Thad Cochran

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent--and I do not intend to object--that the time consumed by the Senator be charged equally to all time under the order on the appropriations bill.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from West Virginia for his kind comments about the handling of the legislation. I thank him for his valuable assistance in the crafting of the language of our disaster assistance provisions and other provisions as well. I yield 8 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I have been authorized, on behalf of the leader, to announce, for the information of all Senators, there will be no more votes tonight. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I will propound the following unanimous consent request which has been cleared, I am told, on both sides of the aisle. It relates to the further handling of the Agriculture conference report. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday there be up to 5 hours equally divided for debate between Senator Cochran and the minority manager or his designee, with an additional hour under the control of Senator Wellstone, on the Agriculture appropriations conference report, and that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on adoption of the conference report without any intervening action or debate.

Mr. COCHRAN. The gentleman from Kentucky is correct.

Mr. COCHRAN. I thank the Senator from Utah for his comments regarding funding for the Food and Drug Administration. As the Senator knows, the Congress is required to comply with fiscal year 2000 budget caps on discretionary spending. Unlike the President's budget, we do not have the luxury of being able to offset appropriations' increases with savings from questionable scoring tactics, or from new user fee and other proposed legislation which has not won the support of the appropriate authorizing committees of the Congress. I understand the Senator's concern that this conference agreement does not provide the full fiscal year 2000 level requested for the FDA. However, it does provide the FDA with a substantial increase in funding from the fiscal year 1999 level to provide the amount requested for two of FDA's highest priority activities--food safety and premarket review. I can assure my colleague from Utah that we will continue to review the funding needs of this critical public health agency and consider future requests of the agency to enhance funding for its essential activities, including those which he has brought to our attention here today. wic program requirements

Mr. COCHRAN. The gentleman from Kentucky is correct.

Mr. COCHRAN. I assure the gentleman from Kentucky that the Conference Report does contain the language as he has described.

Mr. COCHRAN. The gentleman from Kentucky is correct.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I yield the time that he may consume to the distinguished Senator from Iowa.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of a letter addressed to the chairman of the Appropriations Committee strongly endorsing the method of payment used for the disaster assistance portion of this bill from the American Soybean Association and other groups be printed in the Record.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, under the authority of the leadership, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have received a number of letters from farm organizations and other groups supporting the adoption of the conference report or supporting invoking cloture so we can get to consideration of this conference report. Included among these groups are the American Farm Bureau Federation, asking for a vote on cloture this afternoon; the National Corn Growers Association; the National Association of Wheat Growers; the U.S. Rice Producers Association; the American Soybean Association; International Dairy Foods Association; the National Barley Growers Association; the Louisiana Cotton Producers Association, and others. I ask unanimous consent that all of these letters be printed in the Record.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on behalf of the leaders on this side, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished Senator from Vermont.

Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, I am pleased to present to the Senate the conference report on H.R. 1906, the Fiscal Year 2000 Agriculture Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The conference agreement provides total new budget authority of $60.3 billion for programs and activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the exception of the Forest Service, which is funded by the Interior appropriations bill. The Food and Drug Administration and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are included also, and expenses and payments of the farm credit system are provided. The bill reflects approximately $5.9 billion more in spending than the fiscal year 1999 enacted level and $6.6 billion less than the level requested by the President. It is $418 million less than the House-passed bill level and $391 million less than the Senate-passed bill level. I must point out that we, of course, are constrained with the adoption of this conference report by allocations under the Budget Act. The bill is consistent with the allocations that have been made to this subcommittee under the Budget Act, and it is consistent in other respects with the Budget Act. The increase above the fiscal year 1999 enacted level reflects the additional $5.9 billion which the administration projects will be required to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for net realized losses. The conference report also provides an additional $8.7 billion in emergency appropriations to assist agricultural producers who experienced weather-related agricultural and market losses during 1999. This was a difficult conference. We met on two occasions. House conferees at one point asked for a recess in our deliberations to discuss some of the difficult issues that were confronting the conferees. As a matter of fact, after the request for the recess for a conference among House conferees, we never were able to get back into a formal meeting with the House conferees. It was an unusual procedure because of that. Negotiations took place Member to Member, Senator to conferee among a lot of interested Members of the House and Senate on a wide range of issues. Some of the most contentiously involved issues weren't in the bill, one of which was the dairy proposal for reauthorization of the Northeast Dairy Compact, and an authorization for additional regional compacts. There was a discussion of the Senate-passed provision relating to sanctions and trying to change the policy by changing the statute with respect to the authority of the President to impose unilateral sanctions against the export of U.S. agricultural commodities. These involve situations where we are trying to influence the conduct of other nations using interruption in trade from the United States to put pressure on these other countries. Senator Ashcroft of Missouri had led the effort in the Senate to put language in the Senate bill on that subject. The House conferees insisted on a provision that would have imposed special restrictions on trade with Cuba. This ended up being a very difficult issue to resolve, and finally was left out of the conference report at the insistence of the House. We tried to work out other disagreements. We think that it is a balanced bill, and it addresses a wide range of needs for funding for this next fiscal year--agricultural research, food and nutrition programs, agricultural support programs, conservation programs--trying to insist that we do an effective job to protect the environment as it relates to agricultural production and the needs of production agriculture. I hope the Senate will look with favor on the bill. The House adopted the conference report on October 1, I believe, by a substantial margin. We hope the Senate will look with favor and act accordingly. Including Congressional budget scorekeeping adjustments and prior- year spending actions, this conference agreement provides total non- emergency discretionary spending for fiscal year 2000 of just under $14 billion in budget authority and $14.3 billion in outlays. These amounts are consistent with the revised discretionary spending allocations established for this conference agreement. It was a difficult conference. After two meetings, the House conferees requested a recess. Because of some intractable issues, the House proposed to bring the conference to a close without reconvening the conference committee. This was not a procedure I preferred, but one that was necessary to reach a conference agreement on this appropriations measure so that it could be approved by the Congress and sent to the President as close as possible to the start of the new fiscal year. I wish to thank the ranking member of the subcommittee, my colleague from Wisconsin, Senator Kohl, and the chairman of the House subcommittee, Congressman Skeen for their hard work on this bill and their cooperation in achieving this conference product. I am pleased to report that this conference report provides increased funding of $51.9 million for activities and programs in this bill which are part of the administration's ``Food Safety Initiative.'' In addition, the conference report provides $649 million for the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an agency critical to maintaining the safety of our food supply, $32 million more than the fiscal year 1999 level. This conference agreement also provides increased appropriations for agriculture research programs. An appropriation of $834 million is provided for the Agriculture Research Service, $49 million more than the fiscal year 1999 level and $25 million more than the Senate-passed bill level. Total funding of $950 million is provided for research, education, and extension activities of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, $31 million more than the fiscal year 1999 level and $19 million more than the Senate-passed bill level. Approximately $35 billion, close to 58 percent of the total new budget authority provided by this conference report, is for domestic food programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These include food stamps; commodity assistance; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the school lunch and breakfast programs; and the new school breakfast pilot program funded at $7 million. The conference adopted an appropriations level of $4,032 billion for the WIC program, $6 million less than the Senate bill level and $27 million more than the level recommended by the House. More recent data on actual participation rates and food package costs indicates that this appropriation will be sufficient to maintain a 7.4 million average monthly WIC participation level in fiscal year 2000. For farm assistance programs, the conference report provides $1.2 billion in appropriations. Included in this amount is the full increase of $80 million above the fiscal year 1999 level requested by the administration for Farm Service Agency salaries and expenses, as well as appropriations to meet or exceed the fiscal year 2000 farm operating and farm ownership loan levels included in the President's budget request. Appropriations for conservation programs administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service total $813 million, $13 million more than the House bill level and $5 million more than level recommended by the Senate. For rural economic and community development programs, the conference report provides appropriations of $2.2 billion to support a total loan level of $7.6 billion. Included in this amount is $719 million for the Rural Community Advancement Program, $640 million for the rental assistance program, and a total rural housing loan program level of $4.6 billion. A total of $1.1 billion is provided for foreign assistance and related programs of the Department of Agriculture, including $113 million in new budget authority for the Foreign Agricultural Service and a total program level of $976 million for the P.L. 480 Food for Peace Program, $39 million above the budget request. Total new budget authority for the Food and Drug Administration is $1.1 billion, $70 million more than the fiscal year 1999 level and $5.1 million more than the Senate-passed bill level, along with an additional $145 million in Prescription Drug Act and $14.8 million in mammography clinics user fee collections. Included in the appropriation for salaries and expenses of the Food and Drug Administration is the full $30 million increase requested in the budget for food safety, along with the Senate-recommended increase of $28 million for premarket approval activities. The additional funding provided to the FDA for premarket approvals will hopefully enable the agency to speed up device, drug, food additive, and other product review times to prevent unnecessary delays in getting new products to the market. For the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, $63 million is provided; and a limitation of $35.8 million is established on administrative expenses of the Farm Credit Administration. Title VIII of this conference report provides emergency relief to agricultural producers and others who have suffered weather-related and economic losses. Senators may recall that during consideration of this bill in the Senate, an amendment was adopted providing over $7.6 billion in disaster assistance for agricultural producers. The conference agreement essentially retains the amendment adopted by the Senate and provides $1.2 billion for 1999 crop losses for a total of $8.7 billion. Included in the emergency assistance provided is: $5.54 billion for market loss assistance; $1.2 billion for crop loss assistance; $475 million for soybean producers; $400 million for 2000 crop insurance discounts; $328 million for tobacco producers; $325 million for livestock and dairy producers; $82 million for producers of certain speciality crops; and reinstatement of the cotton step-2 program. On May 14 of this year, the conferees on the Hurricane Mitch and Kosovo supplemental appropriations bill included language in the statement of managers recognizing the likelihood that additional disaster assistance would be needed for agricultural producers this year. The conferees called on the Administration to submit requests for supplemental appropriations once it determined the extent of the needs. In June, 21 Senators joined me in writing the President to bring this statement of managers language to his attention and to invite the administration to submit a request for supplemental appropriations. As of today, we have received no response to our letter nor a request for any funds for farmers. Other Members of Congress have made similar requests of the administration with the same result. On September 15, 1999, the Secretary of Agriculture testified before the House Agriculture Committee that the estimated needs for crop losses was between $800 million and $1.2 billion. This bill provides the full $1.2 billion that the Secretary estimated was needed. While I understand that these estimates were issued prior to Hurricane Floyd, it is my understanding that damage estimates are still being formulated. A USDA press release dated September 17, 1999, states: The Congress, along with the Clinton Administration, is also currently working on emergency farm legislation which, if enacted, could offer additional assistance to farmers and ranchers in North Carolina, as well as other states affected by natural disasters. I do not believe we should delay disaster assistance until these estimates are complete. I believe we should take care of what we know is needed now and come back to address new estimates when they are received from the Administration. Mr. President, this administration does not deserve credit for one penny of the emergency assistance in this bill. It has been ``sitting on the fence.'' It has submitted no requests for funding, nor offered any assistance in formulating this plan. Other Senators may be concerned that this legislation does not contain legislative provisions regarding dairy or to relax unilateral sanctions on food and medicine. Senators should remember that neither the House nor the Senate versions of this bill included legislative provisions regarding dairy policy. Therefore, it was beyond the scope of this conference. With respect to sanctions reform, this Senator supports sanctions reform like the majority of other members who voted for the sanctions amendment during Senate consideration of this bill, but an appropriations bill is not the right vehicle for the enactment of this large policy issue. Further, on July 26, the Senate voted 53 to 45 to reinstate rule 16, which prohibits legislating on an appropriations bill. Mr. President, this conference report was filed on Thursday night, September 30, and was passed the following morning by the House of Representatives. Senate passage of this conference report today is the final step necessary to send this fiscal year 2000 appropriations bill to the President for signature into law. I urge my colleagues to adopt this conference report. Many of our farmers and ranchers continue to face an economic crisis. Others continue to suffer from extreme weather conditions, including severe drought and flooding. It is time we act now to provide them some relief and this conference report, when signed into law, will do that.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I agree. At the hearing, we were asked to increase funding for Parkinson's research $75 million over current funding levels by increasing funding levels at two institutes, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), at $50 million and $25 million respectively. The research community thinks that this will provide enough funding to quicken seriously the pace of research on Parkinson's--a down payment, if you will--on a fully funded Parkinson's research agenda that scientific experts in the community conservatively estimate to be over $200 million. I believe NIH should be able to do this from the funds provided in our bill.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I want to thank the Chairman for his strong leadership and support for the medical research in our nation. I strongly support his efforts to double funding for the National Institutes of Health, and I am heartened by the increases in this bill. I also want to thank him for his leadership in increasing funding for Parkinson's research and holding the September 28, 1999, hearing on the promise of Parkinson's research and the need for increased funding. Michael J. Fox put it best when he said that ``this is a winnable war'' as long as the funding is there to match the scientific promise.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am sure that by now Senators have heard the news that this past weekend a key element of our national missile defense system was successfully tested when a self-guided vehicle intercepted and destroyed an intercontinental ballistic missile in outer space some 140 miles above the Pacific Ocean. This test was another in a string of successes of our new missile defense technology. The test last Saturday evening follows two consecutive successful intercepts each for the PAC-3 and THAAD theater missile defense systems. The timing of this good news is fortunate, coming as it does a few weeks after our intelligence community released an unclassified summary of a new intelligence estimate which shows both theater and long-range ballistic missile threats continue to grow. That summary states: The proliferation of [Medium Range Ballistic Missiles]-- driven primarily by North Korean No-Dong sales--has created an immediate, serious, and growing threat to U.S. forces, interests and allies in the Middle East and Asia and has significantly altered the strategic balances in those regions. Our new theater missile defense systems such as PAC-3, THAAD, and the airborne laser, and the Navy's area and theaterwide systems will help redress those balances and ensure the security of our forces and our allies. The summary of the new intelligence estimate also discloses that new ICBM threats to the territory of the United States could appear in a few years and that those threats may be more sophisticated than previously estimated. The summary states: Russia and China each have developed numerous countermeasures and probably are willing to sell the requisite technologies. It states that countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Iraq could ``develop countermeasures based on these technologies by the time they flight-test their missiles. The Washington Times reported recently that China's recent test of the DF-31 ICBM employed such countermeasures, and if the Chinese are willing to share this technology with rogue states such as North Korea, as the intelligence summary estimates, the threat we face may be more sophisticated than previously anticipated. The intelligence summary notes a related trend that was also illustrated in a recent news report. It states: Foreign assistance continues to have demonstrable effects on missile advances around the world. Moreover, some countries that have traditionally been recipients of foreign missile technology are now sharing more amongst themselves and are pursuing cooperative missile ventures. Recently, the Jerusalem Post reported Syria is, with the help of Iran, developing a new 500 kilometer-range missile based on the North Korean Scud C. According to the summary of the National Intelligence Estimate, Iran is receiving technical assistance from Russia, and North Korea from China. These disturbing trends suggest the ballistic missile threat--both to our forces deployed overseas and to our homeland--continue to increase, and it makes the recent successes all the more important. I congratulate the Army, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, and the contractor teams on their successes. Saturday's success does not mean all the technical problems in our missile defense programs are solved, but the successful intercepts do confirm that the test programs are proving the technology of missile defense is maturing and that, with the appropriate resources, the talented men and women in our military and defense industries who are working on these programs are making very impressive progress on the development of workable theater and national missile defense systems. We should be very pleased with these successes and continue to support a robust missile defense program. I yield the floor.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I object to the request of the Senator from Florida.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, tomorrow a good friend of mine is retiring after 24 years of faithful and exemplary service as primary assistant for two federal judges in my state. Virginia Anne Holtsford served first as secretary and primary assistant to Judge Orma Smith, who was United States District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. Upon his death she became the secretary and primary assistant to United States Fifth Circuit Appeals Court Judge E. Grady Jolly of Jackson, Mississippi. She has been with Judge Jolly from his first day on the bench, more than seventeen year ago. She is retiring to move back to her hometown of Iuka, Mississippi, to be with her mother. This is how Judge Jolly described Ms. Holtsford to me: ``Anne Holtsford has a very special way of dealing with folks that has endeared her to hundreds of people who transact business with the federal courts in Mississippi and, indeed, throughout the Fifth Circuit. I believe there is no more popular and better-liked secretary in the Fifth Circuit.'' All of us who have had the good fortune to know Anne Holtsford appreciate her dedicated, friendly and professional service. We will miss her very much, but certainly she deserves a wonderful retirement. I join all of her many friends in commending her for a job well done and wishing her much happiness in the years ahead.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Education for Democracy Act. I am pleased that the distinguished Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Dodd) has joined me as a cosponsor to reauthorize and improve existing federally supported civic education programs. ``We the People . . . The Citizen and the Constitution,'' has proven to be an excellent curriculum and a successful program for teaching the principles of the Constitution. Since 1985, the Center for Civic Education has administered the program. It is a rigorous course designed for high school civics classes that provides teacher training using a national network of law professionals as well as other community and business leaders. The most visible component of We the People, is the simulated Congressional hearings which are competitions at local, state and national levels. The final round of this annual competition is held in an actual United States Senate or House of Representatives hearing room, here in the Nation's Capital. The Popularity of We the People is demonstrated by the 82,000 teachers and the 26.5 million students who have participated since its beginning. Studies by the Education Testing Service have repeatedly indicated that We the People participants outperform other students in every area tested. In one, We the People high school students outscored university sophomore and junior political science students in every topic. A Stanford University study showed that these students develop a stronger attachment to political beliefs, attitudes and values essential to a functioning democracy than most adults and other students. Other studies reveal that We the People students are more likely to register to vote and more likely to assume roles of leadership, responsibility and demonstrate civic virtue. Mr. President, in addition to We the People, this bill reauthorizes the Civitas International Civic Education Exchange Program, which in cooperation of the United States Information Agency, links American civic educators with their counterparts in Eastern Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union. This program is highly effective in building a community with a common understanding of teaching and improving the state of democracy education, worldwide. Mississippi recently became the latest state to participate in this important international exchange program. Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi will partner with universities in Texas and Florida in an exchange with Hungary and other countries. Ms. Susie Burroughs, Mississippi's new Civic Education program director, is committed to a deeper understanding of democracy and assisting others who desire to teach the ways of a free society in the world's newest democracies. I am pleased that Mississippi teachers will join the more than 8,000 other teachers who have participated in the Civitas training and exchange opportunities. Mr. President, We the People and Civitas are preparing America's students and teachers to live and lead in the world by the standards and ideals set by our Founding Fathers. I invite other Senators to cosponsor and support the Education for Democracy Act.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Education for Democracy Act. I am pleased that the distinguished Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Dodd) has joined me as a cosponsor to reauthorize and improve existing federally supported civic education programs. ``We the People . . . The Citizen and the Constitution,'' has proven to be an excellent curriculum and a successful program for teaching the principles of the Constitution. Since 1985, the Center for Civic Education has administered the program. It is a rigorous course designed for high school civics classes that provides teacher training using a national network of law professionals as well as other community and business leaders. The most visible component of We the People, is the simulated Congressional hearings which are competitions at local, state and national levels. The final round of this annual competition is held in an actual United States Senate or House of Representatives hearing room, here in the Nation's Capital. The Popularity of We the People is demonstrated by the 82,000 teachers and the 26.5 million students who have participated since its beginning. Studies by the Education Testing Service have repeatedly indicated that We the People participants outperform other students in every area tested. In one, We the People high school students outscored university sophomore and junior political science students in every topic. A Stanford University study showed that these students develop a stronger attachment to political beliefs, attitudes and values essential to a functioning democracy than most adults and other students. Other studies reveal that We the People students are more likely to register to vote and more likely to assume roles of leadership, responsibility and demonstrate civic virtue. Mr. President, in addition to We the People, this bill reauthorizes the Civitas International Civic Education Exchange Program, which in cooperation of the United States Information Agency, links American civic educators with their counterparts in Eastern Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union. This program is highly effective in building a community with a common understanding of teaching and improving the state of democracy education, worldwide. Mississippi recently became the latest state to participate in this important international exchange program. Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi will partner with universities in Texas and Florida in an exchange with Hungary and other countries. Ms. Susie Burroughs, Mississippi's new Civic Education program director, is committed to a deeper understanding of democracy and assisting others who desire to teach the ways of a free society in the world's newest democracies. I am pleased that Mississippi teachers will join the more than 8,000 other teachers who have participated in the Civitas training and exchange opportunities. Mr. President, We the People and Civitas are preparing America's students and teachers to live and lead in the world by the standards and ideals set by our Founding Fathers. I invite other Senators to cosponsor and support the Education for Democracy Act.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I support the energy efficiency amendment contained in the package of amendments managed by the chairman of the subcommittee. This amendment, which I have sponsored along with Senators Murkowski and Bingaman, clarifies, with respect to the measurement of energy use by the Federal government, that the directives contained in Presidential Executive Order 13123 cannot circumvent or contradict any relevant statues. The Appropriations Committee addressed this matter last year, when Senator Murkowski and Senator Byrd worked to clarify the intent of Congress with respect to energy use and energy measurement. As a result of their efforts, the conference report on the Omnibus Appropriations bill included language that has the same effect as the amendment we propose today--that is, the federal government shall obey existing laws, that proposed changes to the law are subject to the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and that the law cannot be changed by committee report language, executive order or any other mechanism that would circumvent the jurisdiction of the authorizing committee. Mr. President, this amendment will remedy flaws in the Executive Order, most of which represents a laudable effort to save taxpayer dollars by increasing energy efficiency in federal buildings. I thank Chairman Gorton, Energy Committee Chairman Murkowski, ranking member Bingaman, and their staffs for working to resolve this issue. Amendment No. 1636 (Purpose: To authorize the Fish and Wildlife Service to retain and use fees collected for certain damages caused to national wildlife refuge lands in Louisiana and Texas to assess and mitigate or restore the damaged resources, and monitor and study the recovery of such damaged resources) On page 12, line 12, before the final period, insert the following: ``: Provided further, That all funds received by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from responsible parties, heretofore and through fiscal year 2000, for site- specific damages to National Wildlife Refuge System lands resulting from the exercise of privately-owned oil and gas rights associated with such lands in the States of Louisiana and Texas (other than damages recoverable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (26 U.S.C. 4611 et seq.), the Oil Pollution Act (33 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), or section 311 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1321 et seq.)), shall be available to the Secretary, without further appropriation and until expended to: (1) complete damage assessments of the impacted site by the Secretary; (2) mitigate or restore the damaged resources; and (3) monitor and study the recovery of such damaged resources''. Amendments Nos. 1371, 1408, 1587, 1593, 1595, 1600, 1601, 1610, and 1613

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the National Missile Defense Act makes it the policy of the United States to deploy a limited national missile defense system as soon as the technology to do so is ready. This act was passed by large margins in both Houses. Because the Anti-Ballistic Missile or ABM Treaty prohibits such a system, that treaty must be modified. That point was made in the debate on the National Missile Defense Act in the Senate, and it is the reason why administration officials have engaged the Russian Government in discussions on modifying the treaty. These discussions began last month in Moscow, and I am pleased that staff members of the Senate's National Security Working Group were able to attend and be briefed on the progress of those talks. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott is in Moscow for further negotiations on this and other important issues. But I am very disturbed by reported comments of Russian officials on this subject. Today, for example, it was reported that Mr. Roman Popkovich, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Russian Parliament, said that if the United States builds a missile defense system, Russia may respond by ``developing an entirely new kind of offensive weapon.'' Mr. Popkovich was also quoted in this story as saying, ``No anti- missile defense will be able to stop our new missiles.'' His are not the first such comments we have heard about modifying the ABM Treaty. The lead Russian negotiator, Grigory Berdennikov, said the mere raising of the issue meant ``the arms race could now leap to outer space.'' Gen. Leonid Ivashov, head of International Cooperation in the Russian Ministry of Defense, said that modifying the treaty ``would be to destroy the entire process of nuclear arms control.'' I don't know the motivations for such statements, but I believe they deserve a response. There should be no misunderstanding of our Nation's intentions with respect to national missile defense. We face a real and growing threat of ballistic missile attack from rogue states or outlaw nations. That threat is advancing, often in unanticipated ways. The U.S. Government has a duty to protect its citizens from this threat. It is our policy, which is now set in law, to deploy a system to defend against limited attack by ballistic missiles as soon as technologically possible. The system we intend to deploy in no way threatens the strategic retaliatory force of Russia. The ABM Treaty, an agreement between two nuclear superpowers engaged in an arms buildup in 1972, prohibits such a system and must be modernized. I am sure Russian officials know all of this. They have been briefed repeatedly on the U.S. assessment of the threat. They have been briefed repeatedly on U.S. plans for national missile defense and know as well as we do that the system we contemplate is not directed at Russia and poses no threat to its forces. So the statements of Mr. Popkovich and the other Russian officials essentially threatening an arms race if the U.S. does what it must do to protect its citizens are very disappointing. They sound like something from the past, an echo of the cold war that is over. The United States has embarked in good faith in discussions about the need to modernize the ABM Treaty. We negotiated in good faith with Russia when it demanded changes to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty in order to enable Russia to adapt to changed circumstances. It would be unfortunate if the United States were put in the position of choosing between defending its citizens and adhering to an outdated agreement because we have already determined that we will defend ourselves. I am confident the Senate will not accept an arrangement in which the U.S. continues to be vulnerable to new threats because of a 27-year-old agreement that is so clearly out of date. What is needed now is for the rhetoric to be cooled, for threats about arms races and new missiles to be set aside, and let serious and fruitful discussions proceed. It is in not only our interest for that to happen but Russia's as well. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I appreciate very much the comments from my colleagues from Louisiana. Both of my colleagues can rest assured that I will keep these issues clearly in focus as we deliberate the fiscal year 2000 Agriculture Appropriations bill in conference with the other body. Additionally, I am aware of the many other important past and present research projects ongoing at the Southern Regional Research Center. This is an excellent agriculture research center, and funding for its work should be carefully considered by the conference committee.