Conrad Burns

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1636, introduced earlier today by Senator Reed of Rhode Island.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, as we move into the debate on the Interior appropriations bill, there are still some important amendments that have yet to be offered. I understand the minority leader will be here. He has a couple amendments. We will lay those down today and talk about those. If Members are in town and watching, I suggest they bring their amendments down so we can get the list down to where it is manageable in the first place so we can complete this appropriations as early on Tuesday as we possibly can. In the meantime, we will be talking about a lot of very emotional issues. When you talk about public lands, everybody becomes a land manager. As we debate this, it never ceases to amaze me that we forget that there is a lot of knowledge on how to manage lands and the resources that we haven't tapped. This Saturday, September 20, volunteers across the United States will participate in the 10th annual National Public Lands Day. This day is coordinated by the congressionally chartered National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, in conjunction with the Take Pride in America Program. By the way, the Take Pride in America Program goes all the way back to one of the first programs the Interior Department put in when I first came to the Senate. These two fine organizations team up in an effort to enhance and improve our public lands while promoting awareness of citizen stewardship and increasing volunteer opportunities for the public. This is an excellent idea. I would like to commend them, as well as the 70,000 folks across the United States who volunteered last year, for their hard work in participating in this task. One-third of the total amount of the U.S. land mass is considered public lands. Recreational activities on these lands are enjoyed by millions of Americans and their families. Glacier National Park alone in my State provides recreational opportunity for snowshoeing, boating, and horseback riding for nearly 580,000 visitors each year. By the way, we got good news last night. Maybe some of us are watching Isabel. One fellow walked into the office this morning and asked, ``Isabel who?'' We will proceed with keeping everything operating. But, also, good news is that in Glacier National Park we got 4 inches of snow last night, and they closed the Going to the Sun Highway Road. There are some back here who may not think that is good news, but it is awfully good news to us because that means the end of the fires. Another national park in my neck of the woods is Yellowstone, which happens to be the oldest national park in the world, and it is sometimes considered the crown jewel of the park system. It is implementing a fee-free day in honor of National Public Lands Day. As chairman of the subcommittee on Interior appropriations, I would like to extend a premature thank you to at least a dozen members of my own staff and their friends who are participating in Public Lands Day. This wasn't something which I asked them to do. I ask unanimous consent that their names be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, in the East it is a good idea to work on public lands, particularly if this storm hits us and we sustain a little damage from it. It may be a good time to not only take care of our own property but also to volunteer to help clean up those areas of public lands that we enjoy. This is something we are asking Americans to do, and 70,000 responded last year. We have a fine group in this area that is going to work along the Potomac River shoreline where they will undertake the task of painting trash cans, railings, and benches on Hains Point Park early Saturday morning. Many in my office are going to participate. As we look forward to Public Lands Day and Saturday, I encourage citizens of this great country to think about Take Pride in America's slogan: ``It's your land, lend a hand.'' I think that is an important message. I notice that my good friend from South Dakota, the minority leader, is on the Senate floor. I yield the floor.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, there will be quite a spirited debate on this issue. There is no question that we have shortcomings in the Indian Health Service. We could use more dollars there. In fact, we added dollars this year to that particular item. Was it enough? Probably not. But who knows how much is enough, whenever we start allotting dollars and we take a look at the challenge we have, especially in Indian health care. We know diabetes is one great challenge we have on our reservations across this country. We should also talk about the merits of the trust reform, too. Number one, the administration is talking veto if this amendment is allowed to be successful. Number two, it is tied up in court. There are actions and proceedings underway. The Senator from South Dakota is exactly right. This has spanned the years through all administrations, through all Secretaries. They have all been sued and held in contempt of court because they did not live up to their responsibilities of managing this trust. We also have to be concerned about those in Indian country, of the thousands and thousands of Native Americans who are denied payment from this trust because it is in such a mess. Some reform or some system has to be set in place before anything can happen. The plaintiffs now in the court action are saying the total payment in the country could be as high as $176 billion if we do not fix this system and make it work for those who have money due them. I imagine that to take the dollars from reform and normal accounting procedures and let the new organization proceed with reform so we know where we are, what kind of ground we are standing on, and how best to get that money to the people to whom it is owed--I don't think this is the time to take dollars from that process of reform. We will have a spirited debate on this subject. The Senator from South Dakota also points out we have two shortfalls--that and Indian health. So wherever your priorities are, do we take care of the trust so we take care of the financial conditions of those folks who have money coming to them or do we put basically a pittance of what really the IHS, the Indian Health Service needs. We have always covered those needs in the past with more dollars. We have added dollars this year. But we will monitor that very closely. I am aware of the needs in health care because I have seven reservations in the State of Montana and it becomes an issue there. I thank the Senator from South Dakota for offering this amendment because it points up that we have two places we should be doing better. I yield the floor.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. Monday, September 22. I further ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the Journal of the proceedings be approved to date, the time of the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 2691, the Interior Appropriations bill.

Mr. BURNS

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

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, our staff and the staff of Senator Alexander and the Department of Education and the administration did get together. They are moving to an agreement. I agree maybe the Department of Education is where it should be and those funds be allocated to be used there. But what the Senator from Tennessee was trying to do was highlight something of national interest that is happening in North Dakota and Montana now. As I said, the Dakota territory and Montana was the heart and soul of the book that was written, ``Undaunted Courage.'' Now that we are approaching the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and the trek of Lewis and Clark, there is a lot of interest in our part of the country. What was started in the humanities, the interest of Lewis and Clark, the interest of the Louisiana Purchase and the impact it had on this country, has been very positive for all of us out there and all of America. Some of the original 13 States got the idea that maybe this country is big enough right where it is. If you read another book, ``A Wilderness So Immense,'' you get an idea--this was before our Constitution was ratified--some of the events that went on in the history of the Louisiana Purchase. It is very interesting. That is why we are very supportive of history initiatives. We have young people coming out of our schools who do not have a sense of history. They do not know who they are, why they are, or how they got here. This initiative is very important. In regard to the Forest Service permit, it is fire suppression money that was taken from the accounts that would enable them to issue the permits and to complete the NEPA studies. We have to understand that and how important these funds are to be replaced in the accounts of the BLM and the Forest Service so this work can be completed. The Senator from North Dakota is exactly right. These do not have to be done on a yearly basis. There should be a longer term with monitoring. I like the 10-year lease. That is the way it used to be. We find now everywhere we had grazing we did not have fires, which is something we should take a look at as far as fire prevention and fire suppression and the use of the land. The other day, I will even tell my good friend from North Dakota, I saw a truckload of sheep being unloaded in Missoula County, Montana. They were paying the sheep man to run his sheep on public lands for weed control, spotted nap weed, and of course earlier in the spring, we had the spurge problem. But I thought, what a novel idea. I wished I had thought of it. We will let that program go to the benefit of the land and also to the people who graze the land and make their living and are in the business of feeding and clothing. Those are the challenges we have ahead of us. This bill impacts a lot. I have a few clarifications of items in the committee report that I would like to have printed in the Record. I ask unanimous consent those corrections be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I again say to my colleagues, we are going to try to finish this bill before this storm hits tonight. We are working now on a managers' package of known amendments, and if there are some unknown amendments, I suggest Senators come to the floor, submit their amendments, and let us deal with them. If not, we are going to move right along in completing this legislation. We understand the House is not going to be in tomorrow. So we do not want to be caught in that pickle. We want to complete action on this appropriations bill if we possibly can. I suggest my colleagues bring their amendments to the floor. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I call up a substitute amendment which is at the desk. This amendment is the text of S. 1391.

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

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I am pleased to bring before the Senate the Interior and related agencies appropriations bill for fiscal year 2004. In dollar terms, this is a modest bill compared to many of the appropriations bills we tackle in this body. It totals about $19.6 billion in discretionary budget authority. But in terms of its direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of the people and communities throughout this country, it is a critical bill, and it is of particular importance to the Western States, such as my State of Montana, where the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service either own or manage in trust vast acres of land. These are lands where my constituents live. This is where they graze livestock, where they mine, where they hike, hunt, fish, and timber. What we do in this bill affects all of those activities. It is not just a public lands bill. It is also a bill that provides education, health care, and other core services for the Native Americans of America. It supports energy research and development that fosters economic growth, strengthens our national security posture, and improves the quality of our environment. And it supports the treasured cultural institutions, such as the Smithsonian and the National Endowment for the Humanities--institutions that help tell the story of America and that remind us who we are as a people. As I suspect is the case with many of my colleagues who have chaired appropriations subcommittees, the more I learn about the agencies funded in this bill, the harder it gets to make tough choices that have to be made, particularly in the current fiscal climate. The President's fiscal year 2004 budget request for the Interior bill was $19.56 billion in discretionary budget authority, a modest increase over the comparable level for fiscal year 2003. While the budget request included increases for several activities that have considerable merit, it also proposed severe reductions in a number of critical programs that have broad support within the Senate. With an allocation that is effectively the same as the President's request, we had to make some tough choices. That said, with the help of Senator Dorgan, my good friend and neighbor from North Dakota, we have been able to fashion a responsible bill that does a number of very positive things. The bill provides increases for the core operating programs of the land management agencies, including $72 million for our National Park System and $31 million for the Fish and Wildlife Service. The funds provided for the park system include $20 million over the budget request to increase the base operating budgets of individual parks. The bill also increases funding for Bureau of Land Management operations by $27 million and adds $34 million to the President's request for Forest Service activities. From the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the bill appropriates $511 million. This includes $222 million for Federal land acquisition, an increase of $35 million over the budget request and more than double the House total of $100 million. As is always the case, there was great interest in increasing funding for the land, water, and conservation programs, but I think the amount provided is reasonable given the constraints of the subcommittee allocation and the many other demands on this bill. The Interior bill also supports several grant programs. I won't go through all the numbers, but among the highlights is a $30 million increase over the budget request for payments in lieu of taxes; a $15 million increase for State wildlife grants; and an increase of $9 million for the Historic Preservation Fund. The bill also restores a proposed $16 million cut in the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund. Let me explain PILT, payment in lieu of taxes. This is the money that goes directly to the counties to support their activities where a large amount of Federal land is found--BLM land, anyway. As I mentioned previously, the Interior bill is a vitally important bill for Native American communities. It increases funding for the Indian Health Service by $88 million over the enacted level, for a total of $2.9 billion. It includes $574 million for Indian education programs which fully funds the budget request for Indian school replacement. It also provides an increase of $6 million for tribal community colleges. This is a subject that is of particular interest to both Senator Dorgan and me and one we may discuss further as we progress with this legislation. The bill also provides $243 million for the Office of Special Trustee to continue the administration efforts to improve the management of Indian trust assets. This is an increase of $95 million over the enacted level. While I strongly believe Congress must support trust reform, let there be no mistake that reform is coming at a very significant cost in terms of money, personnel, and management focus. Vital concerns in Indian country are being shortchanged because trust reform and related litigation are draining both funds and morale. We would all like there to be a simple solution, but there just isn't one. Settling the case may ultimately be the answer, but at this stage, the plaintiffs and the administration do not appear ready to have productive negotiations. Even if we settle on any past damages, the question remains as to how we manage Indian trust assets in the future. This bill continues to support the Department's reform efforts to the greatest extent possible. I will continue to work closely with the Department, with the authorizing committees, and with Indian country to advance the reform effort so we can get ourselves out from under this immense cloud. The Interior bill also supports an important piece of our Nation's energy portfolio, including research on fossil energy and energy efficiency, the operation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This bill provides $1.67 billion for Department of Energy programs, including $862 million for energy conservation and $594 million for fossil energy research and development. Among the cultural programs supported by this bill, the Smithsonian will receive an additional $10 million to prepare for the opening of two new museums, the Air and Space Museum extension near Dulles Airport, and the National Museum of the American Indian on The Mall. The National Endowment of the Arts will get $117 million and the National Endowment for the Humanities will get $142 million. This is an increase of $15 million for the NEH, for an American history initiative. This has been something the new Member of this body, Senator Alexander from Tennessee, has worked on very hard ever since his arrival in the Senate and something he and I have discussed many times. I know Senator Alexander and his staff have been meeting with administration officials and the authorizing committees to discuss ways of aligning the administration's American history proposal with his own. It is my understanding those discussions are going well. Certainly we should all be pulling in the same direction on an issue such as this. I am excited about this initiative, and I want to applaud our good friend from Tennessee for his hard work. Finally, I want to talk about funding of wildland fire management. This is a subject we find ourselves discussing again and again. The reason is this: The current system we have for the fire suppression budgeting is broken. Again and again we find ourselves in a situation where both the Forest Service and the Department of Interior are forced to borrow massive amounts of money from other budget accounts to fight the fires. Those accounts are inside their own agencies. This is a reasonable mechanism when the amounts being borrowed are relatively modest, when the borrowing occurs only during particularly bad fire years, and when sufficient surplus carryover funds are readily available. But the borrowing has become routine and the amounts involved are massive. We no longer have large carryover amounts in other accounts. This carryover has disappeared in many accounts with the decline of the timber program and the revenues it produced. Last year, we borrowed heavily from a number of Forest Service and Interior accounts, causing both agencies to stop conducting certain activities until those amounts were repaid or replaced. In the end, however, we only repaid about 60 cents of every dollar borrowed, which is the amount proposed by the administration in its supplemental request. As a result of this shortfall, a large number of congressionally approved projects have either been cancelled or reduced in scope. This year we find ourselves in the same situation. Prior to the recess, my colleagues may recall I was very upset that the House sent us a supplemental appropriations bill that did not include the fire funds requested by the administration. Those funds were desperately needed in August when my State of Montana was suffering from dozens of significant fires. The presence of smoke was almost constant during the time I spent in Montana over the recess. In fact, two airports had to be closed for a period of time because of smoke. In a way, I am glad we did not act then. I say this because the $289 million that is under discussion in the legislative branch appropriations bill is totally inadequate. I would not want anybody to believe that this amount begins to take care of our problem. The Department of Interior has already borrowed $130 million from other accounts to fight fires this summer. It expects to borrow $30 million more before the end of the fiscal year. The Forest Service has already borrowed--and get this figure--$595 million and is contemplating another $100 million transferred to get us through this fiscal year. Roughly speaking, we will borrow $850 million from other accounts before the end of the fiscal year. Simply providing the $289 million in the pending administration request does not do the trick. These funds, for the most part, have already been spent. There are not options at this point. We need to repay those accounts soon and we need to repay them in full. Sixty cents on the dollar this time around would be devastating to a wide variety of programs. They range from endangered species monitoring to facilities construction, from acquisition to processing even the simplest forms of grazing permits. It would amount to a de facto rescission of funds that this Congress voted to appropriate when it approved the 2003 bill. My colleagues will hear more from me later on this issue, and I will likely have an amendment to offer at some point, but for now I want to use this opportunity to tell my colleagues this is not just a problem for those States where there has been fire. It is a problem for every State in this country, because the funds are effectively borrowed from every State, including the projects and programs that were funded at a specific request of Members in this body. So I call on the administration to send up another supplemental request, one that fully reflects the amounts that will be spent on fire suppression this fiscal year. I thank my friend, Senator Dorgan, and his staff. They have been great to work with. Of course, we come from almost the same part of the country--in fact, we are neighbors--so it was very easy for neighbors to get together and to roll up our sleeves and put this bill together. His input has been very valuable. We have tried to fashion a bill that reflects the priorities of the Senate as a whole. I think this bill does just that. So I urge my colleagues who have amendments to get them to me or to my staff as quickly as possible so we can deal with them and get this bill to conference. I caution, however, that we have allocated the entire amount of the subcommittee's allocation. Any amendment that provides additional funds will have to be fully offset, and I think I can speak for Senator Dorgan in saying we will take a dim view of amendments that propose to use across-the-board reductions or unspecified administrative savings as offsets. I ask the support of this Senate for this bill. I would hope we can have this bill done by tomorrow, and move on and get this bill into conference. I urge my colleagues to support it. If I can get the attention of my good friend from North Dakota, I look forward to working with him on this issue and I appreciate his good help and his input on this bill. I yield the floor to my good friend from North Dakota.

Mr. BURNS. I remind Senators to get their amendments down here. We want to complete this bill by noon tomorrow so we can watch the rain. Those folks are worried about forest fires. I don't think anyone on the East Coast has to worry about that.

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

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 1724, the pending substitute amendment, be agreed to and considered original text for the purpose of further amendment, provided that no points of order be waived by virtue of this agreement.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 10 a.m., to consider a Chairman's Mark entitled, Extension of Highway Trust Fund Provisions, and S. 1548, Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit Act of 2003 (VEETC) (as modified by the Chairman's Mark); and, a Chairman's Mark entitled, National Employee Saving and Trust Equity Guarantee Act; and H.R. 743, The Social Security Program Protection Act of 2003.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on Wednesday, September 17 at 10:00 a.m. to consider pending calendar business: Agenda Item 1: The nomination of Suedeen Kelly to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Agenda Item 2: Nomination of Rick Dearborn to be Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Energy. Agenda Item 3: S.J. Res. 16--Joint resolution to approve the ``Compact of Free Association, as amended between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia'', and the ``Compact of Free Association, as amended between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands'', and otherwise to amend Public Law 99-239, and to appropriate for the purposes of amended Public Law 99-239 for fiscal year ending on or before September 30, 2023, and for other purposes. In addition, the Committee may turn to any other measures that are ready for consideration.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on S. 420, a bill to provide for the acknowledgement of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 17, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing on U.S. Energy Security: West Africa & Latin America.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 2 p.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office building room 226 on ``Combating Gang Violence in America: Examining Effective Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Strategies.'' Witness List: Panel I: The Honorable Patrick Fitzgerald, United States Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, IL; The Honorable Debra W. Yang, United States Attorney, Central District of California, Los Angeles, CA; The Honorable Christopher J. Christie, United States Attorney, District of New Jersey, Newark, NJ; Special Agent Grant Ashley, Assistant Director, FBI, Criminal Investigative Division, Washington, DC. Panel II: The Honorable Robert P. McCulloch, President, National District Attorney Association, Alexandria, VA; Mr. Wes McBride, President, California Gang Investigators Association, Huntington Beach, CA; The Honorable Eddie J. Jordan, Jr., District Attorney, District of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 10:00 a.m. for a hearing titled ``U.S. Postal Service: What Can Be Done to Ensure Its Future Viability?''

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office building room 226 on ``Judicial Nominations.'' Witness List: Panel I: Senators. Panel II: David W. McKeague to United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit. Panel III: Margaret Catharine Rogers to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Florida, Roger W. Titus to be United States District Judge for the District of Maryland; George W. Miller to be Judge for the United States Court of Federal Claims.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. on the nominations of Gwendolyn Brown to be Chief Financial Officer of NASA, Karan Bhatia to be an Assistant Secretary of Transportation, and Charles Snelling to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 10 a.m. on digital media--consumer privacy technology mandates.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. I ask unanimous consent Larissa Sommer and Ron Hooper of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of debate on the fiscal year 2004 Interior and Related Agencies Act.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent we now go into a period of morning business with Senators being allowed to speak for 5 minutes therein until the hour of 2 p.m. this afternoon, at which we will return to the business of Interior appropriations.