John Chafee

Mr. CHAFEE

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on final passage.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, the junior Senator from Indiana will be here in a few minutes and would like to make a statement on the bill. That would be the only business in connection with this legislation. So I ask unanimous consent that at the hour of 2:15 today, the Senate proceed to a vote on final passage of S. 534, as amended.

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

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on Tuesday, May 16, 1995 at 2 p.m. in closed/open session to receive testimony on the Department of Energy weapons activities, nonproliferation and national security programs in review of S. 727, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 and the future years defense program.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Seapower of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 1995, in open session, to receive testimony on the requirements for continued production of nuclear submarines, submarine industrial base issues, procurement strategy, and associated funding in review of S. 727, the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 and the future years defense program.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Readiness of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 1995, in open session, to receive testimony on Department of Defense Financial Management in Review of S. 727, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, and the future years defense program.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance Committee be permitted to meet on Tuesday, May 16, 1995, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in room SD-215, to conduct a hearing on Medicare solvency.

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 Tuesday, May 16, 1995, for purposes of conducting a full committee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this hearing is to review Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing activities with regard to the Department of Energy's civilian nuclear waste disposal program and other matters within the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be allowed to meet during the Tuesday, May 16, 1995 session of the Senate for the purpose of conducting an oversight hearing on NASA's space shuttle and reusable launch vehicle program at 9:30 a.m.

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 Tuesday, May 16, 1995 at 9:30 a.m., in SR-332, to discuss rural development and credit.

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. Now, Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CHAFEE. All right, that takes care of that. I received word that the Senator from California will withdraw the so-called Boxer amendment.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, here is the situation now. We have two more amendments that were provided for, and then we would hope be able to go to final passage. One is the Levin amendment and the other is the Domenici amendment. We are working on both of those.

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

Mr. CHAFEE. All time is yielded back.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, this is a technical amendment that has been cleared with the other side.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, let me again stress in no way does the State of Washington in the proposed amendment come close to meeting the exceptions that were provided for in this legislation. First, they do not have flow control; and, second, under the amendment as submitted it does not require there be outstanding bonded indebtedness. The Senator from Washington has frequently mentioned to us they have general obligation bonds, but that is not what this amendment says. This amendment says, ``significant financial commitments have been made.'' That could be the community had spent some money, as I say, on some trucks, to haul garbage. So it does not even come close to the criteria that we have set forth in the bill and I just think it is a vast overreaching. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. What about 20 minutes equally divided?

Mr. CHAFEE. If Senator Dorgan is ready to go, can we get a time agreement?

Mr. CHAFEE

Mr. CHAFEE. Let me say briefly, this. In my State I have always been a supporter of the bottle bill. But then it turns out that in our recycling efforts, the thing that makes the recycling effort go is the fact that the recycling center is able to earn money from the aluminum cans. It is the big money earner for the recycling center and helps carry everything else. So in our State, we will not want a bottle bill where you would make a deposit and bring it back to the central place and get your refund because that would deprive our recycling centers of this constant flow of very valuable income. But that may be a unique situation.

Mr. CHAFEE. I thank the Senator very much.

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I wonder if the Senator will withhold. We have a couple of amendments we can accept. We can dispose of them. They will take very little time. (Purpose: To include in the definition of ``out-of-State municipal waste'' waste that is generated outside the United States)

Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Levin and Senator Abraham, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.