Christopher Dodd

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, with all due respect, as someone trying to manage a bill, I regretfully object to consideration of that amendment at this point. I am trying to deal with the subject matter at hand. It is going to be impossible----

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DODD. Will the majority leader yield for one question?

Mr. DODD. I would make a parliamentary inquiry. If there is a unanimous consent request which is agreed to, for the consideration of an amendment that would otherwise fail in a postcloture environment, does that amendment still prevail if cloture is invoked? Or at least will that amendment be considered without being violative of the rules of cloture?

Mr. DODD. Will the majority leader yield for 1 minute?

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 13, 2002 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed business meeting.

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 13, 2002 at 2:15 p.m. to hold a business meeting to consider and vote on S. 2525, a bill to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase assistance for foreign countries seriously affected by HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and for other purposes.

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing on Implementation of Reading First and Reading Programs and Strategies during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 13, 2002 at 10 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 13, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. to hold a hearing on the CEDAW Treaty. Agenda Witnesses Panel 1: The Honorable Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC; the Honorable Juanita Millender- McDonald (D-CA), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC; the Honorable Constance A. Morella (R-MD), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC; and the Honorable Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Panel 2: The Honorable Harold Hongju Koh, Prefessor, Yale Law School, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, New Haven, CT; the Honorable Juliette C. McLennan, Former U.S. Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Easton, MD; Ms. Jane E. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Business and Professional Women/USA, Washington, DC; Ms. Kathryn Ogden Balmforth, Member, Firm of Wood Crapo, L.L.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, Former Director, World Family Policy Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Ms. Jeane Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow & Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute, Former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Washington, DC; and Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute, Chevy Chase, MD.

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Judicial Nominations on Thursday, June 13, 2002, in Dirksen Room 226 at 2 p.m. Agenda Witnesses Panel I: The Honorable Arlen Specter, United States Senator (R-PA); the Honorable Mitch McConnell, United States Senator (R-KY); the Honorable Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator (D-CA); the Honorable Rick Santorum, United States Senator (R-PA); the Honorable Jim Bunning, United States Senator (R-KY); the Honorable Bill Nelson, United States Senator (D-FL); and the Honorable Roscoe Bartlett, United States Representative (Republican, 6th District of Maryland). Panel II: John Rogers to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Panel III: David Cercone to be U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania; Morrison Cohen England Jr. to be U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of California; and Kenneth Marra to be U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Panel IV: Lawrence Greenfeld to be Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, June 13, 2002, at 10:00 a.m. in Dirksen Room 226. Tentative Agenda i. nominations Henry E. Autrey to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri; Richard E. Dorr to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Missouri; David Godbey to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas; Henry Hudson to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia; Timothy Savage to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and Amy J. St. Eve to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. To be a United States Attorney: Gregory Robert Miller for the Northern District of Florida, and Kevin Vincent Ryan for the Northern District of California. To be a United States Marshal: Ray Elmer Carnahan for the Eastern District of Arkansas, David Scott Carpenter for the District of North Dakota, Theresa Merrow for the Eastern District of Georgia, Ruben Monzon for the Southern District of Texas, and James Michael Wahlrab for the Southern District of Ohio. ii. bills S. 1956, The Safe Explosives Act [Kohl/Hatch/Schumer/Cantwell] S. 1291, Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act [Hatch] S. 2134, Terrorism Victim's Access to Compensation Act of 2002 [Harkin/Allen] H.R. 3375, Embassy Employee Compensation Act [Blunt] III. Resolutions S. Con. Res. 104, A concurrent resolution recognizing the American Society of Civil Engineers on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of its founding and for the many vital contributions of civil engineers to the quality of life of the people of the United States, including the research and development projects that have led to the physical infrastructure of modern America. [Jeffords/Smith] H. Con. Res. 387, Recognizing the American Society of Civil Engineers for reaching its 150th Anniversary and for the many vital contributions of civil engineers to the quality of life of our Nation's people including the research and development projects that have led to the physcial infrastructure of modern America [Barton/Moore]

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that Jessica Byrnes be granted floor privileges for the duration of the debate on S. 2600.

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Why don't I say 10 minutes? The Senator from New Jersey wants to be heard. I need to be heard. We have other Members who want to be heard. This will keep the process moving. If the Senator gets to 10 minutes and there is something that has to be said, I will add a few more minutes.

Mr. DODD. My colleague is getting away from the amendment. That is not part of the amendment. Are we are talking the amendment or the underlying bill?

Mr. DODD. My colleague has not read the bill. We are talking about $10 billion as the deductible level.

Mr. DODD. Yes.

Mr. DODD. You have a looking point, as well.

Mr. DODD. I get nervous when he keeps calling me ``distinguished.''

Mr. DODD. I disagree. Facts will show after World War II we were the insurance company for acts of war. Acts of war occurred in World War II. The Federal Government was the party that paid the claims.

Mr. DODD. I say to the Senator, there are other Members who want to be heard.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, will my colleague yield? I inquire, it is a quarter after 1, so we can give our colleagues an indication of time, how much time would my colleague like?

Mr. DODD. Will my colleague yield on that point?

Mr. DODD. If we look at the accounting and start setting up separate accounts, then in a sense capital is being trapped, and I do not think we want to do that. At least I do not want to do that; others may want to do it. That is one of the issues, solvency. As a former insurance commissioner, the Senator from Florida knows that no company can do business in his State unless they are solvent, unless they have in reserve adequate enough resources to respond to the claims that can occur from a natural disaster or other types of insurance that may be provided. So solvency is critically important. If we start segregating accounts, we get into the issue of capital adequacy. So I think I would be unwilling to require segregation of accounts. I think if we have an accounting of them, we would achieve the same result.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I will concede that point because this is a 2-year bill that sunsets. Obviously, we are talking about if all of a sudden the Department of the Treasury--is going to set rates and engage in all of the activities that a normal insurance commissioner would, on a Federal level it is going to require a rather significant step forward. Let me address this. The one point the Senator from Florida has raised with which I agree--the language is different, but I think the point is the same. In the underlying bill, on page 12, lines 7 through 12, paragraph 2, under conditions for Federal payments: No payment may be made by the Secretary under subsection (e) unless . . . (2) the participating insurance company provides clear and conspicuous disclosure to the policyholder of the premium charged for insured losses covered by the Program and the Federal share of compensation for insured losses under the program. In effect, it is separate accounting so that we have a very clear accounting procedure which allows that whatever premiums are collected for terrorism insurance would be accounted for separately from other premiums collected. The language the Senator from Florida has is even more explicit. It requires segregation of the funds and the like. I don't disagree with him on that part of his amendment, that we ought to have separate accounting. Secondly, in response to some comments made by my colleague from Florida, there are significant reporting requirements. Let me remind my colleagues again, what we have done with the underlying bill is maintain the important role of State insurance commissioners. Rates will be set by insurance commissioners at the State level. Now they are done differently. I will repeat the point. Under existing law in the 50 States, 40 States presently allow rates on property and casualty in the commercial field to go forward, and then the commissioner can rule that the rate is too high. In 10 States, the State law prohibits any rate increase prior to approval by the State commissioner's office. Under this bill, we do a number of things. One of the things we do here is follow what 40 States do. In other words, under this, we will allow for rate increases to occur, but we in no way undercut the historic role of State commissioners then to oppose a rate increase. So we maintain a very strong role for the insurance commissioners. Why? Because, obviously, the expertise is there. They have the shops and the personnel to do it. To all of a sudden allow one Federal regulator, the Department of the Treasury, to do that would be asking too much, and it would be very difficult for the apparatus to be set up.

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. The Senator's understanding is correct. Reinsurance is important to the property and casualty insurers as well as to the group life insurance industry.