Robert Bennett

Mr. BENNETT

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 21. I further ask consent that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee; provided that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 2744, the Agriculture appropriations bill.

Mr. BENNETT

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I have been asked throughout the vote whether that is the last vote of the evening. That obviously is not my call. It is the responsibility of the leader to make that decision. At the moment, I don't know of any amendment that would require a vote. I would hope that our colleagues who have amendments would be aggressive in coming to the floor now and offering them. We could offer an amendment now, lay it down for a vote in the morning.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, in consultation with the Democratic manager of the bill, I now ask unanimous consent that all first-degree amendments to the pending Agriculture appropriations bill be filed at the desk no later than 4 o'clock tomorrow, Wednesday, with the exception of those managers' amendments that have been cleared by both managers.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, we are now prepared to proceed to a voice vote on the Roberts amendment.

Mr. BENNETT. I would tell the Senator that I share his concern regarding this provision in the House Report. The report on the Senate version of this legislation is silent on this matter, but this matter will certainly be preserved for consideration in conference.

Mr. BENNETT. I am pleased to yield to the senior Senator from Hawaii.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I have no objection to this amendment and believe we should move forward on a voice vote.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator be recognized to speak as in morning business. We are under the Agriculture bill, and no one seems to be coming forward under the Agriculture bill, so I obviously have no objection, but I think, to be clear, it should be as in morning business; therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator be given the opportunity to do that.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask that we withhold from the vote, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, the first amendment is in regard to a study on the sheep industry in the United States by the National Academy of Sciences. The second authorizes a demonstration tribal housing program. And the third authorizes a land transfer in Mississippi from the Agricultural Research Service to Mississippi State University. All three of these amendments have been considered carefully on both sides. They have been cleared on both sides. I ask that they be approved en bloc by a voice vote.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask that the vote be reconsidered and that reconsideration be laid upon the table.

Mr. BENNETT. I yield.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BENNETT. In developing a new industry, I fully understand the need to be flexible and recognize that all issues cannot be anticipated during the initial phases of a project. I fully concur with the request for flexibility in the use of the funds provided by this committee.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Illinois for his initiative on this issue and congratulate him for the final product that has been crafted. This could have been a very controversial and contentious issue, but by compromise, conversation, and consultation among him and the other Senators he mentioned, we now have an amendment that is virtually noncontroversial. It is important that we do not enforce the conflict-of-interest issue with such difficulty that ultimately the pharmaceutical companies are cut off from any opportunity of ever consulting with the best experts in the field because those experts want to also remain available to the FDA. I think the compromise that has been reached is a sound one. I endorse the amendment and urge all Senators to vote for it. I call for a voice vote.

Mr. BENNETT

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. BENNETT

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote in relation to the Allard amendment No. 1738, to be followed by a vote in relation to the Nelson amendment No. 1732, occur at 11:20 a.m. today, with no amendment in order to either amendment prior to that time, and that the two votes occur in that order. I further ask that there be 2 minutes between the two votes for explanation.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, on Thursday of last week, when Senator Kohl and I laid down the bill, I made the point that while there are no direct emergency aid funds in the bill, there are funds for many of the programs that would aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina and, frankly, programs they badly need. To point out some of the increases over the fiscal year 2005 level that have impact on Katrina that are in this bill: $16.6 million for food defense activities at FDA; $36.2 million for food safety activities at USDA; nearly $250 million in loan authorizations for rural housing, including housing repair; $1.1 billion in rural utility loan authorizations for rural water and electric loans; $22 million for the Women, Infants and Children feeding program; and $5.6 billion in food stamps. These are all issues that affect the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and every State and every citizen will benefit from the programs in this bill. So I hope we can move forward with it in an expeditious fashion. The USDA and FDA, the principal agencies funded in this bill, are working under very difficult conditions to address the needs in the hurricane-affected areas. FDA has had to transfer 50 employees from their regional office in New Orleans to Nashville, and USDA has had to relocate several hundred employees to keep its programs going. So I hope we can do our best to effectively and quickly get this bill moving. I urge those who have amendments to the bill to come to the floor and help us with this bill. We have one amendment which I understand has been cleared, and the Senator from Colorado has that amendment.

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

Mr. BENNETT

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding.