Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, there will be another vote. There will be a number of additional votes, five or six votes between now and 8 o'clock tonight. There will be another vote immediately. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Utah be recognized for 30 minutes and that I be recognized immediately following the completion of his statement immediately following the next vote.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 1164.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, July 26, 2001, at 9 a.m., on chemical harmonization.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in Open Executive Session during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 26, 2001.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 26, at 9:45 a.m. to conduct a hearing. The committee will receive testimony on legislative proposals relating to comprehensive electricity restructuring legislation, including electricity provisions of S. 388 and S. 597, and electricity provisions contained in S. 1273 and S. 2098 of the 106th Congress.

Mr. DASCHLE. 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 Thursday, July 26, 2001, to conduct the first in a series of hearings on predatory mortgage lending: the problem, impact, and responses.

Mr. DASCHLE. 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 July 26, 2001, to conduct a hearing on the nominations of Ms. Linda Mysliwy Conlin, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development; Ms. Melody H. Fennel, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations; Ms. Henrietta Holsman Fore, of Nevada, to be Director of the Mint; Mr. Michael J. Garcia, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement; and Mr. Michael Minoru Fawn Liu, of Illinois, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Public and Indian Housing.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 26, 2001. The purpose of this hearing will be to consider nominations for positions at the Department of Agriculture.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, July 26, 2001, at 10 a.m. in SD226.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 26, 2001, at 10:30 a.m., to hold a business meeting. The Committee will consider and vote on the following agenda items: Legislation: S. , Foreign Relations Authorization Act, fiscal year 2002 and 2003. S. 367, A bill to prohibit the application of certain restrictive eligibility requirements to foreign nongovernmental organizations with respect to the provision of assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Nominations: Mr. Stuart A. Bernstein, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to Denmark. Mrs. Sue M. Cobb, of Florida, to be Ambassador to Jamaica. Mr. Russell F. Freeman, of North Dakota, to be Ambassador to Belize. Mr. Michael E. Guest, of South Carolina, to be Ambassador to Romania. Mr. Charles A. Heimbold, Jr., of Connecticut, to be Ambassador to Sweden. Mr. Thomas J. Miller, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to Greece. The Honorable Larry C. Napper, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan. Mr. Roger F. Noriega, of Kansas, to be Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador. Mr. Jim Nicholson, of Colorado, to be Ambassador to the Holy See. Mr. Mercer Reynolds, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to Switzerland, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Principality of Liechtenstein.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet on Thursday, July 26, 2001, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., in Dirksen 124 for the purpose of conducting a hearing.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Thursday, July 26, 2001, at 9:30 a.m., to consider the nomination of Lynn Leibovitz to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on National parks of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 26, 2001, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. The committee will receive testimony on S. 423, to amend the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the establishment of Fort Clatsop National Memorial in the State of Oregon,'' and for other purposes; S. 941, to revise the boundaries of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the State of California, to extend the term of the advisory commission for the recreation area, and for other purposes; S. 1057, to authorize the addition of lands to Pu'uhonuao Honaunau National Historical Park in the State of Hawaii, and for other purposes; S. 1105, to provide for the expeditious completion of the acquisition of State of Wyoming lands within the boundaries of the Grand Teton National Park, and for other purposes; and H.R. 640, to adjust the boundaries of Santa Monica Mts. National Recreation Area, and for other purposes.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, what is the pending business?

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I compliment the distinguished Senator from Washington for her outstanding work and leadership in bringing us to this point. She inherited a very difficult and challenging legislative set of circumstances. She has maneuvered through those circumstances admirably. I am grateful to her for the leadership and the direction she has provided the caucus. Let me say as he walks on to the Senate floor, I am also very grateful for the outstanding leadership and cooperation provided by the distinguished ranking member from Alabama, Mr. Shelby. The two have shown what real bipartisanship on complicated matters can be, and they personify it. I am grateful to both of them. I think it is important to say what this issue is not, then say what it is, and then I think we ought to have a vote. What this issue is not is any threat to NAFTA, any threat to free trade. There have been rumors, in the last 48 hours in particular, that somehow the language presented in this bill would violate NAFTA. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think Senator Baucus made that point very eloquently on the floor just recently. I am grateful to him. But this is NAFTA- compliant. There is nothing about which we will now vote that has anything to do with violating NAFTA, so let's make that point clear at the beginning. Second, there are those, in the last several days, who have somehow tried to imply that to be in favor of the Murray-Shelby language is to be anti-Hispanic. That is not only disappointing, it does a disservice to this debate. That kind of rhetoric ought not be excusable. This is a bona fide, very thoughtful, deliberate consideration about what ought to be American policy with regard to safety. No one in this country--no one--should deny the importance of our relationship with Mexico. No one should deny in any way, shape, or form the importance of open and free trade with Mexico as we consider all the important ramifications of this trade. But for anyone to say that somehow to be supportive of this makes one anti-Hispanic, in my view, is a direct confrontation with the prestige and the extraordinary reputation of the two Senators who are authors of this bill, along with many other members of the Hispanic caucus and Members on both sides of the Capitol and both sides of the aisle who want to find a resolution to this matter. This legislation is simply an effort to deal with a problem that is growing in importance and concern. We have a safety problem in this country that has to be addressed. We have standards that are adhered to by every trucking company, every truckdriver, every State in the country. All we are saying is, simply, if we are going to have continued trade with Mexico, if we are going to have Mexican trucks, let's at least ensure that Mexican trucks meet our safety standards. That is all the Murray-Shelby language does. It ensures some degree of confidence that we can address the question of truck safety. This is not the extraordinary language that was added to the House bill. This is a recognition that we can find middle ground. I will say before the vote, and it ought to be emphasized, how grateful I am that these two Senators in particular spent all the last several days--in fact, we accommodated them with our floor schedule--to try to find common ground with those who oppose this language. They were here last night until 2 o'clock in the morning. I give them credit for making the effort to try to achieve the common ground we failed to achieve as a result of these negotiations. Let there be no mistake: This vote is a vote about truck safety. This vote is an absolute necessity if we are going to move this Transportation bill forward. I will have no other choice but to pull the Transportation appropriations bill and move on to other issues, given the extraordinary amount of work that has to be done in the brief time we have between now and the August recess. Let me end where I began by thanking the distinguished chair and ranking member and all of those who have demonstrated good, bipartisan leadership in reaching a solution to this very complex issue. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, pursuant to the order of July 24, I now ask that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nominations of Wade Horn and Hector Barreto. I believe the time allotted for Mr. Horn is 2 hours and the time for Mr. Barreto is a half hour.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I say to Senator Dorgan that I don't think we ought to exclude anybody. Clearly, no one has devoted more time to the issue and has been more eloquent on the floor with regard to safety and the importance of recognizing the issue of safety than Senator Dorgan. Senator Murray has accommodated everybody, and I know in these discussions that would be her intent as well. I appreciate the Senator's interest in being involved in these discussions. I want to say that we hope to include anybody that has an interest in it.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, in answer to the Republican leader's question, the answer is, we would provide for the debate allotted under the unanimous consent that we were able to arrive at last night. In regard to the Horn nomination and the nomination for the Administrator of the SBA, in both cases, as I understand it, rollcalls have been requested. So it is my intention that we would have debate on the two nominees and then the votes on those yet tonight. Then we will revert back to Transportation.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, under the unanimous consent agreement we reached yesterday, the vote on cloture will occur tomorrow. We have been working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I appreciate very much Senator McCain's cooperation in trying to reach a mutually convenient time for the vote. Unfortunately, there are other colleagues who are unable on the Republican side to agree to an earlier time for consideration of the bill, even though it was our hope that we could come to the bill at the normal time of convening tomorrow. But that is impossible. We will have the cloture vote at 1 o'clock. We will reconvene, as a result of the current circumstances, at 12 noon tomorrow. That will accommodate the need for additional discussion among all of those who are participating in the negotiations with regard to the Mexican trucking issue. I understand we have made some progress this afternoon. I am hopeful we can continue to talk through the night and tomorrow morning as well. This will facilitate additional discussion and hopefully perhaps reach some conclusion. If it does, we will vitiate the cloture motions. If it does not, of course, the cloture motion votes will then occur at 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. I thank my colleagues. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I send a second cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.