Thad Cochran

Mr. COCHRAN

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Texas for her leadership in bringing to the attention of the Senate the facts about the Texas drought. We have already had news reports on that subject. It is obvious that there are very serious conditions there that need the immediate attention of the Federal Government. Her resolution, cosponsored by Senator Gramm from Texas, will be very helpful in directing the way for this response to be made.

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

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the clerk withhold reporting of the amendment. I have been advised, contrary to my understanding with the Democratic leader, there are some Democrats who could not agree that that amendment be set aside now. So I do not insist that the amendment be reported. Let me state what this amendment will do when it is offered. This is an amendment that increases appropriations in the bill for the Agricultural Research Service and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service to fund additional agriculture research activities. It also increases the total appropriations for the Rural Community Advancement Program and earmarks funding for a community improvement project in Arkansas. It also adds a general provision to the bill to eliminate for fiscal year 1999 the surcharge on the administrative fee in excess of $50 per crop per county authorized by the Federal Crop Insurance Protection Act. The proposed changes will also place some enrollment limitations on the Wetlands Reserve Program. The amendment is designed to make available to the Crop Insurance Program additional funds that were contemplated by the agriculture research bill that was passed by the Senate and signed by the President earlier this year. It is that legislation that we are suggesting be attached to this legislation to help carry out the provisions in the law that we now have had enacted as a result of the bipartisan effort in the Agriculture Committees of both the Senate and the House. It is that amendment that we would like to propose to the Senate while we work on reaching an accommodation with Senators on both sides of the aisle on the sense-of-the-Senate resolution with respect to the problems in the agriculture sector of our economy.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask that it be stated.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I think it is a good idea that at the beginning of this debate on agriculture appropriations we acknowledge there are some serious problems in the agriculture sector of our economy. There is no quarrel with that, and on both sides of the aisle I think Senators are prepared to acknowledge that we have an obligation to understand this fully and to do what we can within the constraints of the Budget Act and the constraints of the law. We appropriate funds to make sure that the Department of Agriculture has the resources to take all appropriate action to help deal with these problems. We realized when we began work on the agriculture appropriations bill that we did not have enough money to do everything we would like to do for rural development, for nutrition assistance, for agriculture research, for export promotion, and the wide range of activities that go into the programs administered by the Department of Agriculture and the related agencies that are funded in this bill. It is a bill that was fully supported by Members on both sides of our subcommittee and in the full Committee on Appropriations. We didn't have a dissenting vote anywhere along the way for the appropriations bill that we brought to the floor and that is pending before the Senate right now. We have tried to make sure that every possible effort is made, as we deal with the question of how much money to put in one account or the other, to do the best possible job that we could, and I think this bill is going to pass that test. We were glad to have the strong and helpful support of the distinguished Senator from Arkansas, Mr. Bumpers, who is the senior Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee for the Department of Agriculture, and other Senators who worked with us as well. This sense- of-the-Senate resolution, if Senators will notice, outlines a number of things that are suggested for changes in either current law or the efforts that the administration could take to help deal with this problem which the distinguished Democratic leader outlined. It may very well be that we can make some changes to this and have a bipartisan sense-of-the-Senate resolution. That would be my hope, and I suggest to Senators that we make that effort. Since we have just seen this proposed resolution, I am hopeful that we can set it aside, take some time with those who are interested in helping make sure that we do accurately state the problem and the observations that the Senate has as a collective body of Republicans and Democrats in dealing with the problems, and can pass it without any objection on either side. That would be my hope, and that is what I intend to suggest the Senate do. We have some other amendments that we are going to have to offer. Many of these amendments are proposed by Senators who are not members of the Appropriations Committee, but we have now had an opportunity to review them and we are prepared to recommend that a number of amendments be accepted. The distinguished Democratic leader indicated that he would have no objection in setting aside this amendment if we wanted to go to other amendments, and so at this point I am going to ask unanimous consent that the pending sense-of-the-Senate resolution be set aside and I be permitted to send an amendment to the desk on the subject of crop insurance.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I urge the Senate to vote against the motion made by the Democratic leader to waive the Budget Act. This is an amendment that is almost the biggest program in the entire bill that is contained in the agricultural appropriations bill that is before the Senate. We don't have the authority as an Appropriations Committee to write the legislative language to create a program of this kind, and that is what the Democratic leader and his cosponsors on his side of the aisle seek to do. There is funding in the bill, Senators should know, for the Food and Drug Administration's program targeted to dealing with the problem of underage smoking. Mr. President, $34 million is appropriated in the bill for the FDA's program to deal with that, and that is consistent with the existing legal authority which this committee has to operate under and respect. Supporting the Budget Committee chairman's appeal to the Senate, I urge Senators to vote ``no'' on the motion to waive.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, next I have an amendment by the Senator from Indiana, Senator Lugar, dealing with the Wetlands Reserve Program. I am prepared to send that to the desk at this time and ask that it be stated on behalf of the Senator from Indiana.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the next item on my list for agreed amendments is one by the Senator from Wisconsin and the Senator from Arkansas dealing with Conservation Farm Options Program funding, if that is ready.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, this amendment deals with the situation in the State of Texas occasioned by the severe drought that has occurred there. The Senators from Texas are acquainting the Senate with the problems that exist in Texas and making some observations about appropriate actions that could be taken to help relieve the problems. It is very similar, as a matter of fact, to the sentiment contained in the earlier sense-of-the-Senate resolution. It probably could be included in our overall sense-of-the-Senate resolution on this subject when we get that worked out on both sides of the aisle. I am optimistic that we can do so. But in the meantime, I think it is appropriate for us to go ahead and adopt this amendment. We recommend that it be done.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, there is another amendment which we have agreed to be adopted offered by Senators D'Amato and Sarbanes dealing with the rural housing authorization in this bill. On behalf of Senator D'Amato, for himself and Mr. Sarbanes, I send an amendment to the desk and ask that it be stated.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, there is another amendment of Senator Bumpers, which I have cosponsored, to prohibit budget requests based on unauthorized user fees. If it is appropriate, we can send that amendment to the desk at this time.

Mr. COCHRAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, we have reviewed this amendment, and we have cleared it on this side of the aisle.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I now send an amendment to the desk offered for myself and the distinguished Senator from Arkansas. This amendment will transfer funding for credit sales of acquired property to subsidize the cost of additional farm ownership loans.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, this amendment makes a technical correction to the bill to provide that not to exceed $70,000 of the total funds appropriated for the Rural Community Advancement Program be available to subsidize the cost of funds provided for demonstration programs.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the first one that I suggest we consider is an amendment offered by Senator Bumpers and myself dealing with the Rural Community Advancement Program. It is a technical correction. I send that amendment to the desk and ask that it be stated.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, we have a number of other amendments where we have worked to reach agreement and to recommend to the Senate that amendments be approved. Amendment No. 3129 (Purpose: To make a technical correction in the amount provided for demonstration programs)

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