Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we have seen in the last year that energy security is related to economic security as well as to national security. Americans need and deserve an energy plan that truly moves us towards energy independence. At the same time, America's appetite for energy continues to grow each year. Over the next 10 years, the United States is expected to consume roughly 1.5 trillion gallons of gasoline, yet the United States holds only 3 percent of the known world oil reserves. There is no question that we need to free ourselves from our dependence upon foreign oil and the volatility associated with it. But increased production alone will not meet this demand. It is clear we need a new approach. Last year, Democrats promised our colleagues they would begin an open debate on energy legislation before the Presidents Day recess. Today we are keeping that promise and bringing to the floor an example of that new approach, a comprehensive, sensible, and balanced plan to address the energy challenges of our Nation. This bill will achieve a number of important objectives. It will reduce our dependence upon foreign oil. It will ensure abundant and affordable energy for all Americans. It will create jobs for American workers. It will improve our air quality and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases which will make the United States a more credible participant in the international effort to address this serious problem. This bill is the work of nine Senate committees. It reflects a broad range of ideas and proposals. It has the provisions that will allow us to use our traditional fossil fuel supplies more intelligently and incentives to help us diversify our energy supplies with renewable sources such as wind and solar, geothermal, and ethanol. This bill also seeks to take advantage of the huge opportunities for commonsense conservation in our cars and homes, the appliances we use every day. In fact, the fuel efficiency provisions of this bill will save the United States as much oil as we import from the Persian Gulf. If the goal--as so many of my colleagues have stated--is true energy security, then this is the way to achieve it: By balancing production and conservation, innovation, and improvement in existing technology. This bill also recognizes the linkage between energy policy and climate change. To that end, it includes a number of bipartisan proposals to confront the rising tide of global warming. It has been said that we are all continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insolvable problems. Meeting our energy challenges is a difficult problem, but it is also a great opportunity to demonstrate America's strength and American ingenuity. I thank all the chairmen who worked so hard during the last few months to craft this legislation. I look forward to working closely with them, with my Republican colleagues, and the White House to craft final legislation that hopefully will be signed into law this year. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, under the authority granted to me on Thursday, February 14, I now call up Calendar No. 65, S. 517.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk, and I ask for its consideration.

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3090, that all after the enacting clause be stricken, that the text of the substitute amendment which is at the desk be substituted in lieu thereof, the bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I concur with the distinguished Republican leader in making that assertion as well. This is exactly the same language that 7 days ago we sent to the House. My only reason for renewing the request today is because, unfortunately, I think we are going to be getting a much more comprehensive package back from the House, a package that clearly doesn't today enjoy the 60 votes that it would require to move not only unemployment compensation but all the other issues that are attached. On a bipartisan basis, both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are clear and on record in support, at the very least, of an extension of the unemployment benefits, and for good reason. Every day, about 11,000 people are pushed off the unemployment compensation rolls. About 77,000 of these workers have been made ineligible for unemployment compensation just since we passed this resolution 7 or 8 days ago. Our proposal is simply to give the House an opportunity to take up this simple extension with an expectation at some point later that we could entertain economic stimulus legislation as well. I thank my colleagues for their cooperation. Again, this sends a clear message. We are very hopeful we can do something to help these unemployed workers prior to the President's Day recess.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, before we go to the pending amendment, I have some comments. These will be the last two votes of the evening. I wanted to give ample opportunity for our colleagues to spend some time with their spouses tonight and wish them a happy Valentines Day. We will be in session tomorrow, of course. There will be no votes on Monday when we come back. I am not sure what day that is. But on Monday we will not have votes.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, after consultation with the Republican colleagues, there is a unanimous consent request I wish to propound prior to this vote, if I may. Last night, late, the House passed the campaign finance reform bill. We are very appreciative of the tremendous work done by so many of our colleagues on the House side and are very pleased now that we are at a point where, hopefully, we can take this bill to the Senate floor and then send it off to the President. My hope is that we can do it with a minimum amount of additional debate, given the fact that the bill is virtually the same one we passed in the Senate. I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader, after consultation with the Republican leader, may, at any time after the Senate has received the bill from the House, turn to the consideration of H.R. 2356, the campaign finance reform bill; that there be 4 hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that no amendments or motions be in order to the bill; that upon the use or yielding back of the time, the bill be read the third time and the Senate vote on final passage of the bill, the preceding occurring without any intervening action or debate.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I hope everybody will take the time to look at the legislation with whatever care they wish to use in addressing the concerns raised by the Senator from Kentucky. It is my intention to bring this to the floor as quickly as possible when we return. I will accommodate requests for additional time if the 4 hours isn't adequate. We can move to a longer period of time. But I do hope, given the fact that we had good and very healthy debate almost a year ago, given the fact now that the House has adopted virtually the bill that we passed in the Senate, we can have a debate without indefinite delay. So I hope we can reach some unanimous consent request when we return. I will propound another one as soon as we return. But I appreciate the involvement of our colleagues. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin and the distinguished Senator from Arizona for their incredible leadership. History will be written, and when it is, these two outstanding Senators will be acknowledged for the tremendous contribution they have made to the improvement of our political system. Once again, and not for the last time, I acknowledge their leadership and appreciate very much the effort they have made to get us to this point.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I want to make sure that I clarify something. Just because we are not having additional votes does not mean Senators could not come over and offer additional amendments. Senator Dodd has indicated a desire to stay here for as long as there are those who have amendments. We may be able to obtain a finite list. I hope we can continue to chip away at those amendments tonight and tomorrow. I want to accommodate Senators who have dates with spouses and significant others, but there may be those who have neither and would be more than willing to come over and talk about election reform. If that is the case, we are ready. I know Senator McConnell is every bit as interested in moving this legislation along. I applaud our managers and thank them for their willingness to stay here and continue this effort. Please, if Senators have amendments, come to the floor. We will do these two votes and we are interested in doing more, even though we will not have additional rollcall votes tonight. I yield the floor. Vote on Amendment No. 2891, As Amended

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period for morning business until 2:30 p.m. today, with 60 minutes under the control of Senator Byrd and the remaining time controlled equally between Senators Brownback and Torricelli or their designees, and that at 2:30 p.m. today the Senate begin consideration of Calendar No. 239, S. 565, the election reform bill.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be allowed to conduct a nomination hearing during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, February 13, 2002. The purpose of this hearing will be to consider the following nominations: Thomas Dorr the nominee for Under Secretary of Rural Development: Nancy Bryson, the administration's nominee to serve as general counsel for USDA: and Grace Daniel and Fred Dailey who are nominated to serve on the Board of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet on February 13, 2002, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on ``HUD's FY03 Budget and Legislative Proposals.''

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 at 9:30 a.m. to conduct a hearing to examine the administration's Fiscal Year 2003 budget proposal for the Environment Protection Agency. The hearing will be held in SD-406.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. to hear testimony on ``The Sectoral Trade Dispute: Lumber and Steel.''

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 at 1:30 p.m. to hear testimony on ``The Sectoral Trade Dispute: Lumber and Steel.''

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 Wednesday, February 13, 2002 at 4 p.m., on ``Energy Tax Incentives.''

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing on Protecting Against Genetic Discrimination: The Limits Of Existing Law during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, February 13, 2002, at 2 p.m.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, February 13, 2002, at 2 p.m. in room 485 Russell Senate Building to conduct an oversight hearing on the Implementation of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act. A business meeting to mark up S. 1857, tribal claims, will precede the hearing.

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will use my leader time to make a statement at this time.

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

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we are moving to final passage of the farm bill shortly. I would like to make a couple of comments prior to the time we have the vote. First, I commend our chairman for the extraordinary job he has done. He has been remarkable over a long period of time. His leadership and his cooperation and the tremendous effort he has put forth are to be commended. Again, one of the most able ranking members we have in the Senate is the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Lugar. I admire him immensely for his intellect and for his ability to work with people on all sides and all philosophies. Once again, he demonstrated his ability, his leadership, and the kind of person he is each and every day he came to the floor. I commend him as well. Let me also commend, as Senator Harkin and Senator Lugar did, the staff. We are very dependent upon our staff on all pieces of legislation; in particular, on the complexities of agricultural policy. I must say for the record and emphatically remind my colleagues of the work that they do, especially the staff I am fortunate to have in my office. I am very grateful to them for their work, for their persistence, for their ability to come up with compromises oftentimes when we really had not thought there was one. I thank them publicly and thank them especially today as we bring this debate to a close. This has been the longest debate on a farm bill in over 30 years. Sometimes it has felt that way. Thanks to the work done in the committee and on the floor, we now have a farm bill and a farm policy that is improved in many ways, providing certainty for producers and increased commitment to conservation, expanded nutrition, provisions making farmers and ranchers more competitive, and needed assistance for rural development. I know we have had disagreements over the time period in which we needed to get this farm bill moving. In the end, though, this is a good bill. It will do a lot for rural America that is hurting right now, a rural America that is hurting in large part due to the failure of our current farm policy. Now we need to take the final step and pass it. Agriculture and the farm economy provide roughly $1.3 trillion to our economy and account for 24 million jobs. Rural America comprises 80 percent of our Nation's landmass and 20 percent of our population. Our Nation literally cannot afford to leave rural America behind. Yet rural America is hurting as never before. Farmers have already seen prices drop every single year since the current farm bill was approved. They are getting roughly half the prices they were receiving in 1996. The record price drops farmers have seen in recent months and the warnings from USDA that farm income could drop another 20 percent add a level of urgency to this debate. A recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that farmers and ranchers are expected to lose 238,000 jobs over the next 10 years. That is more than any sector of the U.S. economy. That is nearly the population of St. Louis or Pittsburgh or Minneapolis. We just cannot let that happen. Unless we pass this bill now and get a new law soon, USDA will not be able to implement it for this crop year. Instead, we would leave farm families to rely on a law so flawed that we have needed to grant emergency assistance for each of the last 4 years. Make no mistake, passage of this bill is essential for the survival of rural America. This fall, I was in my State and met a ranch couple named Hight. When disaster struck on September 11, Don and Adeline Hight of Murdo sold 100 calves and donated the proceeds, about $40,000, to help victims of the attack. The manager of the local livestock association called their donation ``an act of true Americanism.'' Rural families have always sacrificed for our country. They have been facing a disaster now for years. With this bill, we have a chance to provide certainty to producers, fix our failed farm safety net, and help address the challenges we face in rural America. I urge my colleagues to support this bill so we can move immediately to conference with the House and then present the bill to the President for his signature as well. I yield the floor.