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Now we can step up to the plate and do it. This week the OMB informed us

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   So, Mr. President, as I said, OMB has informed us we are going to have $1.9 trillion over the next 10 years in non-Social Security surplus. That means we can use some of this for a lot of different things: Pay down the national debt, shore up Social Security, Medicare, and make appropriate investments in education. One of the most appropriate investments we can make is to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But there are a lot of other ways we can help pay for this. For example, we could save dollars by cracking down on Medicare waste fraud and abuse. The HHS Inspector General said last year, Medicare made $13.5 billion in inappropriate payments. Eliminating that waste alone would more than pay for the entire IDEA ex penditure. Yet the House-passed Labor-HHS bill actually cuts the funding fo r detecting waste, fraud and abuse. I hope we can take care of that in conference. My point is we have a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare we can cut out to help pay for this.

   We have a lot of other things we can do also: Cutting out Radio Marti, and TV Marti; spending by Government agencies on travel, printing and supplies and other items could be frozen. This could save $2.8 billion this year, about $12 billion over 5 years. Pentagon spending could be tied to the rate of inflation. This would force the Pentagon to reduce duplication and other inefficiencies. This change would save taxpayers $9.2 billion this year alone; $69 billion over 5 years. Enhancing the Government's ability to collect student loan defaults would be $1 billion over 5 years.

   The reason I cite these examples is to show there is a lot of waste and a lot of spending we can tighten down on to help pay for IDEA. W e have the surplus, however. All this money that we found out there--as we go through this year, you wait and see, transportation will take a little bit of that money; housing will take a little bit of that money; defense will take a big chunk of that; the Finance Committee will have tax provisions--they want to do away with all the estate taxes now. That will take away a big chunk. I hope we don't pass it but I assume something will come through.

   There is a big surplus out there and bit by bit special interests are going to come and take some of it away. Now is our time to get in there and say we are going to take enough to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We can do it. We have the money to do it. And, if I listened correctly to my friends on both sides of the aisle, we seem to have the will to do it.

   I just point out a range of organizations fully support full funding. I t is one of the National Governors' Association top priorities. The Education Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities advocates full funding. T he National School Boards Association just sent me a letter last week requesting an increase in funding fo r IDEA.

   In January of 1997 the majority leader, Senator LOTT, announced that fully funding ID EA wa s a major component of the Republican agenda. Later, Senator GORTON said that failure to fully fund IDEA is fundamentally wrong--CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, May 13, 1997.

   In January of 1998 the majority leader and other Republican Senators held a major press conference to announce they were going to introduce a bill, S. 1590, that would, among other things, fully fund IDEA.

   Senator COVERDELL said the resolution of the issues in that bill were:

   As important a battle as the country has ever dealt with.

   On his Web site, Senator GREGG from New Hampshire, who has always been a proponent of fully funding ID EA sa id that:

   He will continue to lead the fight to have the Federal Government meet its commitment to fund 40 percent of the special education costs.

   On his Web site, Senator SANTORUM of Pennsylvania supports full funding fo r IDEA.

   Last night, Senator VOINOVICH of Ohio said it is about time we paid for 40 percent of IDEA. T hat was last night.

   And last night Senator JEFFORDS, with whom I have worked many years on this issue, said:

   This body has gone on record in vote after vote that we should fully fund IDEA.

   Senator JEFFORDS also said:

   If we can't fully fund IDEA no w with budget surpluses and the economy we have, when will we do it? I do not believe that anyone can rationally argue that this is not the time to fulfill that promise.

   The reason I opposed the JEFFORDS amendment last night, and I said so openly last night in debate, is because his amendment would have taken money out of class-size reduction and out of funding fo r school modernization and construction to fund IDEA. I said we should not be robbing Peter to pay Paul. We need to reduce class sizes. We need school construction money.

   In fact, some of the biggest beneficiaries of school construction and modernization are kids with disabilities.

   Now we have an opportunity to fully fund IDEA be cause we have these big surpluses, as I said, $1.5 trillion on-budget surpluses over the next 10 years, not counting Social Security. To fully fund IDEA wo uld amount to less than 6 percent of that over the next 10 years. And, like I said before, we wouldn't have to touch the surplus if we just implemented one of my proposals to close up special interest tax loopholes, eliminate wasteful government spending, including Pentagon waste, or deal with Medicare waste, fraud and abuse. If you want to give a gift to the States this year, if you really want to help our local school districts, this is the amendment with which to do it, to fully fund IDEA on ce and for all.

   I yield for any comments or suggestions my colleague from Minnesota might have.

   Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I am going to be very brief. Staff is here, and it is late. It has been a long week. I can do this in a couple of minutes. I wanted to stay with Senator HARKIN because I think this amendment goes right to the heart of what we are about. It is a win-win-win-win amendment. I do not know how many times I said ``win.'' It is a win for us because we should match our budgets and our votes with the words we speak. Just about everybody on the floor of the Senate said they are for the Federal Government meeting this commitment of 40 percent funding of IDEA. I t is also a win for children with special needs. It is about children. We ought to do well for all of our children.

   Maybe it is because I am getting a little older and have six grandchildren, but I think all children are beautiful and all children have potential and all children can make contributions. We should do everything we can to nurture and support them. That is what this program has been about.

   The Senator from Iowa has been, if not the leader, one of the great few leaders from early time on for kids with special needs. It is also a win because I do think our States and school districts, if we can do better by way of our investments, I say to Senator HARKIN, will not only be able to live up to this commitment but will have more resources to invest in other priority areas. One of the things that has troubled me is, the Senator talked about the surplus. What is it over 10 years, $1.9 trillion?

   Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, $1.5 trillion, non-Social Security.

   Mr. WELLSTONE. It is $1.5 trillion non-Social Security over the next 10 years. Some of what has been discussed is a zero-sum gain, whether we are faced with the choice of do you support low-income kids with title I or do you support IDEA or do you support a lower class size or do you support trying to get more

   teachers into our schools, or do you support rebuilding crumbling schools. I believe we have a chance right now with the surplus, with these additional resources, to make these decisive investments. I cannot think of anything more important than making this investment in children and education.

   My last point is, all of us--and I will even make this bipartisan, seeing Senator CHAFEE presiding, whom I think cares deeply about children and education, just like his dad did, and I mean that sincerely--we are all going to have to make some decisions about consistency.

   It is like the old Yiddish proverb: You can't dance at two weddings at the

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   Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his words of support, not only tonight but for all the time I have known him and all the years he has been in the Senate for making kids and education, especially special needs kids, one of his top priorities.

   I could not help but think when I was listening to the Senator speak, this vote on this amendment--I do not mean to puff it up bigger than it is. We are going to be faced the remainder of this year with vote after vote on what to do with that surplus. We may disagree on whether it is the estate tax cut or marriage penalty--whatever it might be. There might be other things coming down the pike, and we will have our debates and disagreement, but it seems to me that before we get into all that, we ought to do something for our kids with disabilities and we ought to do something that is right and is supported broadly, in a bipartisan way, and supported by our States.

   I can honestly say to my friend from Minnesota, if every Senator voted for this amendment, they would not get one letter, one phone call taking them to task for their vote in support of this amendment. I believe I can say that without any fear that I would ever be wrong; that no Senator, whoever votes for this amendment, would ever get one letter or one phone call from anyone saying they voted wrong. I believe that because it is so widely supported.

   Then we can go on with our other debates on tax cuts and other issues with the surplus and how we will deal with it.

   At this point in time, let us say we are going to take this little bit and invest it in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and, once and for all, meet that 40-percent goal, and we will not have to be talking about it anymore.

   As I said, this is a very simple and very straightforward amendment, but I will admit, for the record, it is going to take 60 votes. I understand that. It will take 60 votes, but I believe if Senators will just think about what they have said about IDEA an d fully funding it and think about that big surplus we have and all of the demands that will be made on that surplus in the future, they just might think: Yes, we ought to carve out a little bit right now and put it into IDEA. I t would help our States and our schools and, most of all, help our families who have special needs children who may not have all of the economic wherewithal to give their kids the best education.

   As I understand it, this is the first vote up or down vote on fully funding ID EA ev er. Let's make it our last.

   I thank the Senator from Minnesota for his support. I yield the floor.

   Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise to commend Chairman STEVENS, Chairman ROTH, and Chairman SPECTER for their commitment to working in conference to restore funding to the Social Services Block Grant (Title XX), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). These programs provide a vital safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.

   The Social Services Block Grant program provides critical services for abused children, low-income seniors, and other families in need of assistance. For example, my own State of Vermont uses 80 percent of its Title XX funds to help abused and neglected children. Much of this money goes to assist the roughly 300 children in foster care in our State. This block grant was created under the Reagan Administration to provide States with a source of flexible funding to meet a variety of human service needs. It was the success of the Social Services Block Grant that paved the way for welfare reform.

   When welfare reform was passed, Congress made several agreements with the states. One such agreement was that funds for the Social Services Block Grant would be reduced to $2.38 billion with States permitted to transfer up to 10 percent of allocated TANF funds into the block grant to ``make up the difference.''

   Since making that agreement in 1996, Congress and the Administration have repeatedly cut the funds appropriated for the Block Grant to its current year funding le vel of $1.775 billion. I am grateful that there is a strong commitment to maintain this year's funding le vel in conference. However, the reduction of the amount of TANF funds that States can transfer also must be addressed. Vermont is one of several States which transfer the entire 10 percent that is allowable under TANF. Unfortunately, even with full use of the transferability, many states are no longer able to make up for the repeated reductions in Social Service Block Grant funds.

   I believe that the amount of TANF funds that States are permitted to transfer should not be cut in half, as current law requires, but should be increased to help mitigate the loss of Title XX funds that States have experienced since the 1996 agreement. The commitment to restore Social Services Block Grant funds to the current level is a good first step, but we should keep in mind that it is just a first step.

   In creating the TANF program, the Federal Government limited the amount of welfare funds that would be provided to States in exchange for giving States more flexibility in the use of those funds. The booming economy combined with successful State efforts to move more people from welfare to work have allowed States to reduce the costs of welfare. Congress urged States to save a portion of their TANF grants for the inevitable ``rainy day'' when additional funds would be needed. Many States did save part of their TANF allocation, and Congress has threatened to reduce the TANF allocations promised to the States, because the funds have not been fully expended. I thank Senators STEVENS, ROTH, and SPECTER for their commitment to uphold the promises we made in 1996 during conference negotiations on the Labor-HHS appropriations bill.

   My home State of Vermont has an unparalleled track record in extending health insurance coverage to children and families, and the S-CHIP has played a key part in contributing to this success. While Vermont has achieved its enrollment goals for this program to date, it continues to reach out to enroll eligible children. Restoration of the S-CHIP funding is essential for Vermont and other States in order for them to continue enrolling children in this program. It is essential for Congress to keep its commitment to the S-CHIP program, otherwise States are not likely to continue their aggressive outreach and enrollment efforts and children may be left without health care.

   I believe strongly that it is important for Congress to keep its agreements with the States---particularly regarding the Social Services Block Grant, TANF, and S-CHIP. The success of States in implementing these programs and the extent to which Congress and the administration maintain promised funding le vels for these critical programs will help determine the future of State block grants.

   How can we expect States and advocates to agree to flexible block grant initiatives, if Congress cannot fulfill its promise to maintain adequate funding? < p>   Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I would like to make a statement concerning the Federally funded research that is conducted at the various Centers for Disease Control (CDC) around the country.

   February of this year I met with the Director of the CDC, Jeffrey Koplan. CDC was highlighted in newspaper articles concerning the misuse of research funds targeted for hantavirus disease. Because of the presence of this disease in our state, as with other neighboring states, I am very concerned at the lack of accountability from the CDC.

   I expressed my concern for the correct utilization of funding fo r the disease research programs that are mandated by Congress. I stressed the importance of CDC's accountability and obligation to carry out the letter of our laws. Mr. Koplan assured me that they have taken measures to complete a full audit of the misdirected funds

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   Being a member of Congress, I for one can fully understand that the process of appropriating funds for research is complicated at best. Although Congress designates specific funds for certain diseases, there are several levels of bureaucracy through which the dollars must pass before they are received by the appropriate agency. This still does not account for an agency's lack of dedication in meeting congressional direction that is law. Part of my responsibility as a U.S. Senator is the oversight of various agencies and their accountability to Congress to carry out the language of our laws.

   Hantavirus outbreaks have rapidly affected the U.S., reaching as far as Vermont. Most recently, a 12-year-old girl who lives in Loveland--my hometown--was diagnosed with the disease. Doctor's believe she may have contracted the disease while visiting a ranch in Arizona last April. Once hantavirus is contracted it can be anywhere from one week to as little as one day before symptoms appear. Once symptoms are prevalent, it rapidly progresses to respiratory distress as the lungs fill with fluid.

   Colorado has had 23 cases of hantavirus since 1998--with three cases already this year. It is time to act with no further delay by the CDC laboratory.

   I hope that the CDC has worked out it's problems and will carry out what Congress expects of an agency.

   Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to describe why I opposed the amendment offered by the senior Senator from Arizona, Mr. MCCAIN, to this legislation on the issue of schools and libraries blocking children's access to certain materials on the Internet, and supported the alternative amendment on this topic offered by Senator SANTORUM.

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