Secure Fence Act of 2006

SECURE FENCE ACT OF 2006 -- (Senate - September 26, 2006)

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MENTAL HEALTH PARITY ACT

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in just a few weeks while we are in recess, we will mark the fourth anniversary of the untimely death of our former colleague from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone. Paul Wellstone died at the age of 58 in an airplane crash about 4 years ago. Paul and his wife Sheila and daughter Marcia were on their way to a campaign event in Eveleth, MN on October 25, 2002 when their plane crashed in a wooded field 2 miles short of the airport. We mourn for the surviving children Mark and David and for the families of the campaign staffers, Will McLaughlin, Tom Lapic, and Mary McEvoy, and for the families of the pilots flying that fated aircraft.

Paul's tragic and premature death silenced one of the leading voices in America on the issue of mental illness. Paul Wellstone understood the devastation that mental illness can bring: the stigma, the alienation, the broken families and, sadly, even broken lives.

In 1992, together with Senator PETE DOMENICI of New Mexico, Paul introduced legislation to require insurance companies to offer the same coverage for treating mental illness as for physical illness. The Mental Health Parity Act was passed and signed into law in 1996. The final version of the bill sadly was watered down and fell short of Paul's earliest goals.

A new bill to eliminate these disparities in insurance coverage was introduced in the last Congress. The Paul Wellstone Treatment Act attracted widespread bipartisan support: 69 Members of this Chamber and 245 Members of the House--a clear majority supporting Paul Wellstone's legacy. But unfortunately, during the past 2 years, this bill was not called for passage and did not pass.

Today I am honored to be joined by Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Senator TED KENNEDY, Senator TOM HARKIN, and Senator MARK DAYTON of Minnesota in submitting a sense-of-the-Senate resolution, first to remember Paul Wellstone and honor his legacy, but also to publicly commit to finishing his work on mental health equity legislation.

Mental health disorders are the leading cause of disability. Without treatment, the consequences of mental illness for the individual and for all of us are staggering: disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide, and wasted lives. The economic costs of untreated mental illness is more than $100 billion each year in the United States. In my home State of Illinois, close to 4 million people, or 30 percent of the population, are affected by some form of mental illness each year, including depression. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people 15 to 24. Seventy-seven percent of adults with severe mental illness are unemployed.

Now, the good news is this: Mental illness is treatable but only for the people who have access to sound diagnosis and care. We have a good start, thanks to the Mental Health Parity law that Senators WELLSTONE and DOMENICI led to enactment in 1996. Our next challenge is to build on the work Paul Wellstone left behind.

Current law requires insurers offer mental health care and offer comparable benefit caps for mental health and physical health, but it does not require group health plans and their health insurance issuers to include mental health coverage in their benefits package. It doesn't prevent insurers from setting higher deductibles, higher copays, and fewer services covered for mental health illness. I commend Senators KENNEDY and DOMENICI for their work in this Congress on working toward a consensus for reaching mental health parity for Americans.

I called Senator Domenici last week to tell him I was submitting this resolution and to cheer him on so that during the next session of Congress we can give the right tribute to Paul Wellstone and, more importantly, as Paul would see it and I see it as well, hope to millions of Americans.

This resolution honors Paul Wellstone. It commits us to continuing his work to ensure equity for people with mental illness. Paul fought against discrimination in any form. His life work was dedicated to creating a world in which everyone, regardless of race, religion, economic status, or health or mental health status, would be treated fairly and equally. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and renew our commitment to ensuring mental health parity.

Paul Wellstone was often quoted as saying:

I don't think politics has anything to do with left, right, or center. It has to do with trying to do right by the people.

That was what Paul Wellstone said. And now we will have our chance in the next session of Congress to honor that commitment.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I at the outset thank my colleague from Minnesota who was quick to join with his colleague Senator Dayton as a cosponsor of this resolution.

Many times politics divides us, but when it comes to an issue such as mental illness, we are all in this together. I know my colleague from Minnesota has probably had the same experience I had, of raising this issue at a town meeting or a public meeting, and then I almost guarantee you that before you leave that hall, someone will come up to you and ask if they can speak to you privately to tell you the story of a child or a spouse who has bipolar disorder or schizophrenia or who has committed suicide. It touches so many of us. What Paul Wellstone was trying to remind us of is that mental illness is not a curse, it is an illness, and an illness that can be treated. Why shouldn't we include it in our health insurance for Americans so that every family can be spared the suffering that comes with mental illness today.

I thank my colleague from Minnesota for joining me on this resolution.

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield for a question, I would like to say by way of question through the Chair that I thank my colleague from Minnesota. I can recall when he first came to the Senate serving with our mutual friend, Paul Wellstone. It must have been tough to be that close to a dynamo. The man had boundless energy and committed to so many good causes.

The Senator from Minnesota has carried on the fine tradition for your State. I thank the Senator for joining us in this resolution.

Hope springs eternal, and maybe during the lame duck session Senator Kennedy and Senator Domenici will be able to give us some good news that will make us proud on this important issue.

I thank the Senator for his words today.

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ESTATE TAX

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this morning one of my Republican colleagues came to the floor to talk about what appears to be the favorite topic of most Republican Senators: the estate tax. No matter what we are talking about on the floor, whether it is immigration reform, making America safe from terrorism, dealing with issues involving the funding for our troops, port security, without fail, you can count on one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle trying to wedge in to this queue with what many of them consider to be at least equally important: the issue of the estate tax.

So my colleague came to the floor and mentioned my name over and over again as if I were his opponent. I would say to my colleague there are many Senators who disagree with his position, but I will be happy to address it for a moment or two.

The simple fact is this: If an American and a spouse have assets valued at less than $2 million at the time of their death, they will never pay one penny in estate taxes--not one. So if you ask who benefits from this repeal of the estate tax, well, sadly it turns out to be some of the wealthiest people in America. If you took 1 percent--that is 1 out of 100--estates in America, people who die each year, only one-fourth of those will ever pay any estate tax. It is a very small number of people who have done very well in their lives in America who may end up paying estate tax.

I want my position to be clear. There is an exemption under the estate tax, an exempt amount that you can leave to your heirs, that will not be taxed. I think we need to increase that and regularly increase it to reflect reality. It is true, the real estate we own has gone up in value while we have lived there, businesses have increased in value, farms have increased in value, and I think the exemption should be increased as well.

Where I have a problem is where we have people who are very well off--multimillionaires--who end up owing the Government--in fact, owing their country--something for their success, and they will be left in a position with the proposal from the other side of the aisle where they may have no estate tax liability whatsoever.

The majority leader of the Senate, Senator Frist, has said he is for total repeal of the estate tax--total repeal so that Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft, who has done so well and made so much money, would pay nothing back to America by way of estate tax when he passes away. Well, Mr. Gates is not asking for that. Many people who are well off are not asking for that. They understand this country has been very good to them, and they are also prepared to pay back so that future generations have a chance to succeed as well.

My colleague came to the floor and talked about farmers and is concerned about farmers. I am from downstate Illinois. A few years ago, after hearing all of the debate about estate taxes, I wrote to the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Illinois Farmers Union, and asked them: Tell me of any farm that you know of where the farmer's survivors had to sell the farm because of paying Federal estate tax. There was not one single instance in my State. They couldn't find one. Now, I understand some of those farmers may have to sell off a portion of their land or some of their acreage to pay their taxes at the time that the spouse finally passes away. But as far as losing farms, that is something that is said over and over again, but neither the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Farmers Union and, in fact, the American Farm Bureau could find a single example of a family being forced to sell its farm because of estate tax liability.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, only 123 family-owned farms and 135 family-owned businesses would pay any estate tax at all with a $2 million family exemption level.

So we often have to stop and wonder why are we dwelling on this or why are some Members of the Senate continuing to dwell on this. If their sympathy is for those who are struggling to survive in America, they should focus their spotlight not on the wealthiest among us but those who are struggling at lower levels.

Let's take a look at some of the realities, the economic realities in America today. This chart shows what has happened over the last 6 years. The minimum wage has been frozen under President Bush and this Republican Congress for 9 years. During that 9-year period of time, the President's pay has been increased substantially, pay for Members of Congress increased $31,600, and the $5.15 an hour minimum wage has not gone up.

It is always interesting to me that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to think that it is fine for those making the lowest wages in America, some of them working very hard each day, to have no increase in their pay for 9 straight years, while they are struggling to make ends meet. They come to the floor and talk to us about those who have made millions of dollars in their lives and whether they will have to pay any taxes. I think it is a misplaced priority.

If we take a look at some of the real household income of Americans across the board, you can see what has happened from 2000 to 2005. Real household income has declined by $1,273. It means the average family, working hard, paying off the costs of living--utilities and mortgages, energy costs, education costs--is working harder and falling behind each and every year.

Our economic policies in this country really are not focused where they should be. We should be focusing on this middle-income American family that is struggling to make ends meet in a very difficult time.

The distribution of wealth in America has changed substantially over the last several years. The distribution of earnings has become even more unequal. When you look at this situation, you see the years between 1995 and 2000 with a violet color, 2000 to 2005 with the red. So in the year 1995 to 2000, the last term of President Clinton, you can see there was an increase in earnings, weekly earnings for full-time workers, across the board. All of these violet bars above show, for example, a 9.6-percent increase, a 7.4-percent increase. So in that 4-year period of time, we had the distribution of earnings increasing.

Now look at the period of time under President Bush. During that time period, in each of these categories of income in America, we have seen that earnings have been declining or rising very slowly, as they are at the highest levels of income in America.

Take a look at the wealth as well under the tax breaks given under this administration the last several years. This is the Bush economic record: a $38,000 tax break for people who are making $1 million a year, but for middle-income families making $50,000 to $100,000, their tax break under the Bush administration has been $55, and for those in the lowest income categories a tax break of $6.

You can see where the priorities have been when it comes to taxes. But ask the average family making about $100,000 a year--let's take that as an example. Let's take someone who is a teacher and whose spouse may work part time, bringing in some income to the family, and together they make $100,000 a year. They have raised their kids and spent good money sending them to school. Then the kids apply to college. The families are inundated with a stack of forms--most families have seen them--to apply for student loans and students grants. Those making about $100,000 a year will find it difficult to apply for any financial assistance. So the students, their sons and daughters who finally got into the school of their dreams, may face an unconscionable debt.

Some students put off their education. Some give up on the best schools. Some go on to school and graduate with a mountain of debt, a mountain of debt which was made worse this year when, on July 1, a law signed by President Bush increased the interest rates on student loan debts by 2 percent. It doesn't sound like much, except it means the payback for that student loan has now been increased by 20 percent over the life of the loan. It means these students, borrowing money to go to school, deeper in debt, will now be paying off their student loan debt into their 50s. Imagine that student graduating today--23, 24 years old, maybe--looking ahead to 20 or 30 years of paying off student loan debt. Finally, in their early 50s, they have paid it all off, and now they have a few years to contemplate their retirement.

What is wrong with that picture? What is wrong is students and families in middle-income circumstances are bearing this burden, and this burden is increasing, as I will show, as the cost of college education increases. So instead of talking about a $38,000 tax break for someone who makes $1 million a year, we believe on this side of the aisle that we should allow the deductibility of college education expenses. If you can deduct the amount of interest you pay on your home to encourage home ownership, why shouldn't a family be able to deduct some of the costs of college education from their tax expenses so we can encourage students to go on, further their education, and make this a better country? It is a question of tax priorities: on one side of the aisle, estate tax relief for those in the highest income categories; on this side of the aisle, we are talking about relief when it comes to tax deduction for the real cost of college education expenses.

Most of the families I represent in Illinois were quick to tell me, during the August break, how bad gasoline prices were. We know in the last 5 years they have increased 104 percent. They started coming down in the Midwest, but I think there is a false sense of security here. A lot of people were sacrificing to put more gasoline in the car, but we still don't have a national energy policy, and there is no guarantee that a few weeks from now those gasoline prices will not go back up again because we have no bargaining power.

We are so dependent on foreign oil today that we can't say to those who gouge us and those who want to really charge us the most that there is anything we will do about it. And this administration has not really called the oil company executives in, Exxon and others, to explain the absolutely unprecedented level of profits they took as the gasoline prices went up. That industry made more money more quickly than any industry in America, and they reached higher profit levels than any industry had recorded previously. Yet this administration sat back and said we can do nothing about it as Americans and families and businesses and farmers paid the price. As the cost of gasoline goes up, as prices have in the last several months, families have faced that sacrifice. Now comes the heating oil season for many, and that may again increase the cost of expenses for these families.

Take a look at what has happened as well when it comes to family health insurance premiums under this administration. Family health insurance premiums have increased 71 percent in the last 5 years. That means the average premium for family health insurance went from $6,348 when President Bush took office to $10,880. Is it any wonder families are feeling the squeeze? These premium increases, of course, translate into another $300 or $400 each month that a family has to come up with just to have the same health insurance as last year and maybe less coverage.

Have we discussed expanding health insurance or making it more affordable on the floor of the Senate? Only once and just for a few days. I salute Senator Enzi, Republican from Wyoming, chairman of the HELP Committee, for bringing a health insurance proposal to the floor. We had another proposal here. We tried, if we could, to work out something ahead of time to have a bipartisan approach. We didn't get it done. I hope that in the next Congress, we can find a way to bring real relief on a bipartisan basis to families that are struggling with these health insurance premiums.

I mentioned earlier the cost of education and student loans. This graph shows what has happened under this administration since the President took office with regard to the increased costs of college. They have gone up $3,688, the average annual cost of a public 4-year college, tuition, fees, room, and board. So there was a 44-percent increase in just this 5-year period of time under this administration, increase in college cost. Again, wouldn't our Tax Code be more sensible if we helped families pay this difference, if we helped them put their kids through college to get a good degree and a good life and contribute to this country? Wouldn't that be a higher priority in terms of our Tax Code than whether Bill Gates is going to end up being excused from paying an estate tax when he passes away?

There is also a concern as well with retirement plans. Take a look at what has happened in the last 5 years. In the last 5 years, 3.7 million fewer Americans have retirement plans. The number of workers with employer-sponsored retirement plans has gone down from 56.2 million to 52.5 million, which means more vulnerability.

A lot of people who had paid into a retirement plan through the course of their work experience believed that they had paid their dues, taken the money out of their check every week, and that the day would come and they would see it, that they would finally get to retire and relax. Then came mergers and consolidations and corporate sleight of hand and legal work, and the next thing you know a lot of these pensions started disappearing. So many families are concerned, concerned about when or if they can retire.

You read the stories in the paper all the time in Illinois and every other State about those who had their future plans wrecked when they lost their pension benefits. It has happened at the airlines. It has happened in so many industries across our country. We know it makes a real difference in life. A lot of people who thought they would be spending their time worrying about where to go fishing now are acting as greeters at stores around America and trying to find part-time jobs just to keep it together.

We need to do something about retirement in this country, and one thing we do not need to do is privatize Social Security. Privatizing Social Security is, of course, supported by the President but not by the American people. They know the math doesn't work. Taking money out of the Social Security trust fund for people to experiment with their investments is going to weaken that fund unfortunately. They will be unable to make the payments our Social Security retirees need. If there is ever a time when we need Social Security to be strong, it is now, as we see fewer and fewer Americans with retirement plans.

The number of Americans without health insurance has gone up dramatically under this administration, from 39.8 million Americans with no health insurance to 46.6 million Americans. Those who are insured will tell you many times that their health insurance is not very good. They come up to me at town meetings in Illinois and talk about frightening scenarios where someone in their family had a serious illness, a diagnosis, and then when they tried to pay off the medical bills, it turns out the health insurance fought them all the way. These health insurance companies are spending a lot less on care and a lot more on battles with the people who have the health insurance, denying coverage whenever they can. So we have to really get back to this issue as part of the priorities of this Congress. I am sorry that this Republican Congress has not really come up with assistance that many of these Americans need with health insurance.

Overall, as we go through this litany, you can understand as you go through this litany why this next chart is where it is today. In the last 5 years, under this administration, household debt has gone up over $26,000. Because Americans are struggling to make ends meet, because the cost of college and health care and gasoline and heating your home has gone up dramatically, Americans have had to borrow more and more just to keep up. They are right on the edge, trying to pay off very expensive credit card debt.

There has been a 35-percent increase in household debt in the last 5 years for the reasons I mentioned earlier, from an average inflation-adjusted debt per household of $75,000 to over $101,000. This debt is hanging over the heads of many Americans, and if there is any rock in the road that Americans families trip over--if someone gets sick, loses a job, a divorce, something unforeseen--they are going to find themselves then facing default on their debt and even higher interest rates.

While this has been going on for the average American, employee compensation has gone down some 4.6 percent. So while all the debts have been piling up, the compensation that is being given to individuals has been going down. Meanwhile, corporate profits are up 8 percentage points. So we can see that the share of corporate income going to profits and employee compensation has gone in opposite directions, and those directions do not benefit those families that are struggling to get by.

Those who run the corporations are doing quite well, thank you. In the last 5 years, the pay for the chief executive officers of major corporations in America has gone up over $1.6 million individually. This average pay here of $5.2 million when the President took office is now up to $6.8 million. So while the pay for employees is going down and expenses are going up, in the boardrooms the median CEO compensation has gone up substantially.

When you take a look at the tax cuts under this administration, their economic record, tax cuts are over 150 times larger for millionaires than they are for most households in America. So we gave the tax cuts of $103,000 for those in the highest income levels and $684 for those making less than $100,000 a year. So the so-called tax cut program has not really helped those families struggling the hardest.

What has happened to employment, creation of jobs in America, is illustrated by this chart. We have seen the average annual growth rate of nonfarm employment in America under every President. You have to go back to Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression to see a decline of 6 percent in employment in America. You will see the lowest number of any President since Herbert Hoover has been registered by this administration, in the creation of jobs. That is the average annual growth rate of nonfarm employment. It is the slowest job growth in America in over 70 years.

The other sad reality is, while all of these things have taken place, this represents the famous wall of debt which Senator Conrad of North Dakota has brought to our attention over and over again. When President Bush took office, our national debt was $5.8 trillion. Today, it is over $8.5 trillion--a dramatic increase in America's debt in a 6-year period of time. With policies which this administration supports and many on the other side have been arguing for, we can see America's debt reaching $11.6 trillion in 2011. So in a 10-year period of time, we will have virtually doubled--not quite but almost doubled--the debt of America, which means we are leaving a burden for our children, a burden with which they will have to deal--a burden with which they will have to deal as we see more and more baby boomers in Social Security and Medicare. As we see fewer people working, those who remain in the workforce will not only have to face their own personal challenges economically, but they will have to deal with the debt that we are leaving behind.

If this is fiscal conservatism, I don't understand the meaning of the term.

Why is it that we have reached this point? Sadly, the economy is not going as planned. We are facing a war which costs between $1.5 billion and $3 billion every week, and the other side continues to come to the floor and ask for something that no administration has ever asked for in the history of the United States--a tax cut in the midst of a war. That is what the Senator from this morning was suggesting. He wants to cut the estate tax. By cutting the estate tax there will be less revenue for our Government, the war will continue, and our debt will grow. These numbers will have to be adjusted upwards for the debt we are going to leave our children.

Yesterday we had a hearing with the Democratic Policy Conference to discuss the war in Iraq. We had two generals and a Marine Corps colonel who spoke to us. They spoke on a lot of things that we need to do to make America safer and make sure we win this war in Iraq. But one thing that MG John Batiste said I really thought was important. He said--and I think we all believe--that America can rise to a challenge. America can meet a challenge. We have done it so many times in our history. We have won wars when we were not expected to. We put a man on the Moon when a lot of people scoffed at that possibility. We developed medical breakthroughs which no one would have dreamed of. We led the world in computer technology development and in so many areas one by one. Whether it was in agricultural production or in industrial development or innovation we have led the world. We have led the world because leaders have stepped forward--a President has stepped forward and challenged us and said we need to stick together, we need to work together to reach the goal.

General Batiste said yesterday--and I paraphrase his actual testimony, but I believe what he said. He said that what we need to be reminded of is we can meet any challenge as a nation. We need to be reminded, as well, if we are challenged and work together, we can win this war on terrorism. And he said it is going to involve sacrifice. It is not the first time Americans have been asked to sacrifice. They have done that many times. I believe that spirit of sacrifice is what is needed to make sure we keep America safe from terrorism and safe from other threats.

I see that Senator Ensign has come to the floor. I don't know whether he wishes to take the floor at this time. But I mentioned his name earlier. I commended him for bringing the health insurance issue to the floor. I hope in the next session that we can work together to try to find some bipartisan compromise to deal with this health insurance challenge. It is still out there and getting more challenging every day. Senator Enzi of Wyoming, as Republican chair of the committee, may have been the first one to bring the health issue to the floor of the Senate in the 10 years I have been here. I commend him for that.

Although we didn't see eye to eye on all of that, I hope we come back together and sit down and try to find some common bipartisan approach no matter who is in charge of the Senate in the next session.

I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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