Robert Dole

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Yes. I have committed to final disposition before Christmas.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. We have a cloture vote scheduled on the constitutional amendment on the desecration of the flag. That could be resolved if we get an agreement on State Department reorganization. If we do that, then we can vitiate the vote on cloture and probably have debate only tomorrow on the flag amendment, but no final disposition.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I have the agreement in my hand. I have been trying to get it for several weeks. We have come very close, I must say. This is not just Senator Helms. It involves the Senator on the other side. I do think we are that close. In this agreement, it also says we will take up the START II treaty. START II is part of it, along with all the nominations. I think it takes care of those that might be pending in the committee, too, or discharged. Even though they have not been reported out, they would be covered, too, by our agreement. We thought we might get this agreement yesterday. That is how close we are. I have not given up on getting it yet today. I asked Senator Helms, the Senator from North Carolina--I thought it might take several days on START II. He said he did not think so. He thought there would be one or two amendments. So, as I understand, once the logjam breaks, within 4 hours we can complete action on State Department reorganization and then all the nominees would be confirmed, and then START II--at least there would be an agreement to take up START II. I think we are getting very close to what the Senator from New Mexico would like to achieve. I just hope we can work out something so that while we are trying to achieve this, which is the agreement, that we can also proceed on Senate Joint Resolution 31. I have just been advised that maybe one phone call away, we may be working something out on this.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I hope we might be able to move ahead here. I understood maybe by 1 o'clock we would be able to proceed to the constitutional amendment on flag desecration. I do not know what the problem is. I hope I am not part of it. I have been trying every day to get ambassadors confirmed, particularly our friend Senator Sasser. I am still working on it. But I must say, this does not encourage me very much to waste the whole morning and part of the afternoon, at a time when we are trying not only to do this but cooperate with the President on an item or two. I hope the Senator from New Mexico will let us proceed. I can only say to him, it is my intention before we leave here this year to have the Executive Calendar cleared, START II completed, and I do not know what else may have been mentioned here this morning. I also understand that they are very near an agreement that would permit us to do all this in 4 hours. It seems to me that is worth pursuing. That is what I have been doing on a daily basis, and as recently as yesterday, I spoke to the Democratic leader about it. So I hope the Senator from New Mexico, with those assurances, will let us proceed to Senate Joint Resolution 31, so we might complete action on it tomorrow and that we might complete action also tomorrow on the partial-birth abortion bill and also perhaps a conference report on State, Justice, Commerce. And that might be all we can accomplish this week. But I hope we can proceed. I do not disagree with the Senator at all. My view is every one of these nominees have families. I have made this plea on the floor many times, regardless of who was holding up ambassadorships. I think in this case it has been an effort on both sides--Senator Kerry [[Page S 18054]] on one side and Senator Helms on the other--to come together with agreement, and I was told, as recently as 10 minutes ago, that they are just that far apart, which will certainly resolve all the questions that have been raised, I think, by the Senator from New Mexico.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I know there will be debate on the motion. I do not know how long the Senator from New Mexico wishes to debate. But I hope that we can go to the bill itself in the next couple of hours. This means we will have to be here longer this evening. We would like to complete action. We are going back to partial-birth abortion bill at 5 o'clock and will try to finish that tonight. Hopefully, if there is some time or any requests for time on the amendments, we can continue that debate tonight and finish this bill by noon tomorrow. I yield the floor. Mr. BINGAMAN addressed the Chair.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to the consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 31.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate turn to the consideration of calendar 195, Senate Joint Resolution 31, proposing a constitutional amendment regarding the desecration of the flag of the United States. [[Page S 18038]]

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Senate Joint Resolution 31 regarding the desecration of the flag. Cloture Motion

Mr. DOLE. I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, we have been attempting--and have wasted the whole day--to bring up the flag amendment. We were precluded from doing that by the efforts of the Senator from New Mexico, Senator Bingaman. He has every right to do that. I know he is not for the flag amendment, but he indicates he does not mind if we vote on it. But I wanted to point out that tomorrow is Pearl Harbor day. Tomorrow is December 7. On a Sunday morning 54 years ago, more than 2,300 brave Americans lost their lives during the raid on the U.S. Pacific Fleet. As a testament to their valor, some of the dead are permanently entombed in the U.S.S. Arizona, one of the ships sunk during the attack. As World War II raged on, thousands of other brave American soldiers followed their country's flag into battle. The great sacrifices made by our fighting men and women during this war and in subsequent conflicts--Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Somalia--reflect the courage and strength of character of the American people. Our flag is the unique and beloved symbol of these qualities. Representing Americans of every race, creed, and social background, the flag is also the one symbol that brings to life the phrase ``E Pluribus Unum''--Out of many, one. So it would seem to me that as we look back over the history of America, one of our most enduring national images is the famous picture of six courageous Americans--Sgt. Michael Trank, Cpl. Harlan Block, Pfc. Hamilton Hayes, Pfc. Rene Arthur Gagnon, Pfc. Franklin Runyon, and Pharmacist's Mate John Henry Bradley--who risked their lives to raise Old Glory at the top of Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi. These men were not constitutional scholars. They were not legal experts. They were young enlisted men, like so many of the 6,000 American soldiers who gave their lives to their country during the deadly ascent up that hill. Because of the sacrifices of these men and countless thousands like them, I support this amendment. Because of the flag's unique status as the symbol of the American spirit and experience, I believe it deserves constitutional protection. amending the bill of rights Now, there are those who charge the supporters of the flag amendment with attempting to amend the Bill of Rights. I strongly disagree with this characterization. It is the Supreme Court--and more precisely five Justices on the court--who amended the bill rights when they concluded in the Texas versus Johnson decision that the Act of flag-burning was constitutionally-protected speech. This misguided ruling effectively overturned 48 State statutes and a Federal law proscribing flag desecration. Most of these statutes had been on the books for decades, without threatening any of our freedoms, including our freedom of speech guaranteed by the first amendment. And, after all, the first amendment is not absolute. One cannot use libel to convey an opinion and claim first amendment protection. Obscenity, and fighting words, and yelling fire in a crowded theater, all fall outside the first amendment's free-speech guarantee. In fact, even some of the strongest supporters of the first amendment never imagined that the act--the act--of flag-burning would merit constitutional protection. As Justice Hugo Black, considered by many legal experts to be a first-amendment absolutist, once put it: ``It passes my belief that anything in the Federal Constitution bars a State from making the deliberate burning of the American flag an offense.'' Or as former Chief Justice Earl Warren explained: ``I believe that the States and the Federal Government do have the power to protect the flag from acts of desecration and disgrace * * *'' So, Mr. President, it's time for a little reality check: We can pass laws making it illegal to destroy U.S. currency, or deface your own mailbox, or even rip the warranty label off your own bedroom mattress. But, according to the Supreme Court, if you want to burn our Nation's most cherished symbol, the flag, just go right ahead. And that is why we need a flag amendment: not to amend the Bill of Rights, not to change the first amendment, but to correct the Supreme Court's own red-white-and-blue blunder. Let me make another point: The Framers of the Constitution intentionally made the amendment process a difficult one, requiring the assent of two-thirds of each House of Congress and three-fourths of the State legislatures before an amendment's ratification. These sensible hurdles were designed to protect the Constitution from ill-conceived and frivolous changes. But once an amendment has been ratified, clearing the high hurdles built into the amendment process itself, the American people have spoken. opening a pandora's box Some of those who oppose the flag amendment also claim that ratifying it will open a Pandora's Box--that supporters of other national symbols, no different from the flag, will clamor for similar protection from desecration. I reject this argument because the flag is unique. Do we pledge allegiance to the Constitution, or to the Presidential seal, or to any other national symbol? No. Flag Day, June 14, is a national holiday, but do we have a national holiday honoring the Constitution, or the Presidential seal, or any other national symbol? No. The ``Star Spangled Banner,'' our national anthem, honors the resiliency of Old Glory. But does our national anthem honor the Constitution, or the Presidential seal, or any other national symbol? No, it does not. [[Page S 18087]] And 48 States and the United States have enacted statutes prohibiting the desecration of the flag. Have the States and Congress passed laws prohibiting the desecration of the Constitution, or the Presidential seal, or any other national symbol? The answer, of course, is ``no.'' So, as you can see, the flag stands alone. It stands alone as the unique symbol of our ideals, our hopes, our aspirations as a Nation. And that is why I am proud to join today with the citizens flag alliance, the American Legion, and 113 other civic and patriotic organizations representing millions of Americans across this country who support this amendment. ``banner yet waves'' Mr. President, I will conclude now with a few words from an article entitled, ``The Banner Yet Waves,'' written by the editors of the Reader's Digest. I read these words during the last debate on the flag amendment, back in 1989, and I want to share them once again with my colleagues. The words continue to ring true today. I quote: While Americans know that behind this rectangle of cloth there is blood and great sacrifice, there is also behind it an idea that redefined once and forever the meaning of hope and freedom. Lawyers and justices may debate the act of flag- burning as freedom of expression. But a larger point is inarguable: When someone dishonors or desecrates the banner, it deeply offends, because the flag says all that needs to be said about things worth preserving, loving defending, dying for. Mr. President, that is what this debate is all about. It is not about making fine legal distinctions or trying to prove who is the best constitutional scholar. It is about protecting that which is sacred to us as citizens of this great country. Amidst the rich diversity that is America, we must cherish the principles and ideals that bind us together as one people, one Nation, and for which thousands of brave Americans have given their lives. As the unique symbol of these principles and ideals, the flag must receive the constitutional protection it so richly deserves. Mr. President, I regret that we are now in a position of having to obtain cloture before we can even consider this amendment. I hope that the Senator from New Mexico, who, as I understand, opposes the flag amendment, would find some other way to distract us from what I think is a very important amendment. I know he is concerned about ambassadors. I know he is concerned about treaties. But I can tell him, as I indicated this morning, this Senator is, too. I have tried almost every day to bring this matter to some resolution. We think we are very, very close. And I see no reason to hold up this particular constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 31, in an effort to become involved in a process that has been going on for weeks and in which the Senator from New Mexico, as far as I know, has not been involved at all. So I have no other course than to hold up other nominations. If he wants to play this game--we cannot bring up bills; we cannot determine what the legislative agenda is going to be--if any Senator can stand up and say I will determine what we will bring up to the floor, if the leaders are powerless, then we have to resort to whatever means we have. In this case, all we can do is file cloture, and we will obtain cloture on Friday morning because I know more than 60 Members will support cloture.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, in a few moments, I will make a motion to proceed to the consideration of calendar No. 195, Senate Joint Resolution 31, regarding a constitutional amendment prohibiting the desecration of the flag. By a previous order, at 5 o'clock today, we will resume consideration of H.R. 1833 regarding partial-birth abortions and the pending amendments thereto. I assume we will have rollcall votes throughout today's session in regard to either of these matters. Just for the information of my colleagues, on the tentative schedule, we would like to finish the constitutional amendment on flags and complete action on the partial-birth abortions bill and consider any available appropriations conference reports between now and sometime on Friday. Next week, the State Department reorganization bill will come to the floor, S. 1441, unless we reach some agreement prior to that time. We have been trying to reach an agreement here for several weeks, and we have had no success. I think the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Helms, has been very patient, and I am determined to bring the bill up again. If we cannot get the votes, we cannot get the votes. So we will start that up on Monday. In addition, next week we will have available appropriations conference reports. We hope to have a welfare reform conference report. We also will take up H.R. 660, the fair housing exemption bill. There will be a short time agreement. Next week, we will bring up the resolution on Bosnia, and I hope we might complete that under some time agreement. But that should come next week. We are still working on the language, as we have indicated in the last couple of days. That language has now been, I think, submitted to a number of our colleagues. We hope we can reach some agreement. We do not expect everybody to support the resolution. Some people have different views and different motives, but we hope that we can pass a resolution that indicates our strong support for United States forces, notwithstanding our strong disagreement with the President's Bosnian policy, which we have said from day one, the past 30 months, it has been bipartisan--we voted time and again to lift the arms embargo, to give the Bosnians a chance to defend themselves. Had we done that, we would not be talking about sending 20,000 American troops to Bosnia. The President has repeatedly rejected the bipartisan view of the House and the Senate, and he has indicated that troops will go notwithstanding any opposition from Congress. I hope we can work out some resolution that would support the forces and let him proceed with his commitment, even though we may not share his view on either the agreement in Dayton or the Bosnia policy. One thing we hope to achieve is an exit strategy. It is our view that unless we have some exit strategy, we are not certain how long American Forces and other forces might be there. We believe it is very important that the Bosnians be armed and trained so that in 6 months, 8 months, or a year, we will be able to leave that part of the world and come back and bring our forces back to America, and the Bosnians will be in a position to defend themselves. It sort of all gets back to what we have been talking about in the last couple of years. We should have lifted the arms embargo in the first place. They would be in a position today to defend themselves, and we may not be asking Americans to make these sacrifices. That will come up sometime next week.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I now ask unanimous consent there be a period for the transaction of morning business until the hour of 8 p.m.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I now ask for its second reading. And I object to my own request on behalf of Senators on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I understand that S. 1452, introduced today by Senator Grams, is at the desk. And I ask for its first reading.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. And, finally, Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Smith.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. For the information of all Senators, the Senate will begin debate on the Commerce-State-Justice appropriations conference report at 10:30 a.m., Thursday. There is no time agreement on the conference report. It is hoped a vote could occur on adoption of the Commerce- State-Justice appropriations conference report after a reasonable amount of debate. That is estimated to be 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, or 5 hours. I do not think it goes beyond 5 hours, I hope. But under a previous order, following the disposition of that conference report, the Senate will resume H.R. 1833, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, with votes occurring on the Dole and Boxer amendments following 60 minutes of debate. Senators should also be aware that this evening a cloture motion was filed on the motion to proceed to the constitutional amendment regarding the desecration of the flag, and we can expect a cloture vote on that motion to proceed on Friday, unless we can reach an agreement. I hope we can. I think the bottom of all this is reaching agreement on the State Department reorganization, and three or four other matters, including a number of Ambassadors, the START II Treaty, a vote on the Chemical Weapons Treaty. I understand we are very close to an agreement. I know it has gone on and on and on and on. And I hope we can wrap that up tomorrow morning, vitiate the cloture motion, go ahead and complete action tomorrow evening on the flag amendment.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until the hour of 9 a.m. Thursday, December 7; that following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be deemed approved to date, no resolutions come over under the rule, the call of the calendar be dispensed with, and the morning hour be deemed to have expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that there then be a period for morning business until the hour of 10:30 a.m., with time between the hours of 9 and 9:30 under the control of Senator Moynihan, 9:30 to 9:45 under the control of Senator Daschle or his designee, and the time between the hours of 9:45 and 10:30 under the control of Senator Dole or his designee; further, at the hour of 10:30 the Senate proceed to the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2076, the Commerce-State-Justice appropriations bill.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I move to reconsider the vote.

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

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on S. 790, a bill to provide for the modification or elimination of Federal reporting requirements. The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 790) entitled ``An Act to provide for the modification or elimination of Federal reporting requirements'', do pass with the following amendment: Strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert:

Mr. DOLE. I move that the Senate concur in the House amendment with a further amendment on behalf of Senators McCain and Levin. I send that amendment to the desk.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, was leader's time reserved?

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

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I send a second-degree amendment to the Smith amendment to the desk.

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