Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Judiciary Committee be discharged from consideration of S. Res. 55, and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask unanimous consent the resolution, as amended, and the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, the amendment to the title which is at the desk be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, all without intervening action.

Mr. DOMENICI. Senator Wellstone has an amendment at the desk. I ask for its consideration and that the amendment be agreed to.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Just so we get to look at it during the debate in the morning.

Mr. DOMENICI. For the information of all Senators, I say on behalf of the leader, the Senate will resume consideration of the Grassley amendment No. 174, and the Johnson amendment No. 176, both regarding agriculture. By previous consent, the time between 9 and 10:30 a.m. will be equally divided with back-to-back votes to occur at 10:30 a.m. Following those votes, Senator Harkin will be recognized to offer an amendment regarding education. Other amendments will be offered and therefore Senators should expect votes throughout the day. I ask the ranking member, when will we be able to see the Harkin education amendment?

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 4. I further ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use at a later time in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of H. Con. Res. 83, the budget resolution.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of Senate Resolution 41, and the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to an organization that celebrates a special anniversary in New Mexico this month. The Red Cross, Mid-Rio Grande Chapter this April celebrates its 85th anniversary of being a humanitarian presence in my home state. Last May, the devastating Cerro Grande wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes in Los Alamos and caused the evacuation of more than 25,000 people in the region. New Mexico residents, business leaders and numerous agencies generously responded to support a relief effort. But one agency stood out as a leader in the swift response to meet emergency needs of the thousands of families affected: the American Red Cross. The Albuquerque-based Mid-Rio Grande Chapter serves as the Red Cross' lead unit for disaster services in New Mexico. As such, the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter, working with sister chapters in Los Alamos and Santa Fe, coordinated more than 2,000 volunteers to help ensure that shelters were opened, meals were served, and mental health counselors, nurses, caseworkers and others were available to work with families faced with rebuilding their homes and their lives. This relief effort, while one of the largest in the state's history, is only one example of the services this Red Cross Chapter provides to disaster victims. Over the decades, the agency's services have evolved to continue to meet the needs of the communities it serves. The Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton. During WWI and WWII, the Red Cross provided extensive services to the members of the U.S. military, supplying more than 80 percent of the bandages used on the battlefields and in the military hospitals. Red Cross nurses and volunteers served in those overseas hospitals, as well as the VA hospitals back home. Following the wars, new services were formed to meet the needs of veterans. The Red Cross began to expand into home and workplace first aid programs. Swimming lessons and lifeguard training, once unheard of, became a part of hundreds of thousands of children's lives and continues today. CPR and first aid are still taught every week at the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter and around the state and country. In Albuquerque and central New Mexico alone, more than 13,000 people are trained every year. In New Mexico, the Red Cross also runs a bone and tissue transplantation program. They work closely with United Blood Services to help ensure an adequate blood supply. In addition to the Albuquerque chapter, the Red Cross also operates chapters in Clovis, Farmington, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Los Alamos, Roswell and Santa Fe. Throughout program's lifetime, one service has remained constant: disaster relief. Response to fires, floods, windstorms, winter storms, hazardous material spills, transportation accidents, and search and rescue operations has all been part of the everyday work of the American Red Cross, Mid-Rio Grande Chapter. Just last year, they responded to 229 disasters and assisted 285 families, not including the aid given to victims of the Cerro Grande Fire. The Chapter also trains thousands a year in disaster education in an effort to help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. This year, as the Chapter celebrates its 85th anniversary of service, we honor years of commitment and the contributions volunteers have made to our communities by improving and saving lives. These services are made possible only through the generous donations of the people of New Mexico and the nation. I commend the efforts of the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter of the American Red Cross. I encourage everyone to learn more about the Red Cross and its support services. It is a great organization that relies on public support to ensure that it remains strong and ready to respond to emergency and public safety needs in Albuquerque, the state, the nation, and the world. It is hard to imagine what this country might have been like without the great contributions of one of the world's oldest and largest humanitarian organizations--the American Red Cross.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent there now be a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. DOMENICI

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

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I don't have anything further to say. I will have a chance tomorrow to speak again. I think we have a unanimous consent agreement that takes over. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, obviously I am going to yield to my overused colleague who was asked to offer the last amendment because it came within the jurisdiction of his Finance Committee. Tonight we ask that he offer the Republican amendment, the bipartisan amendment on behalf of agriculture, because he is an expert on agriculture and a lot of people listen attentively to what he has to say. I yield the floor to Senator Grassley, and he can offer the amendment we have been discussing. Amendment No. 174

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I make the following statement for the information of all Senators. In light of this agreement, there will be no further votes this evening. Any Senator with an interest in agriculture and agricultural issues is urged to remain tonight to debate the issue. The next votes will occur in a stacked sequence at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader and after conferring with the minority, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Grassley be recognized to offer an amendment relative to agriculture and, following the reporting by the clerk, the amendment be laid aside and Senator Johnson be recognized to offer an amendment regarding agriculture. I further ask unanimous consent that the debate tonight run concurrently on both first-degree amendments and the Senate resume debate at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, and the time between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. be equally divided for closing remarks on the agriculture issue. I further ask unanimous consent that no amendments be in order prior to the votes just described, the votes occur in a stacked sequence beginning at 10:30 a.m., with 2 minutes prior to each vote for explanation, and the first vote occur in relation to the Grassley amendment, to be followed by a vote in relation to the Johnson amendment. I also ask unanimous consent that following those votes, Senator Harkin be recognized to offer an amendment relative to education. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate resumes consideration of the concurrent resolution on Wednesday, there be 35 hours remaining for consideration.

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

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we are finishing reading a unanimous consent request I will make, but I want to let the ranking member finish reading it. I suggest the absence of a quorum for 1 minute.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, let me just say this is a typical amendment from that side of the aisle. They would say to our President that we don't like your tax cut, and we want to take $156 billion of it and we want to spend it. They would say they are spending it for some very special purpose. But we can accomplish the same without diminishing what our taxpayers should be getting. They should be getting the President's $11.6 trillion over the next 10 years. It is plain and simple. This amendment reduces that by $156 billion and puts it in an account to be spent. Whatever they are going to spend it for, it is the beginning of a tax-and-spend approach on the floor for the remaining 2\1/2\ or 3 days. I hope on our side we stay fast. We all voted. We ought to vote the same way. In this instance, it is a ``no'' vote on our side, and they will not prevail, if you will just do what you did. Do it one more time. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, don't say that. The next time we want you in the Chair, we will spread the word to you.

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask unanimous consent that the next vote be 10 minutes.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, how much time does the Senator have remaining?

Mr. DOMENICI. I yield myself 2 minutes and then I will ask Senator Frist to manage on my side. I have to leave the floor. He and Senator Grassley will finish up the debate. I say to everybody listening, the plain and simple fact is we propose we not reduce the President's $1.6 trillion tax cut as a means of paying for prescription drug reform because we believe that is exactly what the contingency fund of $500 billion was intended for. We provide a mechanism to make sure that if the President poses a permanent fix to Medicare, or the Finance Committee writes one, in each event they will be funded not to exceed $300 billion. The Senator says there is a lot of ``ifs'' and ``maybes.'' I want to close by saying: Whatever happens to their amendment, there is no prescription drug bill until the committee writes one, right? So you are saying you are putting the money in and it is all full of ifs and ands and buts and maybes; to wit, you have to write a bill. Nobody knows when the bill will be written. Why do we put the money in? We are not sure what it is going to be. We have estimates from $346 billion to $500 billion, if necessary. We think we are doing the judicious thing leaving the tax cut intact and providing for prescription drug reform that is significant that can be up to but not exceeding $300 billion. And we will assign it to the committee on the happening of either of two events: the President submits one which the Congressional Budget Office estimates or the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee produces one that is costed out. And then we give them the money but not to exceed $300 billion. That is the summary underneath our proposal. Unless and until we write a bill, there will be no money spent on Medicare prescription drugs because we still have to write the reform measure. I yield the floor at this point. I yield it to my two friends. Mr. CONRAD addressed the Chair.

Mr. DOMENICI. On the other side?

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry. How much time do we have remaining?