Conrad Burns

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to, the committee amendment, as amended, be agreed to, the bill be considered read the third time and passed, as amended, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I send a group of amendments to the desk, en bloc, and ask for their immediate consideration.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 658, S. Con. Res. 124.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment to the resolution be agreed to.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to immediate consideration of Calendar No. 656, S. Con. Res. 113.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 657, S. Con. Res. 126.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS

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

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 551, H.R. 707.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, Senator Smith of New Hampshire has an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to, the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 9:45 on Thursday, July 20. I further ask consent that on Thursday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of the Agriculture appropriations bill under the previous order.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1791, and the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. When the Senate convenes at 9:45 a.m., the Senate will immediately resume debate on the Harkin amendment No. 3938 to the agricultural appropriations bill. A vote could occur shortly thereafter in relation to the amendment. Also, Senators are to be notified that the leadership expects to complete action on this appropriations bill in the early afternoon. Therefore, votes can be expected throughout the day on Thursday.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, the amendment that I have offered to this piece of legislation is a freestanding bill, S. 2005, the Installment Tax Collection Act of 2000. Basically, it allows small businesses or farms that sell their businesses on the installment plan to pay their capital gains taxes as they receive the money. Right now, they are required to pay the capital gains taxes in one lump sum. In other words, in some cases, when properties are sold, they even have to borrow the money to pay the capital gains up front. It is no cutback in revenue to the Government. We just receive the money whenever the owners receive their payments for their property. I urge adoption of this amendment.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, this is another attempt to do away with the timber program and the salvage program, and all those associated with them. If you want to do something about fires, or the safety of the forests, or the health of the forests, what you do is maintain a healthy harvest situation. In other words, it just makes a lot of sense. It is the old idea of the Government having to own all the land. You have to harvest those trees. To take the money away from it does not get to the environmental objective that a lot of us want to get to. I hope my colleagues will reject this amendment.

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, today I rise on behalf of the men and women of this country who value hunting and fishing as an important part of their lives. I am one of them, and I know I am not alone in the Senate. Many of my colleagues have joined me as members of the Sportsmen's Caucus, and I am pleased that we enjoy such strong support. In my home state of Montana, hunting and fishing are incredibly important. These are some of the activities we engage in to enjoy our beautiful outdoors. Hunting and fishing give us the chance to spend time with our families, and to take part in the traditions that generations of Montanans have enjoyed. It is this strong tradition that brings me here today. There has been a grave injustice dealt to America's sportsmen. I am referring to the abuse of Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson funds by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These are funds from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs which impose an excise tax on the equipment hunters and fishermen buy. Then the tax monies from the sporting goods are used for things like wildlife habitat and hunter safety programs. These programs were started in 1937, with the strong support of both the sportsmen who pay the tax and the states who administer the projects. As years went by, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which manages the programs, started straying further and further from the original intent of Pittman-Robertson funds. After an oversight investigation by House Committee on Resources, chaired by Mr. Young of Alaska, it was found that the Fish and Wildlife Service was using Pittman-Robertson for purposes far outside the intent of the law. Funds were used for everything from foreign travel to grants for anti-hunting groups and programs that work against the interests of hunters. This is just plain wrong, and goes against everything the program was originally intended to accomplish. In response to the abuse uncovered by his Committee, Mr. Young introduced legislation to fix the problems. Part of the legislation caps the administrative expenses for the program and sets in stone what is an authorized administrative expense. This is a step in the right direction, because it will restore the integrity to this program. His bill, H.R. 3671, passed the House on April 5th with an overwhelming vote of 423-2. I am proud to be included as a co-sponsor of the Senate version of this bill, S. 2609. My colleagues from Idaho, Mr. Craig and Mr. Crapo, have modeled it after H.R. 3671 and included provisions for valuable programs like hunter safety, as well as a multi-state conservation grant program. This bill ensures that the money sportsmen pay for wildlife conservation and hunter safety is actually used for those purposes and restores the accountability that has been missing for too long. It is time we made this right, and earned back the trust of the people we are here to serve.

Mr. BURNS

Mr. BURNS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3853