Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I am pleased.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DOMENICI. That is absolutely correct. I might add that what is happening in Russia, the Chinese have seen very clearly. They are never going to let that happen. We went from Government ownership to no ownership to oligarchs who substituted here in the middle who became powerful, rich people who put these businesses together; bought them from the Government. Now a few groups own more businesses than anybody expected in Russia and do not run it in any way consistent with Russia's future. It is just their own. Whether they pay taxes or not is their business. That is the way things go. It is not so good. Let me talk about this trend that is occurring in China. I think it is excellent. It is a great sign because a growing market-based economy is the most effective path to democracy for China and should be encouraged as part of the American policy with other free nations in the world. There have been a lot of amendments offered to this bill. I owe the Senators who offered them, individually or for themselves and others, an explanation of why I voted against each and every one. Some of them are very good. Some of them, if freestanding and not burdening a measure of this magnitude, I probably would have come down and even debated. I did not. I did not come and talk on any of them because I was not going to vote for any. It appeared to me that my responsibility as a Senator was to see that this legislation got through here, at least as much as I could. That meant don't add amendments to it that are apt to make it impossible for this legislation to get passed and sent to the President for signature. I consider this to be the most important event of this year and maybe of a couple years. While it does not come out of my committee, I have been informed on it. I worked on it. I am very proud of the Finance Committee and in particular the chairman, the distinguished Senator from Delaware, Mr. Roth, and obviously, the ranking member, the distinguished Senator from New York. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Parliamentary inquiry. Is it appropriate for the Senator from New Mexico to speak at this point?

Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am aware of the extreme low water level problem and understand the difficulties that the Great Lakes region is facing as a result.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I believe that the corps should work toward this goal recognizing the constrained nature of the operation and maintenance budget recommended for fiscal year 2001 and existing traffic using the system. great lakes remedial action planning assistance and sediment remediation technology demonstrations

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want to thank our colleagues from the Great Lakes States for highlighting the importance of this program. To the extent that resources are available, I will do my best to address the funding needs of this program in conference.

Mr. DOMENICI. It is my understanding that the funds being requested by the Senator would be used for a wind turbine and for educational purposes such as teaching others on the reservation and in the region how to establish and maintain ``wind farms''.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want to thank our colleagues from the Great Lakes states for highlighting the importance of this program and its potential for long-term cost. And to the extent that resources are available, I will do my best to address the funding needs of this program in Conference.

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator from North Dakota for this explanation, and agree that this Center has potential to provide an innovative approach to an old technology--the windmill. energy and water development appropriations bill, fy 2001

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I say to my good friends on the other side of the aisle, the Vice President, as your candidate, plans to spend $2.6 trillion of this surplus on new programs. That is what we are worried about. So we both have some worries about what is going to be left in the lockbox--whether we are going to spend it on taxes or whether you are going to spend it on an infinite number of new programs. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Does that mean we will be on the floor at----

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I would be pleased to discuss this provision with my friend, the Senator from Idaho.

Mr. DOMENICI. How much time does the Senator want on his amendment?

Mr. DOMENICI. I say to Senator Durbin--I just got word--I hear Senator Bond is en route and that he did not say that he would agree to no amendments. I think he will when he gets to the floor, but I just want to make clear I probably overspoke. I thought he had said that. Can we just wait for him to arrive?

Mr. DOMENICI. I wonder if the Senator would let me have a minute?

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want to add to the list of managers' agreed-to amendments, all of which are filed and at the desk, starting with Nos. 4017, 4044, 4059, 4089, 4099, 4110, and 4111. I ask unanimous consent that they be considered en bloc and agreed to en bloc.

Mr. DOMENICI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4041, As Modified

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I yield any time I might have.

Mr. DOMENICI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendments Nos. 4060, 4087, 4091, 4108, 4109, and 4113, En Bloc, As Modified

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am going to send about four amendments that have been modified and agreed to. I send amendment No. 4041, as modified, and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am pleased to support the managers' amendment to S. 2438, the bill before the Senate, to modernize our Nation's pipeline safety programs. The issue of our country's pipeline safety regime came to the forefront again last year after the death of three teenagers in a pipeline explosion near Bellingham, WA. Since that accident in 1999, the Senators from Washington State have worked tirelessly to bring this bill to the Senate floor for a vote. I want to commend Senator Gorton, Senator Murray, and the chairman of the Commerce Committee, Senator McCain, for their efforts on this legislation. Without their work, patience and persistence, this bill would not be ready for passage in the Senate. As my colleagues know, in August of this year, New Mexico experienced its own tragic pipeline explosion. Just after midnight on August 19, an El Paso Natural Gas pipeline exploded on the Pecos River near Carlsbad, NM. Twelve members of an extended family were camping near the explosion, which sent a 350-foot high ball of flame into the air. Six of the campers were killed instantly, and the remaining six have since died from their injuries. The horrific accident is the largest pipeline disaster in the State's history and one of the worst in the United States. While the NTSB is still investigating the cause of the explosion, preliminary analyses indicate that the pipeline was highly corroded, and that half of the internal wall of the pipe had been eaten away in places, apparently causing a prolonged natural gas leak. Sadly, this accident has again placed the spotlight on the need for Congress to update our pipeline safety standards. The bill before the Senate represents a marked improvement in our existing pipeline safety program. The bill requires companies to conduct periodic internal inspections of their lines; authorizes and provides resources to allow the States to exercise a greater role in pipeline inspections and oversight; increases civil penalties against companies who violate pipeline safety laws; and provides resources for greater research and development into pipeline safety technologies, including new internal inspection mechanisms, as well as enhanced leak detection technologies. There are over 1.8 million miles of liquid and natural gas pipelines in the United States, including 7,000 miles in New Mexico. The Federal Office of Pipeline Safety is responsible for 5,000 miles of pipeline in New Mexico and the State must inspect the remaining 1,800 miles. Yet, the New Mexico State budget for pipeline safety allows for only four inspectors, who can cover only a few miles of pipeline per day. Because of this resource shortage, hundreds of miles of underground oil and gas pipelines go uninspected each year in my state. The bill before the Senate authorizes more funding for State inspection activities, and provides the States with greater oversight authority to inspect both intra- and interstate pipelines. States are an important partner in the regulation of oil and gas pipelines. With this bill, Congress is stepping up to the plate to help reimburse states for undertaking a greater responsibility for pipeline safety. As my colleagues know, the bulk of the responsibility for pipeline inspection falls on the oil and gas companies themselves. In fact, the liquid and natural gas industries spend nearly $4 billion annually on pipeline safety activities. Pipeline transportation is perhaps the safest way available to move liquid and natural gas across the country. Among all the methods of transport, including pipeline, highway, rail, aviation, and marine, pipeline accident fatalities represent less than 1/333rd of one percent of the total number of annual deaths related to the industry. Yet despite this safety record, tragic accidents do occur. I think the industry, in partnership with federal and State regulators, can do more to better protect our citizens from these kinds of accidents. This bill represents an extension of that partnership, and I believe that industry should be commended for coming to the table and helping us reach this agreement. This bill requires companies to file ``Integrity Management Plans'' with the United States Department of Transportation. These plans will outline how the company will periodically assess the safety of their pipelines, including the use of internal inspections, pressure tests, direct assessments and any other available methods of identifying weaknesses in the pipeline and detecting leaks. In short, this provision means that for the first time, companies will be required to conduct regular pipeline inspections, and to provide information on those inspections to federal and State regulators. Finally, Mr. President, this bill authorizes additional resources for research and development of new pipeline safety technologies through the Department of Transportation and Department of Energy. It is clear that we need to develop some new technologies to better assess the integrity of pipelines and detect leaks before they cause disaster. One of the problems with the line which exploded in Carlsbad was that conventional ``pig'' devices, which detect corrosion and leaks, could not be used to inspect that particular pipeline. We have tremendous scientific capabilities in our universities, national laboratories and in the private sector which could be tapped to help develop new and better technologies. While everyone recognizes that Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico have great scientific capabilities which could be brought to bear on this problem, a private sector resource also exists in my home state. La-Sen Corporation in Las Cruces, NM has developed an airborne laser mapping system which can inspect hundreds of miles of oil and gas pipeline per day. I know that some of the major oil and gas companies, including El Paso Natural Gas, have seen the technology and have indicated that they would use it if it were commercially available. I plan to work in the next several weeks to help this company find federal resources to complete development of this technology and make it commercially available as soon as possible. This is the kind of research and development that the federal government ought to encourage. I am pleased to support passage of this bill. Even though the bill imposes new requirements on industry and provides for tougher penalties for violating the law, there are some who will say that it does not do enough to get tough on pipeline companies. In my view, the Chairman of the Commerce Committee, the Senators from Washington and other members who have worked on this bill have done an excellent job crafting a bill which will receive the unanimous support of this Senate. I hope the House will take this bill up at the earliest possible date and pass it quickly so that we can send pipeline safety legislation to the President for his signature prior to the end of the session. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I commend Senator Hutchison, along with Senators Dodd and Feinstein for introducing this bill today. I am pleased to join in this effort. The election of Vicente Fox as President of Mexico is a remarkable event in the history of our neighbor to the south. After 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Mexico is about to embark on an important test of its new democracy. Mr. Fox has spoken very eloquently and persuasively in recent weeks and he has offered some interesting new ideas on critical issues which affect both of our countries, like immigration, trade and controlling illegal drugs. Some of his ideas are quite impressive, and they certainly will spur debate both in the United States and in Mexico. I think it is important for our leaders in the United States, particularly those in the border region, to engage Mr. Fox, talk with him, listen to his ideas and offer our own thoughts to him. In this spirit of cooperation and acceptance, I think it is critical for the United States to suspend the drug certification process for Mexico this coming year. Mr. Fox needs time to build his administration, and to develop his own plan for dealing with the drug cartels. As we all know, the history of drug cooperation between the United States and Mexico has not been great. Mexico remains the source of 70 percent of the foreign grown marijuana in the U.S., 50-60 percent of the cocaine and 25-30 percent of the heroin. In recent months, our federal law enforcement authorities have dismantled a major heroin ring operating out of Nayarit, Mexico, which was responsible for much of the black tar heroin in the Southwest. It is this heroin which has torn apart the northern New Mexico county of Rio Arriba, which has the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the Nation. President-elect Fox has said that he will redouble his country's efforts to fight the drug cartels, and will increase the number of criminals extradited to the United States to stand trial. I have fought for years for more extraditions, and I am pleased that President Fox shares my goal. I want to give Mr. Fox time to prove that he means what he says. Engaging in the certification process in March of 2001, within only 120 days of Mr. Fox's first day in office, will only serve as a hindrance to developing mutual cooperation between the two new administrations. The bill we have introduced today merely waives for one year the requirement that the President make a certification decision about Mexico. This waiver would not exempt Mexico from any of the annual reports or other activities associated with the certification process, including review by the State Department in its annual report to Congress. It simply says that the next United States President need not grade Mexico and its new President in his first four months in office by choosing between certification, decertification or certification through a national interest waiver. Mr. Fox should make no mistake--Senators from the Southwest care deeply about the drug problem, which affects our communities, courts, jails, hospitals and border region like no other issue. We expect Mr. Fox to set concrete, measurable goals and timetables for crippling the drug cartels and ending narco-corruption. This is a fair bill, one that respects the new democracy in Mexico, and recognizes that the new administration needs time to set its own agenda. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and the new President of Mexico on this and other important issues of mutual interest between our two countries.