Thad Cochran

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I bring to the Senate's attention that October 16 is World Food Day. As the largest international food aid organization in the world, the United Nations World Food Program feeds 52.9 million people in 84 countries and deserves special recognition. Millions of people have survived civil unrest, famine and other disasters because of a project called Food-for-Life which makes emergency operations the primary focus of the World Food Program. Other projects include Food-for-Work which uses food as a tool to encourage people to work within their communities in order to become self reliant and Food-for-Growth which distributes food aid at schools, clinics and hospitals to help children and pregnant women. I am proud to say that Judy Lewis, a native of Scott County, Mississippi, and past Director of Organization of my 1978 campaign staff, has been named the World Food Program's Country Director for Ethiopia. Since 1992, Ms. Lewis has many times endured dangerous conditions to participate first-hand in helping to bring food to starving people whose lives were threatened by natural disasters or armed conflicts. She has played a key role in many of the World Food Program's biggest emergency and development projects around the world in places like Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Somalia. As Country Director for Ethiopia, Ms. Lewis will be managing a $30 million emergency and development operation aiming to help over 800,000 people, focusing on refugees, famine relief and urban poverty. I commend Ms. Lewis for her strength and diligence. And I congratulate the World Food Program for all of its good work.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. If you do not get my State right, I will not yield time.

Mr. COCHRAN. I have no objection.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, let me inquire of the Senator, how much time does he seek?

Mr. COCHRAN. I thank the Chair. Mr. BAUCUS addressed the Chair.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, may I inquire? How much time remains on the conference report on both sides?

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished Senator from Wyoming.

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

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, have the yeas and nays been ordered on the conference report?

Mr. COCHRAN. I am happy to yield a minute to the distinguished Senator.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I yield myself the remainder of the time on our side. Let me say to the distinguished Senator from Montana, I appreciate his courtesies as well. It is a pleasure working with him on these issues. I am sorry we have to disagree on some of the issues contained in this agriculture appropriations conference report. On the subject that the Senator mentions, and also the Democratic leader when he was speaking mentioned as a reason why the President ought to veto this legislation, was the question of price reporting and meat labeling. These are two separate issues. Frankly, I was surprised by the comments and also including this as a basis for urging the President to veto the legislation. When we passed our bill in July, we received the reaction following that, after the administration had an opportunity to study the legislation--we received the reaction in a formal letter from the Secretary of Agriculture dated September 24, a ``Dear Thad'' letter from Dan Glickman. Included is a table going down through the bills. This is prior to conference now--I think that is right--prior to our going to the conference with the House conferees to work out differences between the House- and Senate-passed bills. In Secretary Glickman's letter pointing out their reaction to the Senate-passed bill and the provisions in the House bill, they get down to the meat labeling provision, which is title X in the Senate bill. There is no House provision on that subject. The USDA position as conveyed in this letter to me says: Working with Congress to address concerns about adverse trade effects and concerns that implementation would divert resources needed to address important food safety issues. We tried to work with the administration, and did, to address those concerns. If the administration had been supportive of the meat labeling provisions, they would have said so, because they go right down through the list and support some other provisions. Or if they opposed it, they point it out and they say so. Here is another example, the Biodiesel Energy Development Act, which the administration says, to a separate bill in the House, the administration opposes. The administration did not say that they supported the meat labeling. They suggested they had concerns about it and they wanted to work with the Congress to address those concerns. So here is what we did in conference to try to address those concerns. We provided conference report language, statement of managers, to this effect: The conferees direct the Secretary to conduct a comprehensive study on the potential effects of mandatory country of origin labeling of imported fresh muscle cuts of beef and lamb. The report shall include the impact of such requirements on imports, exports, livestock producers, consumers, processors, packers, distributors and grocers. We went on to say: The report shall be submitted to Congress no later than 6 months after the enactment of this Act, and shall contain a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the Secretary, together with his recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions as he considers appropriate. I have suggested to the Senate that the action taken by the conferees is responsive to the objections and concerns that were raised in our letter from the administration on that subject. And here, at the very last minute, the Democratic leader raises this issue and spends a good deal of his time talking about this as the reason why the administration ought to veto the conference report. Another subject that was raised was price reporting. We also got a letter from the Office of Management and Budget as well as the Secretary of Agriculture, responding to our bill and suggesting things that they think need the attention of conferees. If they have objections to provisions, they say so in either the OMB letter or the Secretary of Agriculture's letter. On the subject of price reporting, there was a USDA request to review any final language adopted by the conferees. Here is what the conferees provided in the statement of managers on that issue: The conferees direct the Secretary of Agriculture to take steps to increase the voluntary reporting of fed cattle, and wholesale beef carcass prices and volumes on a quality and yield-grade basis, as well as the prices and volumes of boxed beef. . . The Secretary shall encourage the reporting of the price differential for USDA Prime, the upper 2/3 of USDA Choice, and a sub-select price category. Reports should include imported beef products and livestock. Then we go on to say: The Secretary of Agriculture shall compile and publish price, volume sales, and the shipment information regarding all exports and imports of beef, veal, lamb, and products thereof which is collected via the expanded voluntary process. . . . The Secretary shall also standardize the Agriculture Marketing Service price reporting data collection activities to ensure uniformity and complete sales data capture and to maximize the information available to all aspects of the industry. The Secretary shall report to Congress, not more than 6 months after enactment, on the feasibility or need for mandatory price reporting. . . I suggest, Mr. President, that the conferees have done a very good job of trying to deal with these two issues in this conference. We have responded to the concerns expressed by the Secretary of Agriculture in his letter to us of September 24 giving us his reaction to our bill. Never did they single out in the letters to us that this would trigger a veto if we didn't do such and such with either one of those provisions. There was no such suggestion made. There was a veto threat in the letter from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and here is what the veto threat says: If the bill presented to the President includes the unacceptable FDA language-- And, by the way, that has been removed from the bill in conference, the so-called RU486 issue-- and agriculture disaster provisions that provide inadequate indemnity assistance or are inconsistent with the Daschle/ Harkin proposal, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill. We look forward to working with you to resolve these concerns. The veto message, if this is a veto message, is that if we don't enact the Daschle/Harkin disaster indemnity assistance proposal, then the senior advisers will recommend to the President that he veto the bill. We have talked about the disaster assistance proposal and why we think the direct assistance is much to be preferred over rewriting a portion of the 1996 farm bill as proposed by Daschle/Harkin, and we certainly think that is not good policy. It won't serve to increase prices for farmers at market, which is what we are trying to do to help ensure a brighter future for American production agriculture. Mr. President, I urge the Senate to approve the conference report on Agriculture appropriations.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. If the Senator will yield, I think other Senators want to speak, but not right now. We have another hour, from 2:15 to 3:15, that will be available for debate. So as long as you see no competition on your side of the aisle, you have it all to yourself.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am very pleased to learn that the Mississippi Hotel and Motel Association will honor my good friend, Douglas Fontaine, on October 23, 1998, by establishing a scholarship in his name. The scholarship will provide education assistance to future entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry. Doug literally grew up in the hotel business watching both his parents and grandparents manage the historic ``Allison's Wells Spa'' in Way, MS. After returning from a tour of duty in Germany where he managed a R & R hotel, he took his turn managing Allison's Wells. Doug eventually moved to Pascagoula, MS, where he has owned and operated the La Font Inn for over 35 years. As the only Mississippian to have been President and Chairman of the Board of the American Hotel and Motel Association, his program, ``Quest for Quality'' has been his lasting legacy for hotels around the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. Doug has been President of such organizations as the Jackson County Heart Fund, Rotary Club, the Pas-Point Navy League, United Way of Jackson County, the Mississippi Hotel and Motel Association, the Gulf Coast Hotel and Motel Association, the Gulf Coast Economic Development Council, the Jackson County Economic Development Council, and the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Doug was also on the committee that worked to bring Naval Station Pascagoula to Mississippi, and he has chaired the committee to ``Save the Homeport'' for many years. Currently, Doug serves as a lifetime Director of the American Hotel and Motel Association and as a member of the National Restaurant Association. He also serves on the Board of Director's of the Hancock Bank, a position he has held for over 27 years. We are very proud of the leadership and example of Doug Fontaine. Our Nation is strong because of people like him. I congratulate him, his wife Lou, and the Mississippi Hotel and Motel Association for making this tribute a lasting legacy that will offer opportunities to younger members of this industry.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia to meet on Tuesday, October 6, 1998, at 2 p.m. for a hearing on ``Agency Management of the Implementation of the Coal Act.''

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety be granted permission to conduct a hearing on S. 1097, the Acid Deposition Control Act Tuesday, October 6, 9:30 a.m., Hearing Room (SD- 406).

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs would like to request unanimous consent to hold a markup on the following nominations: (1) Leigh Bradley, Esq., to be General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs; (2) Eligah Dane Clark to be Chairman, Board of Veterans Appeals, Department of Veterans Affairs; (3) Edward A. Powell, Jr. to be Assistant Secretary for Management, Department of Veterans Affairs; and (4) Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H., to be Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs. The markup will take place in S-216, of the Capitol Building, after the first scheduled vote in the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, October 6, 1998.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs would like to request unanimous consent to hold a joint hearing with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs to receive the legislative presentation of the American Legion. The hearing will be held on October 6, 1998, at 9:30 a.m., in room 345 of the Cannon House Office Building.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 6, 1998 at 9 a.m. in room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building to hold a hearing on: ``Judicial Nominations.''

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 6, 1998 at 2:15 p.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. COCHRAN. 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, October 6, for purposes of conducting a Full Committee business meeting which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this business meeting is to consider pending calendar business.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 6, 1998, to conduct a hearing on S. 2178, the ``Children's Development Commission Act''.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on Tuesday, October 6, 1998, at 9 a.m. in open session, to receive testimony on the worldwide threats facing the United States and potential U.S. operational and contingency requirements.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Governmental Affairs Committee to meet on Tuesday, October 6, 1998, at 10:30 a.m. for a hearing on the nomination of Sylvia Mathews to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I object.