 days ago and will be\nsigned by the President within a few days, was a remarkable bill. Yes,\nit was a large number of appropriations bills.\n  In the next Congress we are going to do better. We are going to\nsystematically, through the budgeting process and through the\nappropriations process, with full transparency and with the appropriate\ntime, address the budgeting and spending mechanisms and process in the\nSenate. But although the press has talked about this bill and the way\nit came through, I am very proud of the bill.\n  Why do I say that? Because if we look at what we accomplished, we\naccomplished slowing spending to a level, for nonsecurity, nonhomeland\nsecurity, and nondefense--which we all understand we are going to have\nto invest in heavily now and heavily in the future, given the war on\nterrorism and the importance of homeland security and establishing a\nstrong structure; we know we are going to have to continue to invest\nthere heavily--but if you set that aside and you look at all other what\nis called discretionary spending, all spending other than for security\nand homeland security, and defense, the overall growth was essentially\nzero in this spending bill. It comes out to about .8 percent or .83\npercent but less than 1 percent, which is less than half of inflation.\n  So as we passed this huge bill coming through, we were fiscally\nresponsible, fiscally responsible to the point that programs, if you\nput them all together, essentially did not grow with inflation at all.\nIt is that sort of fiscal discipline we are going to have to engage in\nand reflect again and again in the next year, in the next Congress, in\nthe next several Congresses, as we address the deficit, which is one of\nour greatest challenges today, and the debt that this country has.\n  So as I read through some of these projects, I want to preface it by\nsaying these projects and the projects of all the other Members on the\nfloor of this Senate and the House of Representatives, if you put them\ntogether, do not grow the Government. In fact, in inflation-adjusted\ndollars actually they are being cut. So our Government is being\nfiscally responsible. Again, to me that is remarkable, and the press\nreally has not talked much about that.\n  There are several things I want to mention that really do show we are\nfocusing on Tennessee and are things that are a benefit to Tennessee.\nOne is the Chickamauga Lock in east Tennessee, with $18 million in\ntotal funding.\n  I have to congratulate my colleague, Congressman Zach Wamp, who has\nworked so hard on this particular lock over the years.\n  We focused on funding the construction of critical facilities and\ninfrastructure at Fort Campbell, where the 101st Airborne is. It is on\nthe border of Tennessee and Kentucky.\n  We focused on the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System with $4\nmillion because there are an additional 1,000 students who will come\nthrough that school system because of the turnover of soldiers at Fort\nCampbell. About 850 soldiers will be coming in, and we need to match\nthat infusion of soldiers with an infusion of funds for their children.\n  In Jackson, TN, an appropriation was given to rebuild public housing\ndue to the tremendous loss suffered by area residents in that region\nwith the 2003 tornadoes.\n  Over in west Tennessee, the Memphis Biotech Foundation had an\ninitiative that will establish Memphis and that whole midsouth region\nas one of the national leaders and eventually the world leader in the\nbiomedical industry.\n\n  We focused on science and technology. We do not talk as much about\nscience and technology on this floor as I would like. We had a huge\nfocus in Tennessee at Oak Ridge National Labs. There are some major\nprojects there, about $296 million worth in this particular bill that\nfocused on things such as the Advanced Scientific Computing Research,\nASCR, program there, which has great implications as its computing\npower can be used by other laboratories and scientists and people\ninterested in technology and students and academicians in private\nindustry and our military all over the world.\n  There is the University of Tennessee designation for the Southeastern\nRegional Sun Grant Center, looking at\n\n[[Page S12024]]\n\nenergy and biobased energy to help solve the energy problems that we\nall know must be addressed by this country when we have 60-percent\ndependence on foreign sources of oil in this country.\n  There is a $3.5 million appropriation in this 2005 appropriations\nconference report for the acquisition of the Walls of Jericho, which is\nlocated on the South Cumberland Plateau along the Tennessee border with\nAlabama. The Walls of Jericho is considered one of the most unique and\nbiologically diverse areas in the Southeast United States.\n  We focused on the 164th Airlift Wing and the National Guard in\nMemphis, TN, and in west Tennessee, where, at the Memphis-Shelby County\nAirport, there was a land exchange agreement, with the tremendous help\nof a great corporation, FedEx, which is based in Tennessee. It involved\nthe airport authority, FedEx, and the National Guard, and it allowed\nthe 164th Airlift Wing to build its new facilities and allowed FedEx to\nexpand its operations at the Memphis hub--a real win-win for our\nmilitary, a real win-win for the region, and a real win-win for a\ntremendous company there that is serving us every day with our FedEx\npackages that we so vitally depend on today.\n  Education, I need to not be remiss by mentioning No Child Left\nBehind. It continues to provide historic new funding for Tennessee\nschools. We all saw recently where our math standings internationally\nin the United States are dismal. I will say something about that a\nlittle bit later if we have not completed our business here shortly.\nBut if you look at one of the things we are doing, or you look at\nreally any State--I use Tennessee as an example--Tennessee, for 2003,\nreceived $3.4 million; and for 2004, $3.68 million in Federal support.\n  People say the Federal Government is not doing enough in supporting\neducation. The amount that Tennessee--Tennessee is a good example of a\nState--that is a 64-percent increase in K-12 education funds just from\n2002. Just over that 2-year period, there was an increase in Federal\nfunding for education of 64 percent.\n  With this increased funding, and the new high accountability\nstandards with No Child Left Behind, Tennessee will be on the path of\nachieving academic excellence.\n  In closing, I do wish to express my gratitude to my fellow\nTennesseans for allowing me the real honor to serve them as one of\ntheir two Senators here in Washington, DC. As I look back over the\n108th Congress, I really do see a historic period in our legislative\nhistory. I look forward to continuing to work hard on the issues that\nmatter most to Tennessee and that keep us moving this great Nation\nforward.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2004-12-08-pt1-PgS12022-4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7878429498523474, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}