Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair. Madam President, I have sought the floor at this moment to urge the leadership to extend the time on this bill for 2 hours. I have heard the distinguished Democratic whip say it, I believe I have heard the Senator from Maryland, the manager of the bill, and the ranking member on this side, Senator Mikulski, say it, and I believe I have heard the manager indicate we might be able to finish this bill with an additional 2 hours. We have completed 10 appropriations bills for floor action. There are only 13. That means there are three more. If we could finish this bill in 2 hours, that would leave only two appropriations bills that have not had floor action: CJS and District of Columbia. So I urge, Madam President, that the leadership extend the time on this measure that is before the Senate just 2 hours. Let us finish this bill before going to other matters.

Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield.

Mr. BYRD. Yes, I do.

Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield for a question without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. BYRD. It certainly would be in order.

Mr. BYRD. It certainly would.

Mr. BYRD. Well, I will not only consider it, I will make the request. I would like for the leadership to be here and let the leadership consider making the request. I am talking about the majority leader. I do not want to try to impose myself in his stead in a matter of this nature, but I do think the Senate ought to go for a couple more hours, if that would do it, and let us finish this bill. We have finished 10 appropriations bills. I am the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. It certainly is in order for me to attempt to try to get this bill acted on. We are so close. This is a veterans bill, the VA-HUD bill, that is so important. We have soldiers, men and women, dying in Iraq. Why not pass this bill within 2 hours? We are within 2 hours, and if we work hard we might complete it before that 2 hours. Maybe some of the amendments could be peeled off so we could cut the time. I ask, Is there anyone who would get the majority leader to come to the floor and let us consider this?

Mr. BYRD. I have the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Yes. Let me protect myself, though. I ask unanimous consent that I may yield to the distinguished Senator from Missouri so that he can propound a question to the Chair and that I retain my right to the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I am going to propound a request. That request will include--did the Senator from Missouri say there were four amendments that were cleared?

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I yield for a question without giving up the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, before I make a request, let me congratulate the Senator from Missouri. He is a good member of the Appropriations Committee. He works hard. He is a productive member. I have a great deal of admiration for him and for the work he does. I say the same about my friend, the Senator from Maryland. She has done tremendous work on this bill. It is the VA-HUD bill. She always applies her total energies and talents to working on this measure. With her good work and cooperation, the manager of the bill, Mr. Bond, has been able to bring the bill to the floor. He has done great work. I do not want to take away from his work. I want to add to it, and so I compliment him. As I understand it, there are seven amendments at the desk that have been cleared on both sides?

Mr. BYRD. I yield only if I may retain my right to the floor. I yield to the Senator that he may make that statement, and ask that I may retain my right to the floor.

Mr. BYRD. May I say again, we have finished 10 of the 13 appropriations bills on this floor. We lack three: CJS, District of Columbia, and VA-HUD. VA-HUD is before the Senate. We are within reach of completing floor action on that bill. We ought to do that. If we fail, having come this close, what is the Senate going to look like? We have to complete action on appropriations bills one way or another before we can adjourn sine die. I hope we could finish floor action on this bill. Think of all the time that has gone into the consideration of this bill in the committee. The chairman and ranking member have held hearings. They have had a markup of this bill. They have worked hard over a period of many months. They have heard witnesses. All of this ought not to be for naught. I hope Senators will agree. I had hoped the distinguished majority leader would be on the Senate floor so that I could urge him to propound this request. We are only 11 minutes away from 6. Now, a unanimous consent request entered into at this point will prevail over any previous unanimous consent request dealing with that same matter. So I have the floor. I know what my rights are, and I know what my duties are, also, as the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee. May I ask the Chair, am I wrong in anything I have said? Am I correct?

Mr. BYRD. Yes. And am I correct that a unanimous consent request agreed to at this moment to extend the hour of 6, which was in a previous request, would be the prevailing motion?

Mr. BYRD. Yes, indeed. So, Madam President, I really hesitate to make this request. I had hoped the majority leader would be in the Chamber because he is the person to be recognized at 6 o'clock, under the previous order. I don't want to appear to be discourteous. That is not my intention. Why do you think I am doing this? I am the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In the 7 years, I believe it was, that I was chairman of the Appropriations Committee, we never had--I don't think we ever had--I think we finished all 13 appropriations bills every year. We could finish another one. I know Senator Stevens has worked hard. I asked Senator Stevens during the last rollcall if he was agreeable to extending this time, since we are so close. He indicated he would work to do that. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that----

Mr. BYRD. I didn't understand the Chair.

Mr. BYRD. I thank the distinguished Presiding Officer. I am trying to avoid appearing to intrude on the majority leader's previous request and his time. I don't want to appear to be discourteous. I want to make the request when the majority leader is here.

Mr. BYRD. I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to make a unanimous consent request and that, if it is agreed to--or whether or not it is agreed to, that I be recognized for another unanimous consent request, with the understanding that in any event I will be recognized 1 minute before 6 p.m. today to make such request.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I don't lose the floor by virtue of having made a unanimous consent request, even though it is objected to. I don't lose the floor.

Mr. BYRD. I yield to the distinguished Senator from Maryland with the understanding I do not lose my right to the floor, and I yield for a question only.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I don't yield the floor for that purpose.

Mr. BYRD. Senators will understand I used to propound these requests without their being in writing. I am carefully trying to approach this, so I will start over. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the seven amendments that have been referred to by the distinguished Senator from Missouri, Mr. Bond, and are at the desk, that have been cleared, be considered agreed to and adopted to the bill. I further ask that the time originally set for recognition of the majority leader, at 1 minute until 6, be delayed 2 hours, that in the meantime the Senate consider action and complete action on the VA-HUD appropriations bill, and that the motions to reconsider be laid on the table.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am very interested in the need to provide funding through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the National Research Council to study whether the use of coal combustion wastes, otherwise known as coal fly ash, poses health and/or safety threats to the public or to the environment when used for reclamation purposes in both active and abandoned coal mines. For more than twenty years, the EPA has been grappling with the issue of whether and how the use of these power plant combustion wastes should be regulated and the manner in which they should be regulated, if at all, under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act or the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. With this amendment, the National Research Council will be able to provide much-needed research assistance to the EPA as the agency continues to consider the development of national regulations in this area. This study serves an important purpose and will help answer important questions about the impact of disposing coal combustion wastes in coal mines. Further, this study would offer timely information to EPA policy makers as these experts continue to assess the need for regulations governing this practice. In summary, there is a great need for this study. It could be funded within existing resources and under existing authorizations. I hope that my colleagues will be able to consider this important request during the VA/HUD conference. I thank them for their consideration of this issue.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Will the Senator yield for me to respond?