Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. What is the argument?

Mr. DOMENICI. They are supposed to have that time. Why not give them that time? What is wrong with that?

Mr. DOMENICI. Could you clarify, what is the status of Senator Snowe's amendment?

Mr. DOMENICI. She did not ask for regular order. Her amendment isn't pending. Is it pending or not?

Mr. DOMENICI. Could we ask Senator Snowe, what do you desire to do? Do you want to talk about your amendment?

Mr. DOMENICI. How long would you like to talk about your amendment?

Mr. DOMENICI. Ten minutes between the two Senators?

Mr. DOMENICI. We will make time for you.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators Snowe and Wyden be permitted to speak without calling up their amendment for 15 minutes, after which time the regular order will be the Ashcroft amendment, which will then vest in the respective Senators the remaining time under the hour that they had. As soon as that is over, we will proceed with the Daschle-Dorgan amendment, and they will have 1 hour equally divided, after which we will move to a Republican amendment for Grams-Roth, which will be one half-hour equally divided. Then we will have Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts to follow that with one half-hour equally divided. We can stay on that path for just a while and then we will do something else.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we just entered into a unanimous consent agreement. What do we need the Parliamentarian for? He can sit there. Senators Snowe and Wyden are to proceed under the UC now for 15 minutes, and we just stated what is to follow. You don't have to ask the Parliamentarian anything; just call on Senator Snowe. You are the Parliamentarian; you run the Senate.

Mr. DOMENICI. First, Mr. President, to the Parliamentarian, I apologize for my statements a while ago. I guess I have been here too long. Anyhow, let me see who is under the order. Is not the Daschle amendment up? We understand there is time remaining on other amendments. That is bothering you. So why don't we just say whatever time remains on amendments that have been set aside, or otherwise are not disturbed, by unanimous consent will not be changed or altered by setting them aside, reserving that time, and going to the Daschle amendment as ordered a few moments ago.

Mr. DOMENICI. What amendments are they speaking to?

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, if there is any confusion, might I modify the previous unanimous consent request and say that there are 10 minutes remaining on each side on the Ashcroft amendment, 10 under the control of Senator Kennedy, 10 under the control of Senator Ashcroft, and that we proceed to do that now, and then follow the sequence that we just agreed to.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, could I do the house cleaning? That will get us to the unanimous consent agreement. Amendment No. 164, As Modified

Mr. DOMENICI. We have another list of ones we will accept, that the leader hasn't mentioned, that we agreed on.

Mr. DOMENICI. The Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations subcommittee is quite correct in his observations and I appreciate his raising this issue at this time. Indeed, there are dramatic differences in the outlay estimates associated with the highway and transit firewalls, as scored by CBO and OMB. The Budget Act provides that the budget resolution cannot set outlay levels in excess of the amounts set forth in TEA-21 as adjusted by OMB. The difference between OMB and CBO outlay estimates presents a problem for meeting the highway and transit outlay limits under CBO's estimates. I thank the Senator for raising this issue. We need to find some way to address this issue prior to the Senate taking up the Transportation Appropriations bill.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I say to my two good friends, I agree that there is an outlay mismatch in this resolution for the National Defense function and I will work to resolve this problem. Sufficient outlays are necessary to execute the level of budget authority for National Defense in the Budget Resolution to address the serious readiness, recruitment, and retention problems in our military services. I intend to review scorekeeping differences between the OMB and CBO on outlays prior, outlay rates, and policy to resolve this issue. I will consult with the two distinguished Chairmen and keep them informed during this process. I assure the Chairmen of the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees that this problem will receive my full attention until it is resolved to our satisfaction. In addition, I know both Chairmen share my concerns about atomic energy defense capabilities in an increasingly unstable world.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I agree with both of my distinguished colleagues, the Chairmen of the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees, that the Administration's defense budget request is inadequate to meet our national security requirements. My intent is that this Budget Resolution would fully fund the $17.5 billion requested by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the next five years. This additional spending would be devoted to restoring military readiness to acceptable levels. it is also my intention that the funding in this resolution would also provide money, at least in part, to begin the modernization of the currently aging inventory of U.S. weapons, and to fund priority quality of life initiatives for the servicemen and women in our Armed Forces.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, this amendment wipes out the tax cut in its entirety, wipes out the $6 billion we added for the agricultural community, establishes a freeze, and then after that, it goes up to current services. The first two points are the most important. I don't believe we ought to adopt this amendment, after all we have gone through in trying to provide some tax cuts for the American people. I yield back any time I might have.

Mr. DOMENICI. We will have some additional votes. I ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be the next amendments to be debated and voted on as provided for under the previous agreement: Senator Hollings 174, current services; Senator Robb 181, strike pay- go; Senator Lautenberg 183, school modernization.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, how long did the last vote take?

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we are withdrawing an amendment of Senator Biden numbered 204.

Mr. DOMENICI. I want to clear some amendments for immediate consideration: Senator Enzi, 208, as modified; 205, Senator Landrieu, as modified; 202, Senator Biden; and 171, Senator Boxer. These have been cleared with the other side.

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment I send to the desk for Senator Landrieu, numbered 205, be modified.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment I now send to the desk for Senator Enzi, numbered 208, be modified.