Conrad Burns

Mr. BURNS

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

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the vote in relation to the pending motion to waive with respect to the Coburn amendment No. 1019, to be followed immediately by a vote in relation to the Coburn amendment No. 1003, with no second degrees in order to the amendments prior to the votes and with 2 minutes equally divided for debate prior to the second vote.

Mr. BURNS. This bill has such a delicate balance that there could be--and I will raise it--a budgetary point of order. That is what we have to work with. The Senator from Oklahoma knows how to work with budgets and how we work with appropriations. It proposes to add $121 million to the Indian Health Service for a special diabetes program and an alcohol substance abuse program. The offset would be derived from an equivalent reduction in land acquisition. This transfer of funds results in a change of outlays that causes the bill to exceed its outlay allocation. Now we might work on offsets in some other areas. As to the argument that you would make about land acquisition, we have always had land acquisition, but we have also had land sales. I wish I could stand here and report to you that we had as many sales as we have had acquisitions because I, for one, support the idea that there should be no net gain of land by the Federal Government. I come from county government. I know whenever the Government buys land, it takes it off the tax rolls. It hurts me as a county commissioner to provide all the programs that I have been asked to provide at the county level. In fact, we passed some legislation at one time when I first came here, which I was part of, of no net gain--or no net loss--whichever way you want to define it. The way this is structured does raise a point of order, and I will raise that point. The pending amendment offered by the Senator from Oklahoma increases discretionary spending in excess of the 302(b) allocation to the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations. Therefore, I raise the point of order against the amendment according to section 302(f) of the Budget Act.

Mr. BURNS. Sure. Listen, I helped pass a law with Senator Lieberman on E-Government. Any citizen can go to their computer and dial it up online, and they can follow it all the way through. There are ways of doing that. I was part of that debate on E-Government. And we are going to do another E-Government bill that is going to open it up even wider, we would hope.

Mr. BURNS. We all live by sunshine, I would tell the Senator from Oklahoma. I think--I will have to ask counsel on this--whenever the House passes their bill and sends it to the Senate, and we take that bill to our committee, both the subcommittee and the full Committee on Appropriations, that House bill contains all of their earmarks. And some of those earmarks are covered up, agreed. But that bill is available for the Senators' perusal whenever it comes over here. Now, most of these, however--recommended by the House and the Senate both--appear in the tables of the statement of the managers that accompanies that conference report. They are all there. All you have to do is kind of look for them. Some of them are not because the two bills are merged. So in order to get the bills balanced out, merged, and back on the floor with a conference report--and you have to remember, the staff reads that whole bill, every word, before it is in its final form and comes back here for final consideration--some of those do get covered up. But in each body, all of those earmarks are a matter of public record, what goes on in their committees on the House side and the Senate side. This is to facilitate getting that report put together, the bill coming back on this floor, and getting it passed. So what the Senator is asking for is more time between the time the House passes it, we pass it, it goes to conference, and then getting it back on the floor and full disposal of the conference report. So it is not to hide anything. The way it is done is not meant to hide anything. And nothing is hidden. You just have to follow the trail in order to dig it out. And I realize sometimes the public would have a hard time doing that. But as a Senator, we even have to work at it at times. But, basically, that is the reason for the process: to save time, take some of the load off the staff that has to put this together. So I would ask that the body oppose this particular amendment.

Mr. BURNS. Well, I will tell you, I have read those conference reports, also--even the bills that come over from the House--like you. If you have a clear paper trail, and you read everything, about 80 percent of all earmarks are contained in the conference report. There are just a few that are matched up, and we do not get to see them in the conference report.

Mr. BURNS. I will. I am still going to fight for the 20 percent. How is that?

Mr. BURNS. Yes.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that other than a series of amendments which have been cleared by both managers, all other amendments be withdrawn, with the exception of the following amendments, and, further, that the amendments be considered as follows: Boxer amendment No. 1023, regarding pesticides; I or my designee with a first degree relating to pesticides; further that there be 120 minutes equally divided to be used concurrently on both amendments, with a vote in relation to my amendment, followed by a vote in relation to the Boxer amendment; Dorgan amendment No. 1025, regarding Indian health, 20 minutes equally divided; Amendment No. 1026, offered by Mr. Sununu, regarding the Tongass, 30 minutes equally divided; Senator Murray's amendment No. 1052, regarding veterans health; Senator Santorum's second-degree amendment to the Murray amendment relating to veterans health; provided that there be 110 minutes equally divided between the two leaders or their designees to be used concurrently on the first and second-degree amendments; Senator Dorgan's amendment No. 1059, regarding Cuba travel, 20 minutes equally divided; provided that the vote occur in relation to the motion to suspend the rules relative to that amendment; further, that if the motion to suspend is agreed to, the amendment be subject to further debate and amendment; Senator Kyl's amendment No. 1050, 5 minutes for Senator Kyl, with the amendment then withdrawn; Senator Sarbanes' amendment No. 1046, 5 minutes saved for Senator Sarbanes. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the votes occur in relation to the above-listed amendments, with no second degrees in order to the amendments prior to the votes unless otherwise indicated; further that following the disposition of the above amendments, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of the bill, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, the Senate stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29; I further ask 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 then begin a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee; provided that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 2361, the Interior appropriations bill, as provided under the previous order.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk. First of all, it is on behalf of the majority leader and minority leader. It relates to congressional security. This issue relates to a recent DC Board zoning adjustment granting a building height variance for a developer here in the vicinity of the Capitol. Without going through some sensitive detail, let me simply say our two leaders have offered this amendment to prevent this variance from going into effect until the Capitol Police Board, with the consent of the Senate and House leadership, certifies that such a variance will not impact negatively on congressional security and increase Federal expenditures related to congressional security. This amendment does not preclude development of the property, but it ensures that existing height regulations are honored and the security of the Capitol and all the people who work here is protected. So I offer this amendment for the majority leader and minority leader.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I have a very important little conference to go to at 3:15. I see the ranking member of this committee on the floor. He did a great job on Friday, I am told, flying solo. So I am going to go to that meeting and just kind of turn the reins over to Senator Dorgan, my good friend from North Dakota. We will start going through some amendments and start working this bill out this afternoon. It is our intention not to keep the Senate open all that long today. We will start working on those amendments as soon as possible.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be set aside.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment offered by Senator Craig of Idaho regarding mineral rights in the Payette National Forest.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be set aside.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment offered by Senator Warner of Virginia regarding the National Park Service.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 1028 regarding the Great Smoky Mountains.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be set aside.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, on behalf of Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, to offer en bloc amendments Nos. 1002, 1003, 1015, 1019, and 1020.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be set aside.