Wayne Allard

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, the amendment that was just reported at the desk is an amendment that is cosponsored by myself, Senator Voinovich, Senator Grams, and Senator Enzi. I do want to take the time to thank them for their willingness to be a part of this very important effort to try to pay down our Nation's debt. We have two debts that are referred to frequently in debate, and I want to talk about each one of them individually. One is the burden of the national debt on America, and, as of June 14, 2000, the total national debt to the penny was $5,651,368,584,663.04. If we look at the debt that was owed to the public, there is an equally astounding figure of $3,499,251,116,128.15. How does this break down to each citizen's share of the national debt? If you were born today, what kind of debt would you have to face as you grew and paid for your education and started your own business and raised your family? Each citizen born today in America would owe $20,550 on the national debt; or another way of putting it, $12,724 on the debt owed to the public. In 1961, Congress established within the Department of the Treasury the Bureau of the Public Debt, an account for citizens to repay the public debt. Our amendment is an attempt to accomplish just that. What it does, it makes a one-time payment out of the fiscal year 2000 surplus--that is the budget we are operating under right now--to the account. We have a total of about 26.5 billion surplus dollars that have come in this year. We have already obligated about $14.3 billion in an effort for emergency spending. This includes some adjustments between spending provisions we did last year where we forwarded some of our spending. We are going to move it back so it is within each fiscal year. It included some emergency spending for Kosovo and some emergency spending for farm programs and a number of other items. That leaves $12.2 billion on the table. So this amendment says we want to take those $12.2 billion and move them into the debt repayment account that Americans can pay into now, that we established in 1961. This holds the Senate accountable for limited emergency supplemental spending consistent with the budget, I might add. I think each of us individually in the Senate, and Members of the House, ought to make a personal commitment to try to enforce provisions of that budget. That was voted on by this body, voted out of the body. If it is going to mean anything, I think Members of the Senate have to make a concerted effort to help enforce the provisions of the budget. The amendment I have introduced, with the help of some of my colleagues, was scored by CBO as a no-cost intergovernmental transfer. It is well within the budget rules, the rules of the Senate, and it is an important amendment. It is something we need to address. We simply have to get the debt under control. I have introduced legislation in the past that has put forth a plan whereby we try to pay down the debt over 30 years, then, later on, introduced more legislation so we go ahead and pay down the debt over 20 years. The fact is, we are having unprecedented surpluses coming in to the Government coffers. A lot of it is because of the amount of work and labor that is happening out there. It is due to American initiative that has been propelled by the free enterprise society in which we live. It is unprecedented in the history of this country. If we do not do something to pay down the debt now, we are going to miss a great opportunity to have a secure, a more prosperous future for the young Americans of today, our future leaders. I hope we can adopt this amendment as a minor first step in paying down our total debt. We simply should not, as a matter of conscience, continue to increase spending year after year with a total disregard of the total debt that we have accumulated. We simply need to be doing something to pay down our national debt. This is a small step. It is something that hopefully will begin to get this Senate to understand and this Congress to realize we ought to have a plan of 20 years to pay down the debt. It is accountability on further emergency spending. Emergency spending is not counted in the budget caps and the 302(b) allocations, and too often this spending privilege is abused. Members of the House and Senate try to put programs which they cannot put in the regular budget resolution when this Congress sets its priorities under the emergency spending programs. We need to do what we can to maintain the integrity of that budget resolution because it is the one that puts restraint on spending and puts accountability in the budgeting process. As I mentioned before, CBO has scored this as a no-cost transfer. It is important, and it is money that is left laying on the table. At this point in time, I really believe there are few choices of what will happen with the $12.2 billion. It will either go toward debt repayment, or it will be spent. I am concerned it will be spent. I have introduced this legislation to obligate it towards debt repayment. It is important. I ask my colleagues in the Senate to support us in the effort to pay down the debt, and I ask them to vote aye to support this amendment to pay down the debt. I yield the floor.

Mr. ALLARD. I, again, thank my colleague from Ohio, Senator Voinovich, for his undying effort and diligent fight to pay down the debt. It is good to have somebody with that kind of persistence and bulldog attitude to be a team player on a very important issue such as this. I just want to commend him in a public way for his efforts. I do not see any other Senators on the floor wanting to debate this issue. I yield the floor so the Senator from Oregon can be recognized.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 15. I further ask unanimous consent that on Thursday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 4475, the Department of Transportation appropriations bill.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, the Senate will convene at 9:45 a.m. tomorrow and will resume debate of the Transportation appropriations legislation. Under the order, Senator Voinovich will be recognized immediately to offer his amendment regarding passenger rail flexibility. A vote on the amendment is expected to occur tomorrow morning at a time to be determined. Further amendments will be offered and voted on during tomorrow morning's session with the hope of final passage early in the day. As usual, Senators will be notified as votes are scheduled.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to immediate consideration of S. Res. 323, which is at the desk.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the consideration of H.R. 4387, which is at the desk.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. I ask unanimous consent the committee amendment be agreed to, the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statement relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the amendment be agreed to.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, Senator Bond has an amendment at the desk.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 531, H.R. 2614.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all first- degree amendments contained on the list submitted earlier must be filed at the desk by 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Calendar No. 563, S. 2593, be indefinitely postponed.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Rules Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2498, and the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise today to show my support for General John Gordon to be the Director of the National Nuclear Security Administration or the NNSA. But before I do that, I need to mention a related item, the lack of security protections at the Los Alamos lab. On Monday, June 12, the New York Times reported that computer hard drives containing valuable nuclear weapons data and other highly sensitive information were found missing from the Los Alamos National Laboratory on May 7th. These classified hard drives were stored in locked containers in a vault at the weapons X Division at the lab. The containers were found but the hard drives are gone. According to reports, the material missing is American nuclear weapons data that the Nuclear Emergency Search Team needs to disarm nuclear devices during emergencies. Also missing is the intelligence information on the Russian nuclear weapons program. To make matters worse, the Lab did not begin an intensive search until May 24. I realize that a fire was raging in the area and that people were focused on that, but to wait that long makes little sense. I understand that the law now requires that any such incident must be reported to the Department of Energy within 8 hours. Finally, DOE headquarters was informed of the missing data on June 1. While it may seem premature to speculate foul play, I must say that neither DOE nor the Administration have a strong track record in the area of safeguards and security. Unfortunately, this is not the first incident of lax security during this Administration. Here are just a few of the reported incidents. March 1999--It was determined that the Chinese had penetrated Los Alamos Laboratory and stole our nuclear secrets. Last December--A Russian diplomat is ordered to leave after a microphone transmitter is discovered on the 7th floor of the State Department, only a short walk from the office of Secretary Albright. Then there is the case of the missing laptops at the State Department and the situation with the former CIA Director John Deutch, who since has lost all his clearances, of mishandling classified information. While not all these cases are related to the newly created NNSA, they do show that a new attitude and new ethic must be incorporated into this Administration. We have had too many problems at too many places. That is why I am glad that General Gordon is finally being voted on by this Senate. I am sorry that this vote took so long to take place. This vote was objected to by some who wanted to get a better deal on a few items in the Defense authorization bill relating to the NNSA. It was my belief there would be obstacles in this job, but I never believed it would happen before he got to the NNSA. However, now that the objection to General Gordon's nomination has been lifted, we can finally move this nomination. Gen. Gordon's position is far too valuable to be made a political pawn and the latest incident at Los Alamos proves that. Also, I let him know that I don't expect miracles, I just expect our national security be treated as such. No longer should science and personnel matters out rank security. We must change this culture and I believe that General Gordon is the right person for this job. I want to thank General Gordon for his dedication and commitment to his country and for serving in this new position. Lastly, Mr. President, I look forward to the hearings on the latest incident at the lab. For too long I have heard this administration crowing that they are taking care of the security problems, but this latest incident shows that their actions don't match their words. While this administration crowed they attempted to undermine what Congress had done last year to strengthen security in the Department of Energy through amendments in the Strategic Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee. As chairman of that committee I was appalled at the action of Democrat members of the committee as well in their attempts to stop the nomination of General Gordon. We must and will get to the bottom of our nation's security problems.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 595, S. 1967.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I thank Senators Voinovich, Grams, and Enzi for agreeing to cosponsor this particular amendment. As everybody in the Senate knows, I have been working for some time to put a plan before the Senate that would pay down the debt over a period of time. I have always been a strong proponent of paying down the debt. I believe Congress needs to live within its own spending restraints. In 1961, Congress established within the Department of Treasury the Bureau of the Public Debt. It is an account for citizens to repay the public debt. Our amendment relates to the surplus from fiscal year 2000. The surplus projected by the Congressional Budget Office has been projected to be $26.5 billion; that is over and above what was provided for when we passed the budget last year. There was an emergency resolution that provided for some spending, so we have already spent part of the $26.5 billion: $14.3 billion went to reversing the payday delays and moving appropriation spending back into fiscal year 2000, which was a procedural issue early on in the year. It took $7.2 billion to do that. We took $5.5 billion for agriculture relief and $1.6 billion for natural disaster relief, Kosovo, and assistance to the Government of Colombia for drug relief. That totals $14.3 billion. That leaves $12.2 billion that has not been obligated that is going to be surplus in this year's budget. We have another estimate that will be coming in later on in the year. Very likely, there will even be additional dollars at some point in time over and above the $12.2 billion on which the Senate can make a decision. Basically, what we are asking with this amendment is that the $12.2 billion ought to go towards paying down the public debt. It is based on figures released by the Congressional Budget Office, and it is within the budget resolution that was passed earlier this year. It takes care of emergency spending needs. I am asking Members of the Senate to support me in helping to pay down the debt. In recent years, we have had an unprecedented amount of surplus. The surplus has illustrated the importance of showing some fiscal restraint. Actually, the budget resolution we passed earlier, in both the House and Senate, is an agreement between the House and the Senate to stay within certain spending parameters. This falls within those guidelines. The only enforcement mechanism is our willingness to live by our own rules. We are saying with this amendment that we ought to live by the agreement that was earlier arranged between the House and the Senate, and passed. And if there is any spending, instead of increasing spending, we ought to be paying down the debt. The emergency spending is not counted for under the budget caps or the 302(b) allocation. In my view, the spending privilege that we had in the past years has been abused. We have spent more and not worked hard enough to hold down and stay within the caps. The increased spending may ultimately threaten the Social Security surplus. We have all talked about how important it is to save Social Security. I have been of the view that if you pay down the debt, you can free up resources so that we can work at Social Security reform in future years. Obviously, it is not going to happen this year. In my view, we cannot, in good conscience, continue to spend when we have such huge obligations that are facing us in future years, particularly in Social Security trust funds. The Congressional Budget Office, again, has scored this as a no-cost transfer. The amendment appropriates $12.2 billion to an already existing account at the Bureau of Public Debt, which we set up in past years for taxpayers to pay into because this Congress thought it was important to the American taxpayers. I am saying to the American taxpayer that you have shown a commitment to want to pay down the public debt. Members of the Senate and the House need to carry forward with their desire and their commitment and show an equal desire to pay down the public debt. This transfers money away from spending and locks it into debt owed to the public. New estimates will be coming later on in the year and promise to offer similar opportunities for dedicating more of the fiscal year 2000 money to repay debt owed to the public. I have an article that was written by Peter B. Sperry of the Heritage Foundation entitled ``Making Sure Surplus Revenue Is Used To Reduce The National Debt.'' I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. ALLARD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. ALLARD

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Roger Brown, a member of my staff, be allowed on the floor during the debate on this amendment.