Tennessee Accomplishments

TENNESSEE ACCOMPLISHMENTS -- (Senate - December 08, 2006)

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as we serve in a class of Senators, we have several roles. We wear several hats. Probably the most important one is to represent the people who elected us, and that is our constituents back home in our home States. That has been for me a real honor over the last 12 years, to serve the people of Tennessee.

In addition to that, of course, we serve America as 100 individuals representing this entire country. That is a real privilege. If you are elected to leadership, you have other responsibilities.

Twelve years ago, the people of Tennessee entrusted me with the responsibility to serve their interests in the Senate. I have done my best each and every day to meet the Volunteer State's needs and to serve the people of my home State with dignity and honor. What an honor it has been to follow in the footsteps of former Senators Howard Baker and Bill Brock. What a tremendous privilege it has been representing the interests of the people of Tennessee.

And serving along side true statesmen such as Fred Thompson and Lamar Alexander--men who have dedicated so much of their lives to the people of Tennessee--has been a remarkably rewarding experience.

When I first stood for election in 1994, I pledged to all Tennesseans that I would serve two terms in the Senate and then return to home to live under the laws I had helped enact.

I made that commitment because I believe strongly in the concept of the citizen legislator--spending years developing real world experience outside the political arena as I did in medicine and then bringing that expertise to the legislative process for a period of time . . . only to make way for the next citizen with his or her fresh perspectives and new ideas.

As the time comes to resume my private life in the Music City, I have spent countless hours reflecting on the milestones in my service to Tennessee from which I derive particular pride.

I think about accomplishments such as establishing a prescription drug benefit that provides quality, affordable coverage for more than 700,000 beneficiaries in Tennessee.

I think about the State sales tax deduction, which I hope we will soon extend for 2 more years. Enacting that provision corrected a 15 year inequity in the Tax Code by allowing Tennesseans to deduct their State sales tax expenses from Federal income tax returns--and it resulted in additional savings of nearly $500 in taxes for more than 530,000 families across the State.

I recall the hours spent combating methamphetamine, a drug epidemic that has plagued Tennessee and dozens of other States.

I helped develop minimum Federal standards restricting access to the ingredients that produce methamphetamine, the drug our Nation's local law enforcement officials have ranked as our greatest problem.

I also enjoyed working with other members of the Tennessee delegation to establish a statewide methamphetamine task force and develop a statewide crime tracking system--all in an effort to eradicate this devastating drug from our communities.

During my time as majority leader, we also enacted a tobacco buyout that ended an outdated quota system that hurt Tennessee's farmers by providing fair compensation that will bring a total of $767 million to tobacco communities in the State over the next decade.

And we passed my National Park Fee Equity Act, a law that provides the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with an additional $200,000 to $300,000 each year by allowing the park to keep 100 percent of the user fees it collects.

I was also pleased earlier this year when the Senate confirmed the final member of a TVA board modernized by legislation I nursed through the legislative process over a 9-year period--legislation that resulted in the first African-American board member, the first west Tennessee board member, and the first chief executive officer in TVA history.

In addition, we passed legislation I authored allowing TVA to refinance its debt at lower rates, thus saving roughly $100 million per year.

These reforms will help increase accountability and oversight at TVA, which benefits both the utility and its ratepayers.

I have also worked extensively with my colleagues on the HELP Committee to extended health care and support services to Nashville, Memphis, and other emerging metropolitan communities disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS through reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act.

The CARE Act provides funding for low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, but none of Tennessee's cities met the legislation's original criteria to receive support--a fact I knew we had to correct and one which we rightly remedied.

I have dedicated significant energy to strengthening Tennessee's research infrastructure, and bringing both the Spallation Neutron Source project and the National Leadership Computational Facility to Oak Ridge demonstrates our State's leadership in advanced science and technology.

I was also pleased to play a central role in the development of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and the revitalization of the Central Medical District in Memphis by securing $8.1 million for these efforts.

And to ensure that we encourage the bright young men and women of our State to pursue an education in these fields that are vital to America's competitiveness in the 21st century's global economy, I also created the SMART Grant program--a $3.75 billion initiative that provides financial assistance to students seeking degrees in math, science, engineering, technology, and foreign languages critical to national security.

I have tried to encourage economic growth in other ways, however, working closely with communities throughout Tennessee to provide the Federal assistance that can often enable local governments to pursue opportunities that will benefit their citizens for generations.

I secured $100 million to construct sections of Interstate 69 in Tennessee from Dyersburg to Memphis--a highway that will one day serve as an economic engine for much of West Tennessee.

When community leaders in the Chattanooga area asked for assistance with the crumbling Chickamauga Lock and Dam, a structure providing access to hundreds of miles of waterway used for economic economy in East Tennessee, I helped ensure the authorization of a new 110 ft.-by-600 ft. replacement lock.

Construction funding for the replacement structure has been successfully secured in each year since 2003, and after a long period of hard work and difficult discussion, the White House agreed to include the project in its most recent budget request.

Several years ago, violent tornados ravaged Jackson, and local leaders sought my assistance in rebuilding badly damaged neighborhoods and city infrastructure.

I was honored to secure almost $11 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to rebuild public housing lost as a result of the devastating storms and an additional $2.1 million for the city's police department to improve communications during such emergencies.

Nashville long sought a light rail system that could help alleviate the burden placed on its roadways and improve the flow of consumers into downtown--the heart of its economic marketplace.

So I went to work and eventually secured $24.6 million in funding necessary to start and complete the Music City Star East Corridor Commuter Rail Project, which allowed Tennessee's first commuter rail passenger service to begin between the Riverfront Station in downtown Nashvil1e and the city of Lebanon in Wilson County just 3 months ago.

And when the city of Memphis began redeveloping its riverfront, I lent my support to the cause and secured nearly $8.7 million for the Cobblestone Landing and Beale Street Landing projects.

To help advance this work, I facilitated an agreement that will allow the University of Memphis Cecil Humphreys School of Law to relocate to the Postal Service Front Street Station in downtown Memphis--a move that will act as a cornerstone of riverfront redevelopment and reshape the law school's future.

I have also tried at every turn to provide steadfast support for Tennessee's brave men and women in uniform as a sign of my gratitude and respect for their extraordinary efforts on behalf of our Nation.

Because they deserve only the best facilities, I secured $32 million to construct a new headquarters facility for the Tennessee Army National Guard in Nashville and an additional $31 million to consolidate personnel previously located in 22 different buildings into a single, state-of-the-art command headquarters for the 101st Airborne and other units at Fort Campbell.

Because they and their families deserve basic economic fairness, I helped secure passage of the Fort Campbell Tax Fairness Act, which now ensures Volunteer State residents working at Fort Campbell are spared from a State income tax like all other Tennesseans.

I could spend many hours on the Senate floor recalling the countless ways in which I have worked to meet Tennessee's needs during my 12 years as a Member of this body.

But instead, I would rather thank the people of Tennessee for the opportunity.

I will forever treasure the experience--and the many individuals I have had the privilege of befriending across our great State along the way.

Electing me to serve two terms in the Senate is the greatest honor the citizens of Tennessee could have ever given me.

No words could ever express my deep appreciation.

I look forward to returning home and continuing my efforts to repay their generosity in the years to come.

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