Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. BYRD. I am not trying to tell the Senator what to do, but this is a serious thing with me. As for the politics of it, I am not talking Democratic politics or Republican. But there is such a thing as comity between the executive branch and the legislative branch. There is such a thing as the Constitution, and I happen to hold a copy in my hand right now. There is also such a thing as the prerogatives of the Senate. I try to defend those prerogatives. The Senator made a comment about recess appointments. I hope he will get some assurance. If there is any doubt in his mind--any doubt--that this administration or any other is going to try to make a recess appointment, especially of a Federal judgeship, while the Senate is out for these two or three weeks. I hope the Senator will get a commitment out of the administration, if he can, that that will not happen. That is going pretty far, in my judgment--to appoint a Federal judge for life ``during good behavior.'' I don't know whether there have been judges appointed during a recess of the Senate in the face of this provision which I have just read, to wit: The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during recess of the Senate by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. That is all I have to say. I have been concerned about that, I say to the distinguished majority leader. I have worked with the distinguished Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Thompson, and his committee, and a former Senator, who was the ranking member of that committee, John Glenn. We hammered out some legislation. I was concerned about the fact that the administration was appointing people who stayed in those positions for a year, for 2 years, for longer than 2 years, so we hammered out legislation and passed it in the Senate--the Vacancies Act. About 6 months ago, I asked Senator Thompson how the law was working. He indicated he would get back to me in answering my question at some point. I just happened to be here on this floor, during the comments of the majority leader and I can't stress too greatly my concern about recess appointments of Federal judges. I hope the majority leader, if he will pardon my presumptuousness, will try to get some understanding with the administration about that. That is the way I always did when I was majority leader: I got some understanding.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator for his remarks. I shall miss him. We shall all miss him. He has served on the Appropriations Committee, and served well, served as chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, and served well. He has the highest interests of the Nation always at heart. He has been a very capable Senator. He is never one to forget his obligations, his responsibilities, his duties to the people who have sent him here. I have considered it to be a great honor and high privilege to serve with the Senator. I shall miss him. I am sure he will continue to serve his country in some way. But I do hope the Senator will come back and visit with us from time to time. May the Creator of the universe, Father of all of us, watch over and guide Frank Lautenberg and his family. He is so proud of his family. He often speaks of his children, his grandchildren. I know they love him. He will always be in our recollection. May heavenly angels always attend him in whatever he endeavors. I thank the Senator.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator yield?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have long been a supporter of Amtrak. I was chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation before my friend, Mr. Lautenberg, swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies of the United States, foreign and domestic. I was for it then. I am for it now. We had some problems in connection with putting this measure into this bill. I don't need to go into those problems here. But I want to assure Mr. Biden and I want to assure Mr. Lautenberg, and assure both leaders, that I will do anything I can next year to support this legislation. I am a cosponsor of the bill, and I will do my best to help enact it at the earliest possible date in the coming Congress. Like the distinguished majority leader, I can't guarantee anything except that I will do my best to be helpful. Certainly on the Appropriations Committee, if there is an appropriations item, as always, I will support it. Amtrak comes to West Virginia. It comes 3 days a week. I wish it came more often. But I support Amtrak as much as anybody in this Chamber. We don't have large airports in West Virginia; all we have is highways. We certainly are grateful for and certainly very supportive of the limited amount of rail transportation we have. We used to have the Hilltopper; we used to have the Mountaineer in West Virginia. I have been a supporter of the Cardinal longer than I can remember. So Senators may be reassured that I shall do everything I can within my power next year to be helpful. The principal cosponsors, Mr. Lautenberg and Mr. Biden, made a strong case for the importance of this vital legislation. It will be a central part of our efforts to ensure that our Amtrak system not only is maintained but is also able to make necessary improvements in the future to ensure its continued success. I thank all Senators.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, conference report language has been added to H.R. 4577, the fiscal year 2001 Labor/HHS Appropriations bill to address concerns about the safety of coal waste impoundments. A study, which is to be completed by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in nine months, will be funded by monies included in the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) Fiscal Year 2001 appropriations. Because MSHA has regulatory authority for coal waste impoundment oversight, I hope that MSHA officials will play an active role throughout the course of the study. The NAS study is intended to review the coal waste impoundments and report on viable methods and alternatives to prevent another dam failure like the one that occurred in Martin County, Kentucky, in October of this year. I would like to clarify the understanding of the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations subcommittee regarding this conference report language. Is it their understanding that the NAS study should involve the participation of experts to include, but not be limited to, members of relevant state and federal agencies, such as the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Office of Surface Mining and Enforcement, the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as industry, labor, citizen, and environmental groups, which have either been, or may be, impacted by impoundments in their areas? Further, in addition to addressing how best to assure the stability of existing impoundments, is it the understanding of my distinguished colleagues that this NAS study should also address alternative methods of coal mine waste disposal and placement in the future?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in these waning days and hours of the 106th Congress, the focus in Washington is naturally on what action is taking place to resolve the remaining fiscal year 2001 appropriations bills and concluding the business of this Congress. However, all around us, life goes on. Our constituents in the steel industry must be among the few in America who will not be happy to see the 106th Congress adjourn sine die. Our constituents in the steel industry will see Congress's adjournment as a thinning of the bucket brigade that has spent the last two years trying to bail out an industry being flooded by cheap, illegally dumped steel. These people, our constituents from Weirton and Wheeling, West Virginia, from Pennsylvania, Illinois, Alabama, Maryland, Utah--their arms are tired, their voices hoarse from the effort of keeping their heads above water and shouting for help. As we look forward to adjournment, they are continuing to face a flood whose undertow threatens to pull them under. Today, as a result of this continuing crisis in steel, imports make up almost 40 percent of the U.S. market, compared to a historical rate of approximately 18 percent. Congress has tried to respond. Members have supported individual companies and groups in filing trade cases with the Administration, attempting to use our anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws as they were intended, to thwart illegal actions by foreign competitors. Members of Congress, myself included, have introduced, supported, and fought for passage of legislation to help this core American industry. But the flood of illegally dumped steel continues, fed by the Asian economic crisis, the failure of the Russian economy, and foreign competitors seeking to gain a competitive edge with the help of illegal government subsidies. When one trade case is filed with regard to one type of steel, these competitors switch to another type of steel, forcing affected U.S. companies to bear the cost of their sales losses combined with the cost and time of collecting data and building their legal cases. The overall effect is to grind small companies down to the verge of collapse. In 1977, there were 16,961 steelworkers on the payroll in West Virginia. In March 2000, there were just 6,857, a loss of 10,104 good- paying jobs. That's a 60 percent loss. So you understand why I am concerned. The national picture is no brighter. In 1980, there were 1,142,000 workers nationwide in the primary metals industry, which includes steel. As of September 2000, that total employment number had dropped to just 692,000, a drop of approximately 39 percent. In the last two years, thousands of steelworkers have been laid off, some for considerable periods. Six steel companies have declared bankruptcy since 1998. But total steel imports in 2000 will be over 2\1/2\ times higher than in 1991. Total steel imports through August 2000 are 17 percent higher than over the same period in 1999 and are greater even than imports over the same period in 1998, a record year. At the same time, steel prices continue to be depressed, with hot- rolled steel prices 12 percent lower in August 2000 than in the first quarter of 1998, and average import customs values for all steel products more than 15 percent lower over the same period. Is this how we want to end an era of American history? Do we want to watch the linchpin of the American industrial revolution--our steel industry--be felled by government subsidized foreign competition, aided and abetted by indifferent application of the very trade laws implemented to protect American companies and American workers from illegal competition? I certainly hope not. When our crippled Aegis destroyer, the ill-fated U.S.S. Cole, is brought home for repairs, I would like American steel to bind up those wounds. I don't want to be dependent on foreign sources of steel for critical national defense needs. During World War II, I was a welder, helping to build the ships that supported our forces in that war. Today, I am a legislator, and I want to help the industry that supports our forces in war and in other critical missions. I had prepared a resolution, cosponsored by Senators Specter, Rockefeller, Abraham, Baucus, Bayh, DeWine, Durbin, Hollings, Kohl, Levin, Lincoln, Lugar, Mikulski, Santorum, Sarbanes, Schumer, Sessions, Shelby, Thurmond, Voinovich, and Wellstone, that would be a Senate companion to H. Res. 635. H. Res. 635 was introduced on October 18, and currently has 237 cosponsors. This resolution would call upon the President to take all appropriate action within his power to provide relief to the steel industry injured by these unfair actions of our trading partners. It would request an immediate and expedited U.S. International Trade Commission investigation for positive adjustment under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. I am pleased that my resolution was, instead, accepted and included in the conference report to accompany the Labor/HHS appropriations bill. This action by the Administration is necessary. We need a broad- based, comprehensive approach to dealing with this crisis in the domestic steel industry. Fighting this war one skirmish at a time, on one product type at a time by one company at a time, is simply and slowly bleeding our steel companies dry. We cannot let them continue to pick our steel companies off one at a time. We need to put the full weight of our attention and our resources on dealing comprehensively with this matter. We need to be vigilant across all fronts, and we need to develop longer strategic vision if we are to preserve this vital domestic industry. We need a level playing field. I have no doubt that American steel companies can compete on a level playing field. But they cannot compete against steel that is priced at or below the cost of production by foreign companies subsidized by governments who seek not only to preserve their own steel production capacity, but to profit by gaining U.S. market share and putting our companies into bankruptcy. I am, unfortunately, confident that the International Trade Commission's investigation will find that the steel crisis of 1998 is far from over. In fact, steel imports are on track to match or possibly exceed the record figures of 1998. So, sadly, our domestic steel producers should have no problem meeting the stringent standards of proof required under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 to prove that an injury has or can be expected to occur. I commend the many Members of the Senate who join me in calling for this action to be taken, for standing up for steel and the men and women and families who depend on steel jobs. I also commend the Senate for including this provision in this bill. I urge the Administration to proceed immediately to initiate a Section 201 investigation of steel dumping. It is urgently needed.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, as has been the case on far too many occasions in the past number of years, the Senate finds itself today in the position of having to deal with a massive omnibus appropriations bill. We have had to pass a record number--21--of Continuing Resolutions in order to keep the Federal Government operating since the fiscal year began on October 1st. These Continuing Resolutions were necessary because we in the Congress and the Administration could not resolve our differences on a myriad of issues, most of which have not involved funding levels at all. Rather, the haggling for the past many weeks has been over issues such as ergonomics regulations, immigration, and certain regulatory matters; all of which would be more appropriately handled by the authorizing committees with jurisdiction over them. Instead of following the established practices and the regular N O T I C E Effective January 1, 2001, the subscription price of the Congressional Record will be $393 per year or $197 for six months. Individual issues may be purchased for $4.00 per copy. The cost for the microfiche edition will remain $141 per year with single copies remaining $1.50 per issue. This price increase is necessary based upon the cost of printing and distribution. Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer order of enacting the thirteen annual appropriations bills, we have in recent years, chosen to delay appropriations bills until it is too late to do anything other than to package them in a manner that causes such packages to be used as vehicles for all manner of non-appropriations issues. This has necessitated the adoption of late-year omnibus appropriations packages well after the start of the fiscal year, such as the one before the Senate today. This is a practice that should never have been started and which, if not discontinued, I fear will gravely diminish the Senate as an institution. Senators are being denied the right to debate and amend appropriations bills, all of which contain billions of taxpayer dollars, and literally thousands of funding issues affecting their constituents. Instead, we are being presented with unamendable omnibus appropriations packages, which contain many, many matters that have not had any Senate consideration at all. In the next Congress, the 107th Congress, we should strive mightily, on a bipartisan basis, to return to regular order in taking up each of the thirteen annual appropriations bills. The Appropriations Committee has marked up each of the thirteen appropriations bills in a timely manner every year under our distinguished Chairman, Senator Stevens. He is indeed masterful in his handling of appropriations matters and he is very knowledgeable on the issues that come before the Appropriations Committee. He is also one who leads the Committee in a bipartisan manner at all times. He gives the same consideration to requests of Members of the Committee on both sides of the aisle, and I am honored to serve as Ranking Member of the Committee under his chairmanship. It has not been the fault of Ted Stevens that the appropriations bills have, too often, been lumped together into omnibus packages, such as the one before the Senate. In an effort to facilitate a return to the regular order in the Senate's handling of the thirteen annual appropriations bills, I was pleased to have the support of both Leaders, Mr. Daschle and Mr. Lott, in my amendment to the Commerce/Justice/State Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2001 to restore Senate Rule XXVIII, Paragraph 2. That provision makes it out of order for extraneous matters to be included in conference reports. Several years ago, in connection with the Senate's consideration of an FAA conference report, the Senate voted to overturn the Chair when it ruled that there was extraneous matter in that conference report. The effect of that vote to overturn the Chair was to negate Rule XXVIII, Paragraph 2. Consequently, it has not been out of order for any matter to be inserted in any conference report since that time. Upon enactment of the Commerce/Justice/State Appropriations bill, and as a result of my amendment thereto, Rule XXVIII, Paragraph 2 will be restored. This will mean that in the 107th Congress, it will not be in order for extraneous matters to be placed in a conference report. Upon a point of order's being made in that regard, if sustained, such a conference report will be rejected. I believe that restoration of this rule will go a long way toward eliminating these annual omnibus appropriations measures that the Senate has had to deal with in the past several years and is again being asked to adopt here today. Having said that, Mr. President, I shall vote for the pending conference report. It contains the Fiscal Year 2001 appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, for the Department of the Treasury and General Government, and for the Legislative Branch. By far, the largest of these appropriations bills is the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill. In the agreement reached on the Labor/HHS bill, the funding totals some $108.9 billion in budget authority for Fiscal Year 2001. This is an increase of almost $12 billion from last year and represents the largest ever one-year increase for the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill. This amounts to more than a 12 percent increase above last year's level, and will enable funding levels for education to be increased by almost 15 percent, including an appropriation of more than $1 billion for a new school renovation program. The Labor/HHS Appropriations bill also includes critical funding for many health programs such as the Ryan White AIDS program, NIH, child immunization, substance abuse prevention, and mental health programs. All of these programs are funded at levels substantially higher than last year. As Members are aware, the bill also funds the Head Start program, and the low income home energy assistance program, LIHEAP. I recognize that a number of Senators believe that we should have insisted upon even higher levels for the Labor/HHS bill. While I might agree with those Senators, and although a tentative agreement in October would have funded the Labor/ HHS Appropriations bill at a level of over $112 billion, that agreement fell through over a legislative rider involving ergonomics. After weeks of haggling over the ergonomics issue, as well as other issues such as immigration, and overall funding levels, I feel that we have no other choice than to accept this compromise that is before the Senate today. As I say, it does not fully please any Senator. I am sure there are some who feel that the funding levels are too high; but the time has long since passed for us to complete our work and get this final appropriations package to the President's desk. In addition to the Labor/HHS Appropriations bill, this package contains funding for the Legislative Branch, and the Department of the Treasury and General Government, which measure funds a number of programs for law enforcement, as well as the U.S. Customs Service--the federal agency with responsibility for border patrol and enforcement of our immigration laws. There is also a division of this omnibus package that includes a number of non-appropriations matters. Those matters were considered carefully by Chairman Stevens, Chairman Young, Mr. Obey and myself, at the request of Members of the House and Senate. There were many more such matters that were considered, but were not included in this final package. Finally, the package contains a division relating to tax matters, including the so-called Balanced Budget Act, BBA, Medicare fix. Those tax matters were inserted into the omnibus package by the Leadership, and they fall into the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means and Finance Committees. Accordingly, we Appropriations Members were not involved in that process. In conclusion, Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to vote for this conference agreement. Despite its having all the flaws that we have seen in previous omnibus appropriations bills, the time has come to finish the work of the 106th Congress. In that way, we will have a clean slate for the new Congress, the 107th Congress, when it convenes on January 3rd, and for the new Administration, when our new President, George W. Bush, is sworn into office on January 20th. While I recognize that there are those who predict a continuation of the gridlock that we have seen in the recent past, or perhaps greater gridlock in the next Congress, as it struggles to work with the Bush Administration; I hope and believe that there will be unprecedented opportunities for bipartisan efforts to prevail in solving the Nation's most pressing problems; to maintain a vital national defense, and to find solutions which ensure that our Medicare and Social Security programs can sustain the promised for our citizens over the coming century. I am optimistic that the new Congress will be prepared to work with the Bush Administration. I know that the overwhelming number of Members of the House and Senate, on a bipartisan basis, join me in pledging our best efforts to do so, and our good faith commitment to achieve results in these critical areas, on behalf of the American people.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I asked the Senator to yield because I want to share in the good wishes that have been expressed by the distinguished senior Senator from Virginia to the Senator who is about to depart from our midst. Let me say that the Senator has always been nice to me. He is always cheerful and is always ready to reach out a welcoming hand. I appreciate that. The Senator and I don't serve on any committees together. I am sorry I never had that opportunity or that pleasure. But I shall miss the Senator. I shall miss his ready smile and his firm hand claps. I, too, wish him well in the days to come. Our Senate is better for his having served here. My life is better for having known him and having had the opportunity to serve in this great body with him. I hope he will come back to see us. I hope I shall get to see him again. I thank the Senator for yielding.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator yield?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the majority leader that the Senate concur in the House amendments en bloc, with a further amendment, and agree to the title amendment of the House.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open until 1:30 p.m. today for the submission of statements.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, as we prepare, in these last days, to go home for the Christmas holidays--and I suppose we include New Year's as well, at which time we will go into a new century. To all those who have been a part of perpetrating this colossal hoax on the American people, trying to make the American people believe that the new century began in January of 2000, let me say, come January 1 of 2001, all mankind will then, indeed, move into the 21st century. It will begin, and so will the third millennium. Anyone who can count from 1 to 100 knows that that is the case, whether they use the old math or the new. We will begin the 21st century on January 1 next.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I compliment the Chair on the expert handling of the disposition of the various and sundry requests that have been made by the very distinguished Senator. I want to compliment, also, the Parliamentarian. It was a joy to hear the Chair intervene at the right place and to say the right things for the Record. I saw that he was being guided by the Parliamentarian. So much of the time, I think we do our work in a rather shoddy fashion here. I am glad to see the Parliamentarian very alert, watching, listening, and prompting the Chair. That is the way it should be so the Record will read today in such a manner as will make us proud. Sometimes, I guess, we forget that future generations will be reading the Record. Not only that, but we Senators should learn as well how to handle these matters. It does me good to see a Chair who is alert and a Parliamentarian who is alert.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. (for Mr. Helms) proposed an amendment to the bill (S. 2943) to authorize additional assistance for international malaria control, and to provide for coordination and consultation in providing assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 with respect to malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis; as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the House to the text of the bill, insert the following:

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, that completes my remarks for today. I thank the Chair for his patience. In this instance, I refer to ``the Chair.'' I thank the Chair for his patience. The present occupant is a fine Senator. He pays attention. He does not sit up at the desk and read newspapers or sign his mail. There used to be a phone at that desk. And Senators who presided would use that telephone. When I became majority leader, I had the telephone removed because I thought that a Presiding Officer should pay attention to what was going on on the floor. I always say to new Senators: Pay attention while presiding. Don't sign your mail while presiding. If you feel you have to sign mail in the chair, tell the leadership that you have business to take care of in your office. Let someone else preside. There are a few Senators who have listened to me and who carry that admonition with them. Pat Roberts is one such Senator. He sits up there and is very alert. He never signs his mail while presiding. He never reads a magazine or a newspaper. He is alert, and he watches the Senate proceedings. Why shouldn't he? This is the premier upper house in the world today, and it should set the example for members of the state legislatures. I was once a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. I was once a member of the West Virginia Senate. I like to believe that when legislators throughout the 50 States of this country look at the Presiding Officer of the U.S. Senate on television, they see someone who is alert, someone who is paying attention, someone who is ready to make the ruling, someone who is ready to answer the parliamentary inquiry, someone who is alert to the need for order in the Senate Chamber and for order in the Galleries. They shouldn't see someone presiding who is signing mail and paying no attention to what is transpiring in the Chamber. That is not a very good example for other legislators in the country to see. This young Senator, Senator Fitzgerald from Illinois, who is now presiding, pays close attention to the floor debate. In some ways, it is kind of a thankless task. I have taken my share. Usually it is the new Members who take their turn at presiding. Somebody has to preside. I sat in that chair in one sitting for 22 hours. I have had my share. For 22 hours I sat during a civil rights filibuster--almost all of one day and one night. Vice President Nixon came the next morning to preside. But I know what it is to sit in the chair for hours at a time. I compliment all those who take their turn at presiding. They can learn a good many things about the Senate when they preside and preside well. Presiding Officers should maintain order in the Senate. That gavel is not easy to break. In my time here and in all of the history of this institution, which goes back 212 years now, I believe, there has been only one gavel broken. That gavel was replaced by the country of India and is in use now. If I am not mistaken and if my memory serves me well, it is the gavel that was presented to the Senate when Richard Nixon was Vice President. It will not crack easily. I urge, for the record, the Presiding Officers to use it. Don't hesitate to hit the desk hard. It won't crack. As we come into the Chamber during rollcall votes, we see other Senators with whom we would like to talk a few minutes. In doing so, we make a lot of noise. I know the Chair is hesitant sometimes to call senior Members of this body to order. But the Chair should have no hesitation. Every Senator, no matter how senior he is, should respect that Chair. As a matter of fact, the more senior the Senator is, the more he should respect the Chair because he has been here longer. I say to this Chair and, through him, to all the other Senators who preside, stay alert, keep your eye on the Senate, and maintain order. And when you ask for order, get it. Don't stop until you do get it. We all owe that respect to the Chair. I thank all employees for their patience.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, soon, the 106th Congress will draw to a close, and with that final bell, the Senate careers of a number of very fine Members will also, suddenly, draw to a close. Such are the wages of service in this Republic. Senator Robb, Senator Gorton, Senator Grams, Senator Ashcroft, Senator Abraham will have answered their final rollcall. They will have waited through their final quorum calls and they will have left the Senate floor, as a Member of this body, for a final time. Oh, they may be back to visit, and I hope they will come back to visit. They will always be welcome here. But I am sure that the Senate floor is not quite the same when one is not allowed to vote or to make a statement. However, these distinguished Members will always be a unique part of the Senate family and of the Senate's history. In the history of this great Republic--I do not speak of it as a democracy, I speak of it as a Republic; as a representative democracy, yes--in the history of this great Republic, there have only been 1,853 men and women who have served here since April 6 of 1789. In January 2001, that number will rise to 1,864. These names can be found listed in rank order, a list that is immutable and irreplaceable. More than that, each Senator becomes a part of the institution of the Senate. Each Member's actions help to shape the precedents and the practices of the Senate, just as a Member's amendments, bills, and votes shape the legislative history of the land. The singular honor of serving in the United States Senate leaves its mark on each Member. I am tempted to say that each Member leaves his or her mark on the Senate, but that would not be accurate. Few Senators perhaps leave their mark on the Senate, but the Senate leaves its mark, unblemished, unstained, on the life of every Member. I wish today to speak of two of these departing Senators with whom I have worked closely over the years: Senator Charles ``Chuck'' Robb and Senator Slade Gorton. Senator Gorton's number among the roll of Senators is 1,752. Senator Robb's number is 1,788. They are listed on the roll of Members of the United States Senate. Senator Robb, Senator Gorton, and the other departing Members, will carry the badge of Senate service with them. It is a badge of honor that they will carry with them. These men are much more than a name or a number, of course. Senator Robb has been a dedicated public servant. He has served his country in many ways. I have served with him on the Senate Committee on Armed Services where he was most recently the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support. He was also a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and he was for many years a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. As a former marine, as well as a representative of a Commonwealth with a very large military presence, Senator Robb was a tireless advocate for the men and the women who labor in uniform and in other intelligence and supporting roles to protect our great Nation. Senator Robb has also sought to protect and further the economic health of the Nation. He has served this Nation in many ways, from active duty as a United States Marine to Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia to United States Senator. To his service here, he has brought a conscience. He charted his own course, made his own votes and his decisions using his moral compass rather than polls or media campaigns. I will always remember Senator Robb for his gentle courtesy, his calm and even manner, his soft-spoken ways. Though passionate in his beliefs, he worked quietly and steadily in a bipartisan spirit to achieve his goals. The State of Virginia is better off today for his efforts in the Senate, and the Senate has been the better for his presence. Now, to Senator Gorton. Senator Slade Gorton knows something about leaving the Senate, having left once before in 1987, only to return 2 years later to serve from 1989 through the end of the 106th Congress. I have been his ranking member on the Senate Committee on Appropriations. I am here to say that I could not have had a better partner than the distinguished Senator from Washington. Of course, I have said that many times before. In these past years, he has been the wheel horse of our team, putting his shoulder to the wheel and pulling the heavy load of putting together the complex Interior appropriations bill. He has shown himself to be a master of the appropriations process, and no one, I venture to say, knows the Interior appropriations bill and the programs it funds better than Slade Gorton does. Senator Gorton has a truly impressive grasp of detail, and yet he never lets minutiae cloud his vision of the overall picture. I could not have asked for a more congenial, collegial, commonsense colleague, and I will truly miss my friend, Slade Gorton, on the committee. I know that the rest of the Senate will miss our colleague from Washington as well. He is well liked on both sides of the aisle as gracious, polite, soft spoken. He never rebukes a colleague. Rather, he will look up, blink in polite astonishment, and with a gentle question point out the error of one's ways. Senator Gorton is another example of a Member who makes the Senate work by focusing on the needs of his constituents. Besides his work on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and throughout the entire appropriations process, Senator Gorton looked after the interests of Washington State from his seat on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation where he chaired the Subcommittee on Aviation and also served on the Subcommittee on Oceans and Fisheries, both important to a coastal State that is home to Boeing Aviation. He also served as the vice chair, the vice chairman--Mr. President, I break my sentence. I do not believe in this nonsense. I do not believe in this nonsense called political correctness. I have no use for it whatsoever. There is a chair right there across the aisle; here is a chair beside me. There is a difference between a chairman and a chair. I do not subscribe to the word ``chair'' except where it is appropriate to use it, and I never refer to a human being as a ``chair.'' I do not want anyone referring to me as a ``chair.'' Senator Gorton also served as the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Water and Power on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee--again topics of interest to his State with significant hydropower concerns. And if these duties did not keep him busy enough, Senator Gorton also served on the Senate Budget Committee. Senator Gorton's focus serves the Senate well. In defending the different perspectives of States large and small, populous or not, rural or urban, individual Senators act as the kind of internal checks and balances that the framers envisioned, keeping the tyranny of a majority from putting other groups and interests at a disadvantage. The Senate is designed to give States an equal voice and equal standing, despite differences among the States with respect to population. I shall especially miss Senator Gorton because we worked very closely together on the Appropriations Committee. It was a very busy subcommittee. It is a westerner's subcommittee, in fact. That is the way I have always looked upon it, although I have found it to be very important, as well, to States of the East and South and North. I wish him well. I will miss him. As an able and talented man, he will soon find new venues in which to continue serving the public interest. He traveled all across this country, he and his family, on bicycles upon one occasion some years ago, from the west coast to the east coast, the whole family, on bicycles. So one might easily imagine what kind of adventurer Slade Gorton is. That takes a lot of courage, a lot of determination. But wherever he goes, and wherever Senator Robb goes, wherever these other Senators whose names I have mentioned go, they will always be called ``Senator.'' Majorian, in 457 A.D., when he was made emperor of the West, referred to himself as ``a prince who still glories in the name of Senator.'' Mr. President, I close with a few lines from a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is a fitting tribute to the fine, lasting work performed in this mighty Senate by these departing Members: Senator Robb, Senator Gorton, Senator Grams, Senator Ashcroft, and Senator Abraham. I am speaking of these Senators. There are other Senators who are departing and about whom I have spoken previously. Senators whose names I have mentioned today are Senators who were in the most recent election, who fought nobly and well, and who lost. What makes a nation's pillars high And its foundations strong? What makes it mighty to defy The foes that round it throng? It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand Go down in battle shock; Its shafts are laid on sinking sand, Not on abiding rock. Is it the sword? Ask the red dust Of empires passed away; The blood has turned their stones to rust, Their glory to decay. And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown Has seemed to nations sweet; But God has struck its luster down In ashes at His feet. Not gold but only men can make A people great and strong; Men who for truth and honor's sake Stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep, Who dare while others fly-- They build a nation's pillars deep And lift them to the sky.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, once in a while an individual comes along who shines with such a special light that it illuminates the darkness for others. I have been fortunate to employ one such individual on my staff for the last 8 years: Lisa Tuite, Lisa achieved her master of arts degree in national security studies from Georgetown University in 1990 and her bachelor of arts degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. She came to my office as a legislative fellow from the National Photographic Interpretation Center. I soon recognized her talent. Lisa was employed in my office to serve as a legislative assistant for defense and foreign affairs and to assist me on the Armed Services Committee. She has done all of these things and done them well. Eventually she rose through the ranks to become my administrative assistant. Multitalented, thoughtful, with an encyclopedic grasp of detail, Lisa Tuite has been an inspiration to my staff and she has been an inspiration to me. I have been here on Jenkins Hill for 48 years, longer than anybody else who is in the Congress today in either body. John Dingell is the dean of the House of Representatives. I served with John Dingell's father in the House. I speak of John Dingell in a very admiring fashion. He is a man of tremendous talent, a fine, fine Member of the House. But I have been around quite a while, and I have seen a lot of people come and go in the Chamber here, as well in my employment, as one can imagine--48 years, starting out in the House of Representatives with five persons on my staff a long time ago. I have seen Senators come and go. I have seen our staffs at the front desk come and go. But this particular individual, of whom I speak today, merits my highest compliments. I have rarely employed anyone with her patience, her writing ability, her organizational instincts or her boundless energy. She is that rare breed of Senate staffer, seemingly born for the job and eager to do it. Moreover, as anyone who knows Lisa can attest, she is resolute, unflappable, and unfailingly cheerful. I have seldom seen her discouraged, and there is literally no task that she will not assume with relish, and always unfailing in her courtesy. I shall miss her. She has the soul of a gardener. It is a hobby at which she excels. She is a cultivator of beauty and a nurturer of growth. I am speaking not only with respect to plants and flowers and, yes, crops; but I am speaking also with reference to other individuals. For my other employees, she has been an inspiration as well. The young staffers whom she has so carefully tended and so artfully encouraged have blossomed, blossomed like the daffodils, blossomed under Lisa's tutelage. She has graciously focused her sunshine upon them all, upon all who work with her. Alas, as all good things come to an end, at least all things that are mortal, Lisa will be leaving my staff to spend more time with her husband Jim, her mother and father, and her adorable daughter Rachel. And I am the loser. I am saddened to lose her, but I know that she will grace whatever she puts her heart and hand to in the future years as she has done in my office for the too brief time that she worked among us and with us and lent us her gracious smile and her scintillating personality, her wit, her good sense, her good judgment, her dedication, her loyalty. So to Lisa, my staff and I say: The hours are like a string of pearls, The days like diamonds rare, The moments are the threads of gold, That bind them for our wear, So may the years that come to you, Such health and good contain, That every moment, hour, and day, Be like a golden chain.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, each day the Senate is in session the Chaplain leads us in prayer. From time to time, we have a guest Chaplain, a guest Chaplain perhaps coming from one or the other of the States. I am always awed to stand in this Chamber and hear the Chaplain deliver the prayer. As long as this Republic stands, I am confident that the Senate and the House will be opened with prayer. In West Virginia, anytime there is a public ceremony of any kind, there is sure to be a prayer, just as surely as we have the Pledge of Allegiance. The Chaplain is always here. He ministers to us, not just by way of a daily prayer here, but if we are ill, in the hospital, or if a family member is in the hospital, if we lose a loved one, the Chaplain is there. He is there to console and to comfort us and to pray with us. I feel that we should take note of this as we prepare to close out our session. ``More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. . . .'' Tennyson said that. I just remembered it. So I thank our Chaplain on behalf of all of us--on behalf of the Members, on behalf of the officers of the Senate, on behalf of the employees of the Senate. We do appreciate the pastorship that he performs. He shepherds the flock. We are part of his flock. I want to pay my respects to him, and let him know that his efforts, his work, his prayers, even when we do not hear them, do not go unnoticed. Often he sees me and says: I prayed for you yesterday. I was praying for you this morning. We certainly need it. I cherish those prayers. ``Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.'' I thank him.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield.

Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair. Mr. President, the Senate has now before it the latest in a series of continuing resolutions in order to keep the operations of the Federal Government going for another 48 hours. This will be the 17th continuing resolution for the fiscal year which began on October 1 of this year-- the 17th continuing resolution for the fiscal year. This is the largest number of continuing resolutions that has ever been required in order to enable Congress to complete its work on the 13 annual appropriations bills. As Senators are aware, we have yet to complete action on 4 of the 13 fiscal year 2001 appropriations bills; namely, the Commerce-Justice- State-Judiciary, Labor-HHS, legislative branch, and Treasury-General Government appropriations bills. We are now into the third month of fiscal year 2001, and we have yet to get our work done on these very critical appropriations bills. It seems to me that the best way to set the tone for the 107th Congress, which will begin on January 3, 2001, would be to finish the work of the 106th Congress immediately. The time has long since passed for us to end partisan bickering over issues in these various appropriations bills. Why should it take so long to reach a compromise on the remaining issues? What in the world is keeping us from completing action on these appropriations bills 2 months after the new fiscal year has begun? We have been aware of those issues for months. Most of these issues do not involve appropriations at all. Rather, they involve legislative riders which have nothing to do with the operation of the Federal Government as far as funding levels are concerned. Of course, legislative riders are not new. The Wilmot Proviso was such a rider back in the days when slavery was being discussed. These issues involve ergonomics, immigration, tobacco lawsuits, et cetera, matters that properly belong in the jurisdiction of other committees. We should not continue to tie up appropriations bills for a fiscal year that began more than 2 months ago--haggling over issues such as these. The partisanship should end right now, right here this week, on these remaining appropriations bills. We should not permit ourselves to delay action on these matters until the next Congress or the next administration. The time has come for this 106th Congress to complete its work now; clean the slate so that the 107th Congress and the new administration can begin with a fresh start. We have a tremendous opportunity here. We can demonstrate to the American people and to the world that even though the Presidential election is still in the courts, the people's branch--the people's branch--is here, the people's branch is functioning, and the people's branch intends to get our work done. We can demonstrate to the Nation and we can demonstrate to the world that there is stability in this Government even though the next President's name and the next President's party are yet not known. The way we wind up this year's business can be a constructive harbinger for the way we approach next year's business with a new President and a closely divided Senate and House. We can start now to reassure the American people that we can stop the bickering, stop the wrangling, and begin to behave as adults instead of as 4-year-olds. We can show the new Senators of both parties how to reach across the aisle for the good of the Nation. Comity and compromise will have to be the watchwords in the new year, and we can begin practicing that new tone right now. I hope we can pass these four remaining appropriations bills over which the distinguished chairman, over which the staffs, over which the Members of both parties, both sides of the aisle, have spent hours and hours and days in efforts to complete the work, and I hope we can go home to ponder our new responsibilities. Repeatedly passing 48-hour continuing resolutions, or 24-hour continuing resolutions, and continuing to try to play for some partisan advantage sets exactly the wrong tone for next year's changed circumstances. Senators, let us employ our intellects and our considerable talents for the good of the Nation. Let us do our duty and fund the Government, as we were expected to be doing. There is no advantage to putting off this work, no advantage whatsoever to putting it off any longer. There is only the very possible danger of poisoning the well from which we all must drink in a new and very different reality setting next year. So I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work together with Chairman Stevens and myself and with the leadership in seeing to it that we work together in a spirit of honest compromise to wrap up the remaining matters on the last four appropriations bills and get them to the President's desk for his signature this week. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Yes. I yield, if I have the floor, Mr. President.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to add a few accolades to those that have already been expressed on the 98th birthday of our very distinguished and able colleague, Senator Thurmond. Senator Thurmond and I have worked together in this Chamber for 42 years. I say this with a considerable amount of pleasure. I have always found Senator Thurmond to be straightforward, courageous--he is absolutely fearless--and always considerate of the viewpoints of others. We were here during the great civil rights debates of the 1960s. We have seen colleagues come and go. We have shared viewpoints on many of the great issues that have been debated upon this stage in the years that have gone by: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Panama Canal Treaties in the late 1970s--the many issues that have deeply affected our country and the people of our country. While Senator Thurmond and I belong to different political parties, I think we have attempted to see through the fog of political debate, and we have attempted to speak and act in the best interests of the country as a whole. We have often risen above the political fray. Senator Thurmond has always been very courteous to me. I can remember those years, now long ago, when Senator Thurmond lost his wife. He was a Democrat in those years, and I remember coming into the Senate Chamber on that morning after. Senator Thurmond sat there in the back row behind me that morning. I walked up to him, shook his hand, and told him of my sorrow at his loss. I can remember when Senator Thurmond lost his daughter. I went to South Carolina to be with him in that time of trial and tribulation and sorrow. I saw the great outpouring of affection and love by his constituents in South Carolina. I remember, too, the day in which there was a memorial service conducted for my grandson, Michael, who was tragically killed at the age of 17. I recall that at that memorial service there were two other Senators present--Senator Randolph, my colleague at that time in the Senate, and Senator Thurmond. My colleague today, Senator Rockefeller, was there, but he was at that time the Governor of the State of West Virginia. I shall never forget when Strom Thurmond came to my side at that moment of great sorrow when I gave up my grandson. Senator Thurmond has always been a Senator who sympathizes with the sorrows, the sadness, and the joys of his colleagues. I went out here some distance from the Capitol a few years ago to attend the funeral service of a relative of one of my staff members. This relative was a black man. Who came to that funeral service? Me. I was there because it was a relative of one of my staff members. Senator Thurmond was there. He came there to show his sympathy and his concern to those bereaved people. I marveled at his presence on that occasion. It made me wonder, how many funerals of persons of other races, of other parties, and of other creeds does this man attend around this city? Let me just say today that it has also been not just a pleasure to serve with Senator Thurmond but it has been an honor. I salute him on this his 98th birthday. Abraham lived to be 175. Isaac lived to be 180. Jacob lived to be 147. Joshua lived to be 110. Joseph lived to be 110. Moses lived to be 120. Strom Thurmond is only 98. I thank the good Lord that I can be here today to share with him this birthday of his. Let me close by remembering a few lines, if I might, that were written by a poet. Count your garden by the flowers, Never by the leaves that fall. Count your days by the sunny hours, Not remembering clouds at all. Count your nights by stars, not shadows. Count your life by smiles, not tears. On this beautiful December afternoon, Senator Thurmond: Count your age by friends, not years. I yield the floor.