Robert Dole

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Have you got consent to speak for more than 5 minutes?

Mr. DOLE. We did not go into morning business? Because we have a speaker on this side who wishes to speak and I wonder how long he is going to have to wait.

Mr. DOLE. Fine. I just do not want to start speaking here and never get back to this side of the aisle.

Mr. DOLE. Why do we not visit while the Senator from Washington speaks?

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

Mr. DOLE. How much time are we talking about here?

Mr. DOLE. There has been no consent on who speaks?

Mr. DOLE. I thought we had gotten the regular, routine morning business for 5 minutes. Apparently not.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at 3:30 p.m.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at 10:00 a.m. to hold a hearing on The Aftermath of Waco: Changes in Federal Law Enforcement.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 31 and Wednesday, November 1, 1995 to hold hearings on Global Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Small Business be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate for a joint hearing with the House Committee on Small Business on Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at 10:00 a.m., in room G50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing focusing on The Cost of Federal Regulations on Small Business.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 31, 1995 at 2:00 p.m. to hold a closed hearing on intelligence matters.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, tonight at midnight, the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act [MEPFA] will expire. Last night at 8:20, a written request for a short-term extension was faxed to my office by the State Department. This morning, I spoke to Secretary of State Christopher about the issue. Until the letter and phone call, my office had received no communication about the need for the latest extension. I know the Secretary is concerned that a delay in extending the act could be read as lack of support for the Middle East peace process. I share that concern, but I am also concerned that we have an administration that refuses to deal responsibly with Congress. I want to be very clear: the U.S. Senate has gone on the record on repeated occasions supporting the Middle East peace process. We have extended MEPFA three times this year: on June 23, on August 11, and on September 29. Each time the Congress acted promptly. I hope we are able to act today as well. We support the peace process. We understand the risks being taken by both sides. We understand that peacemaking is not easy, and that the process is subject to disruption. As I speak today, Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank town of Jenin has started. Our lead negotiator in the Middle East, Dennis Ross, called my office this morning from Israel to express his concern over the consequences of not extending MEPFA. Extending MEPFA allows the President to waive certain provisions of law concerning the Palestine Liberation Organization. It allows the provision of United States assistance to the Palestine authority, and it allows a Palestinian office to operate in the United States. The Foreign Operations Appropriations Conference Report provides for a permanent extension of MEPFA but it is not likely to be enacted soon. If Congress does not act today to provide another short-term extension, the President's waiver authority will lapse. Under these time constraints, unanimous consent is required to proceed. Today, I am informed the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Helms, will object to any unanimous-consent request extending MEPFA unless the terms of a previous agreement entered into by the full Senate have been met. The last time the Senate extended MEPFA, Senator Helms and Senator Kerry of Massachusetts worked out an agreement providing for consideration of S. 908, the Foreign Relations Reorganization Act. For the benefit of all Senators, I would like to briefly review what has happened over the last month. On September 29, the Senate passed an extension of MEPFA and entered into an agreement providing for consideration of S. 908 after the managers agreed on an amendment. On October 10, Senator Helms wrote to Senator Kerry and urged him to make some kind of offer. The next day, Senator Kerry responded that ``progress was being made'' in developing an offer. On October 19, Senator Kerry met with Senator Helms and provided an outline--not legislation--of a proposed managers' amendment. Later that day, Senator Helms made a counter offer to Senator Kerry, changing the amount of savings from reorganization from $1.2 billion over 4 years to $2.5 billion over 5 years. Senator Kerry's response was to propose 25 additional changes in the bill and to request unprecedented guarantees about the outcome of a House-Senate conference. Until this morning, Senator Helms had heard very little from Senator Kerry or his staff. While staff negotiations have begun, there is no agreement on the central issue of cost savings. Once again, the administration has refused to provide information to Congress about cost information. I hope the Democrat manager, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, is able to make a legislative agreement today, whether the administration is willing or not. The State Department wants Senator Helms to lift his objection to proceeding with MEPFA despite the almost total lack of effort over the last 32 days. Senator Helms is completely within his rights to object to any unanimous-consent request. I hope that as the day proceeds, Senator Kerry and the administration decide it is finally time to deal seriously with the Senate majority. Contrary to some of the statements made by the administration, Senator Helms is not insisting on ``getting his way.'' What he is insisting on is that the will of the majority be heard, and that the Senate simply have a chance to vote on whether to save money by reorganizing our international affairs agencies. I believe in the importance of bipartisan cooperation. Let me point out that if the administration had not orchestrated a filibuster of S. 908 earlier this year, the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act would have been permanently extended by now--in that same legislation. Unfortunately, due to the administration's intransigence and refusal to negotiate, MEPFA is once again a last-minute demand on a busy Senate schedule. I hope we are able to work together on MEPFA, and I hope it happens today. I hope a managers' amendment is filed today. However, it is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to work together on one issue today if there is no cooperation from the other side on moving to conference on the budget reconciliation bill.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, you would think after we broke the record on votes on the reconciliation bill--we had 39 votes here on Friday, and we were here after midnight on Thursday and midnight on Friday--that we could proceed to appoint conferees on the reconciliation bill. But I am now advised that the Democrats will want to use at least part of the 10 hours they are permitted under the Budget Act and maybe have as many as four additional rollcall votes. I must say, had I known that, we would certainly have been here yesterday, and I was trying to accommodate Members on both sides of the aisle. I will not do that again without checking very carefully. My view was that we had had an unprecedented number of amendments offered by the other side. We had on this, as I said, 39 votes in 1 day, never having had that many votes in the history of the Senate. And it seemed to me that we would move on to the appointment of conferees and complete action without all this additional 10 hours or 5 hours or 4 hours, whatever it is. So I will have to decide when to bring up the bill--maybe sometime late tomorrow afternoon. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, is leader time reserved?

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, last week, the people of Hungary commemorated the 39th anniversary of the Hungarian people's massive uprising against Soviet Communist dominated rule. October 23, Hungarian Independence Day, marked a time when thousands of armed citizens battled the Red Army's military might and held the country for some 2 weeks. President Arpad Goncz, whom I met with last week, was one of those who risked his life for his country's freedom--long delayed, but finally achieved. The bravery of those freedom loving Hungarians, 10,000 of whom risked and lost their lives, will be remembered forever. As Hungary's Foreign Minister Lazlo Kovacs told a gathering at a Budapest ceremony last week, ``the heirs of 23 October 1956 are all those who * * * today contribute with their sacrifices to the creation of a flourishing, democratic, and independent Hungary.'' The Hungary of 1995 is well on the road to full democracy. In my meeting last week with President Goncz, we discussed Hungary's economic progress, its successful participation in the Partnership for Peace, as well as NATO expansion. No doubt about it, Hungary will be among the first of the new democracies in Eastern Europe to join NATO and I look forward to that day--which I hope will be in the near future. In addition, we discussed Hungary's concerns about the treatment of Hungarian minorities in the region, and developments in the Balkans. President Goncz and I both agreed that a fair peace settlement in the former Yugoslavia, fully recognizing the rights of all nationalities, was crucial for any kind of permanent regional stability. I assured President Goncz that Hungary enjoys the friendship and support of the Congress.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. It is, therefore, my understanding that the chairman of the Finance Committee intends to continue to address these concerns during the House-Senate conferencs by including language which would require ProPAC's annual report to Congress to include recommendations to ensure that beneficiaries served by the Nation's urban hospitals would maintain access and quality of care. In designing the study we would hope that ProPAC would also include recommendations on those hospitals that serve large populations of both Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Mr. DOLE. I thank the chairman for his clarification and for sharing my concern about the health and well-being of our inner-city residents and the hospitals that serve their needs. oregon health plan

Mr. DOLE. I seek a clarification from my colleague, the esteemed chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr. Roth. It is my understanding that, in making these revolutionary and necessary changes to the Medicare program to preserve it for our Nation's seniors, we are concerned about the effects these changes may have on inner-city access to health care services. It is my understanding that it is the Finance Committee's intention to have ProPAC study the effects of these changes on the access and quality of care to the Medicare beneficiaries served by the Nation's urban hospitals who serve large numbers of Medicare patients. I understand from the chairman that whatever changes do occur in the Medicare Program, it is in the best interests of this Nation to ensure the health and financial viability of these inner- city hospitals so as not to undermine the health of the residents in those urban areas.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for 5 minutes each until the hour of 3:30 p.m. At 3:30 p.m., it will be my intention to call up the conference report to accompany the energy-water appropriations bill. A rollcall vote has been requested. Therefore, another vote is expected during today's session of the Senate. We hope to adjourn fairly early this evening.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. We will try to work it out so maybe it will go very quickly.

Mr. DOLE. In the meantime, I guess we can just continue back and forth.

Mr. DOLE. Are there further amendments?

Mr. DOLE. I ask that we stand in recess for 20 minutes.