Max Baucus

Mr. BAUCUS

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

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Moseley-Braun be added as a cosponsor.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, we checked with the Commerce Committee and the ranking member, and it is also cleared with them.

Mr. BAUCUS. It is acceptable on this side as well. THE PRESIDING OFFICER. If there be no further debate, the question is on agreeing to the amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, we accept the amendment. The chairman has articulated the reasons. They are good reasons.

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

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay it on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I urge adoption. These are truly technical amendments, clarifying amendments, truly noncontroversial. It should pass.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, this is essentially a bookkeeping amendment to prevent double counting and to make sure that moneys States do receive under the new ISTEA highway program are according to the new formula rather than the old formula. It is really very straightforward--to prevent double counting. There is no reason why this should not pass.

Mr. BAUCUS. I move to lay it on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1841 to Amendment No. 1676

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I wonder if I could engage the distinguished chairman of our committee in a colloquy about the status of the bill. Mr. President, I ask the chairman: Isn't it true that we are pretty much wrapped up with our bill, but we are waiting on two major amendments? They are from two other committees, and we are waiting for those committees to come to the floor and offer their amendments so we can get them agreed to and then get on with this bill and get this bill off the floor so we can, hopefully following the House action, have a bill to go to conference. Isn't it true that we are about wrapped up here but we waiting on two committees?

Mr. BAUCUS. I ask the chairman, also, is it his understanding that the Finance Committee is ready with its amendment, that it has been drafted, but for some reason they just do not come over to the floor and offer it?

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, might I ask the distinguished chairman of our committee, isn't it true that the Finance Committee amendment is very important to this bill because that is the amendment which will extend the current gasoline tax that is going to transfer the funds into the trust fund and, therefore, to other trust fund States? So we definitely need to get this Finance Committee amendment agreed to.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, might I ask the chairman again, where does he think the Finance Committee amendment is? Here it is, 2:30 in the afternoon.

Mr. BAUCUS. My office called, and there is no answer. They are out to lunch. The lunch hour, I am sure, is over by 2:30. I hope the Finance Committee comes over quickly so that we get their amendment offered. I also ask the chairman--there is no reason why we even have to take the Banking Committee amendment. It seems to this Senator that we can just as soon go to third reading, and, if the Banking Committee does not come over with its amendment by tomorrow or the next day, then there is no transit amendment to the bill. There will be other opportunities for them to bring up their transit amendment sometime later this year, I would think. We don't have to wait. We don't have to have the transit amendment in this bill.

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I might also note that last week when we were working out an arrangement to allocate dollars in the Byrd-Gramm- Warner-Baucus amendment the mass transit folks were going berserk; they were all upset that they were not ``taken care of''. As we all know, the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee and the chairman of the Banking Committee and others have reached an agreement of the amounts that will be in the transit title. So there is no reason why they can't quickly put this bill together with the amounts that are contained in that agreement and offer their amendment. I hope they will do that very quickly. Again, we are here waiting for the Finance Committee. We are here waiting for the Banking Committee. Once those two committees come over with their major amendments to different titles to this bill, we will by and large be able to pass this bill and urge the House to take up and pass their ISTEA bill so we can meet the deadline of April 30. A lot can slip between now and April 30--passage here and in the House, then conference, and we have to have all of that done by April 30, and signed by the President by that same date so we don't have to worry about the possibility of another extension, which I certainly don't want, and so that States can rest assured that the highway program is in place. We have to move here. I hope the Finance Committee and the Banking Committee will help us out.

Mr. BAUCUS. Don't.

Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I support this amendment. There are no objections I am aware of on our side. A critical feature is State discretion. The States will have the authority, have the discretion, under this amendment, to change the alcohol content to a level that they so choose. That is, this amendment does not prescribe specifically what the alcohol content should be with respect to the repeat offender law. And because the States have that discretion, that choice, I support the amendment.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. I thank the majority leader for his efforts in helping us move this bill very expeditiously. He very graciously decided to vitiate the cloture vote that was otherwise scheduled today in an effort to speed up the passage of a couple of the titles of the bill, particularly the Finance and the Banking Committee portions. I pledge my cooperation--I know I speak for Senator Chafee--in trying to work this bill through as quickly as we possibly can because we have to get this thing enacted into law--the current extension expires--so people----

Mr. BAUCUS. Right--can get their dollars spent on the highway programs. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BAUCUS

Mr. BAUCUS. Will the leader yield?

Mr. BAUCUS. I agree with the leader's comments and observations with respect to the current Presiding Officer. In the few times I have been on the floor--and certainly during this last week of managing this bill--she has often been the Presiding Officer. And she smiles.

Mr. BAUCUS. Yes. Not all Presiding Officers smile. I don't know why she is smiling, if it is in agreement or whatever, but she certainly is engaged. It is a very refreshing continence and demeanor compared to a lot of Presiding Officers. I also very much congratulate her and agree with the leader's comments.

Mr. BAUCUS. Give her a second one.