Kit Bond

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask the pending amendment to be set aside.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I have 12 amendments that have been cleared on both sides of the aisle. We thank the sponsors of these amendments for working with our staff and the relevant committees for clearing these amendments. I call up on behalf of Senator Reed of Rhode Island amendment No. 2162. This amendment has been cleared on both sides. It requires the Department of the Treasury to submit a report on the application of Treasury regulations on arbitrage bonds to the reserve funds held by EPA clean water and safe drinking water State revolving funds.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, this amendment relates to the GSA's rating system. I urge its adoption.

Mr. BOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BOND. Next, I call up amendment No. 2146 with a modification on behalf of Senator Ensign.

Mr. BOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I have amendments on behalf of myself and the Senator from Washington making technical corrections, having a division A and division B in this bill. I send to the desk two amendments and ask for their consideration en bloc. These are technical changes to the bill, and I believe both of them are agreeable on both sides.

Mr. BOND. They have been cleared on both sides. I ask for their immediate consideration.

Mr. BOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I send to the desk on behalf of Senator Murray an amendment on Midway Atoll and ask that it be considered immediately.

Mr. BOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BOND. I ask for the yeas and nays.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, we need to see the amendments from Senator Landrieu. I believe with modifications we can accept them. If she would share them with us, we would be happy to do that. I would ask my colleagues, the Senator from Vermont and the Senator from Minnesota, about the time they will need. They have an amendment I would love to be able to accept, providing more money for CDBG and other worthwhile activities. Unfortunately, there is not money to rescind. We were presented with a major rescission package by the administration, but neither the Department of Housing and Urban Development nor the Office of Management and Budget could justify any of those rescissions. We have taken the maximum rescissions we believe are feasible. This additional funding for CDBG is predicated on providing more offsets, plus it is $200 million above the budget. I regret that I will have to raise a Budget Act point of order. I ask what time limit they would need to speak on this amendment. I regret I must tell them that I will have to raise a Budget Act point of order. May I inquire through the Chair?

Mr. BOND. If the Senator will withhold, the Senator from Louisiana is prepared to offer another amendment.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, the suggestion of my friend from Vermont is a very good one. I think he knows--and he serves on our committee--that trying to fund these very vital programs is a top priority of my ranking member and of mine. We are in a position where we have not been able to identify any more dollars. We will look forward to working with them and their staffs. We will work in conference with the House to try to add money because these are high-priority programs. Community development block grants, public housing, Section 8, these are vitally important. Right now we can't find them. I would be put in a very awkward spot of having to raise a Budget Act point of order. I would appreciate the opportunity to work with the Senator from Vermont, the Senator from Minnesota, and other Senators. I know I speak for my colleague from Washington. We will work with the other original cosponsors of this amendment to try to accomplish that. I thank him very much for his understanding and willingness to work with us.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, as part of a managers' package, I send to the desk amendment No. 2182 from Senator Levin on the use of funds for Federal contracts with expatriate agencies; amendment No. 2080, Senator Santorum, to modify provisions relating to certain Federal contracts; amendment No. 2122, to allow disabled and nondisabled tenants to keep their Section 8 contracts for properties postforeclosure by Senator Schumer, as modified; amendment No. 2083, as modified, by Senator DeWine, to appropriate $6 million for the new car assessment program; an amendment on behalf of Senators Frist, Dole, and Boxer to provide funding for Habitat for Humanity; an amendment on behalf of Senator Murray relating to the Spokane region high-speed rail corridor study; an amendment on behalf of myself to eliminate the GSA authority to retain proceeds from the sale or other conveyance of real and personal property; an amendment on behalf of Senator Nelson making appropriations for the Department of Treasury for the Financial Crimes Unit; an amendment on behalf of Senator Lott and Senator Lautenberg relating to Amtrak; an amendment on behalf of Senator Lautenberg on the owners and operators of airports certified under section 44476; two amendments on behalf of Senator Landrieu, one to make funds available for conducting a study and submission of a report relating to catastrophic hurricane evacuation plans and another amendment to set aside funds to provide grants to local governments to address increased transportation demands in communities that have experienced significant population growth; an amendment on behalf of Senator Coleman to improve the safety of all-terrain vehicles; and on behalf of Senator Coburn, we wish to include amendment No. 2084. Senator Coburn has an amendment on improper payments, and I would ask that he or his staff provide us copies of those amendments and that they be included in the managers' package.

Mr. BOND. I ask that amendment 2091 be withdrawn.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Washington. Her cooperation and her very active involvement have made all of this possible. We appreciate it. We will talk about our staff later. I call up amendment 2103 on behalf of Senator Burns requiring air carriers to honor tickets for suspended air passenger service, and I call up modified amendment No. 2119 on behalf of Senator Stevens and Senator Ensign and ask that be considered and adopted. We have the Coburn amendment, improper payments. I call up amendment 2150 on behalf of Senator Snowe relating to certified service station employees, the Federal Aviation amendment, and ask that be included in the managers' package, and amendment 2173 on behalf of Senator Coleman relating to purchase card payments to Federal contractors and ask that be included.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Michigan and concur with her that this is a problem that must be addressed in conference. I will work with the Senator from Michigan to ensure that the final conference report includes a fair distribution of this setaside funding for public housing agencies. As you know, we included a provision to protect the use of project-based vouchers in the distribution formula.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, the Senator from New Mexico is correct. The U.S. Court for the District of New Mexico faces an extraordinary need for interpreters, travel funds for judges, and improved courtroom technology, and I ask the Administrative Office of the Courts to consider these necessities in their allocation of fiscal year 2006 funds.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, are there any others? I believe we have now covered all of the amendments we have agreed to accept. I think it is time to go to third reading, and I ask for the yeas and nays on final passage.

Mr. BOND. I continue to be grateful for the cooperation of the Senator from Washington and her staff. I was going to go down the list of the staff members on both sides. I will incorporate by reference and say once again our staff worked very well together. This is the first time anybody had dealt with a TTHUD bill. It has many interesting moving parts, and some of them move in different directions at the same time. We could not have done it without the tremendous assistance of all of the staff, plus the floor staff. I want to say a special thanks to Lula Davis, Dave Schiappa, and all the people in front here for their unfailing willingness to sit and help us through all of these things. This was more exciting than I wanted it to be, and their help enabled us to get through. We would also like to put in a special thanks to Mike Solon in the Whip's office for helping us work on a number of things and both the Appropriations Committee leaders, Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd. Also, the majority leader and minority leader were a great help. So we are most grateful, and we are delighted to be out of the way now, and we will go to conference. We look forward to coming back with perhaps an even better process and a good product.

Mr. BOND

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

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 20, 2005, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing on ``Implementation of the Exon-Florio Amendment and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.''