John Chafee

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, this is the order. Senator Wyden has an amendment that has been agreed to. Actually, it turns out that it is my amendment; I am introducing it. This has been agreed to. We would like to move to the McConnell amendment. That will be a long one. I don't see Senator McConnell here, but I urge him to come because we want to get started on that. There is a time agreement suggested of 3 hours on his side, 2 on our side, and 45 minutes for Senator Domenici from New Mexico. We are ready to go. Amendment No. 1702 (Purpose: To further clarify the integrated decision-making process for surface transportation projects)

Mr. CHAFEE. I do renew that request.

Mr. CHAFEE. I think now is a good time, I say to the Senator from Texas. She has an amendment that has been agreed to. Why don't we present that and dispose of that? Amendment No. 1703 to Amendment No. 1676

Mr. CHAFEE. Yes.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I want to salute the Senators who worked so hard on this: Senator Wyden and Senator Graham. We are very proud that they are Members of the Environment Committee. They are very valuable members of that committee. And Senator Smith worked very hard, and is likewise. So we are ready to go to a vote.

Mr. CHAFEE. Why do we not adopt the Senator's amendment, unless you want more time on it.

Mr. CHAFEE. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. CHAFEE. I thank the Senator from North Dakota. Now the Bingaman amendments, if we could deal with those quickly? Amendments Nos. 1699, 1700 and 1701, En Bloc, To Amendment No. 1676

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. CHAFEE. Now, the amendment is adopted?

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be allowed to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 5, 1998, at 9 a.m. in SR-328A. The purpose of this meeting will be to hold a hearing examining the Kyoto treaty on climate change and its effect on the agricultural economy.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Subcommittee on Children and Families, be authorized to meet for a hearing on after school child care during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 5, 10 a.m.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 5, for purposes of conducting a full committee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this oversight hearing is to consider the President's proposed budget for FY1999 for the Department of the Interior.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on Thursday, March 5, 1998, at 10 a.m. in open session, to receive testimony on the role of the Department of Defense in countering the transnational threats of the 21st century.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Governmental Affairs Committee to meet on Thursday, March 5, 1998, at 4 p.m. for a business meeting. The agenda will be the approval of the Committee Report on the Special Investigation of Illegal and Improper Activities in Connection with 1996 Federal Election Campaigns.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, be authorized to hold an executive business meeting during the session of the Senate on Thursday, March 5, 1998, at 10 a.m., in room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building.

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. All right. I will do that, Mr. President. We are prepared now to go to the Dorgan amendment.

Mr. CHAFEE. Madam President, I rise in support of this amendment offered by my colleague from North Dakota. The terrible problem of drunk driving is certainly, as we all recognize, an issue of national importance. In 1996, more than 17,000 lives were lost on our Nation's highways as a result of alcohol-related collisions. This represents nearly half of all the fatalities that occur on our roads each year. The laws on how drinking and driving are treated vary from State to State. As mentioned previously, six States allow drivers to operate motor vehicles and drink alcohol at the same time. In over half of the States, even if a driver cannot drink, all the passengers in the vehicle can drink. Madam President, the sad thing is that drunk driving accidents are completely avoidable. There is not a single reason why the driver sitting behind the wheel of a car should be allowed to consume an alcoholic beverage. Now, Madam President, this isn't about freedom and States rights; it is about the rights of a driver against other drivers on the road. Shouldn't every individual have a right to travel safely on the highways? There is a lot of discussion here as to, ``Oh, leave it up to each State.'' Well, as we all know, in my State, you can go across the State in an hour and, clearly, you are either in Massachusetts or Connecticut very quickly. And so it is in most of the States. We travel from State to State freely. Very few people stay entirely within the borders of their own State all the time. So we have a right to know that when we go out of our State, if our State should adopt an amendment like this, we will be safe in the other States likewise. I believe the amendment of the Senator from North Dakota will save lives by keeping alcoholic beverages off the road. This is a workable and fair solution to the problem of open containers and the larger problem of drunk driving. Now, Madam President, we still have time in opposition to the Senator's amendment. But absent that, I would be glad to yield some of that time to the Senator from North Dakota, or whatever he chooses. We have previously committed to not go to a vote until 10:30. I would like to stick by that commitment, even though it might require some dead time here.

Mr. CHAFEE. Let me just say again, Mr. President, I am concerned about the number of sanctions we would be adding to the States under this. I have grave concern whether we might well have a backlash. We had a very solid vote on stern sanctions involved in the Lautenberg- DeWine amendment. There are sanctions in the underlying bill we have dealing with repeat offenders. There are sanctions in the legislation that the Senator from South Dakota is going to propose immediately. So I am worried that there could well be a backlash in the States and particularly, when we go to conference, that the attitude might be to just dispose of all of these sanctions. So that is the concern that I have. There being no others who wish to speak, I yield back the remainder of our time and am prepared to go to the Dorgan amendment at this time, unless the Senator from New Mexico has anything further to say.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I want to apologize. I said the Senator from ``South Dakota,'' and I was wrong. He is very much from North Dakota.

Mr. CHAFEE. It does not appear that there is anybody who chooses to come to speak in opposition. Does the Senator from New Mexico have others who wish to speak?

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I say to any who wishes to oppose this amendment, now is the time. We are going to vote at 10:30 on this amendment, followed by the Bingaman amendment. So there is time reserved for opponents. Now is the time to come over and speak. I urge anyone who wishes to oppose this amendment of the Senator from North Dakota to come now. What is the time situation, Mr. President?

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, we are going to vote now. We were scheduled to vote at 10:30. I would like to stick with that if I could. I just don't want this to get into a budget discussion here on the floor of the Senate at this particular time as we are trying to dispose of this legislation. I do not like to cut off the Senator----

Mr. CHAFEE. Well, if you want 3 minutes, go to it. But, please, no more than that because we are anxious. We did promise the Senator from New Mexico we would deal with three quick amendments by unanimous consent that we can dispose of very, very quickly, and then I do want to go to these votes. Senators have made an effort to be over here. Why do you not proceed for 3 minutes, then we'll do the Bingaman amendments quickly, and then go to the vote--which should not be more than 5 minutes from now.