Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

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

Mr. DOMENICI. The second amendment I referred to will be offered by the Senator from Colorado and withdrawn--no, it will not be withdrawn. It will be offered.

Mr. DOMENICI. Five minutes on our side. Amendment No. 1084, As Modified

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the previous amendment that was adopted, I ask consent that Senator Salazar be deemed an original cosponsor when it was entered as if it were there.

Mr. DOMENICI. That takes care of that one.

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

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I understand we are now back on the Feinstein amendment and there is 5 minutes on each side.

Mr. DOMENICI. May I tell Senators, if nothing else breaks here, there are no other amendments. We will vote on this. Senator Coburn has one and he will withdraw it. Can the Senator wait until Senator Feinstein finishes and then he will be recognized? I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Let me say in the appropriations in this bill for the fiscal year we are appropriating, it is $4 million. There is no appropriation for the following year or the following year or the following year. So I do not know what that will be. But I tell you, you have to come back for another appropriation, so that is for sure. That is the situation. With reference to whether we have this in our arsenal, I think the distinguished Senator from the State of Arizona answered that question with reference to the instrument that will deliver a weapon, if we ever do the research to know whether we need it. Am I correct?

Mr. DOMENICI. I yield the floor. We don't need any additional time. Have you had the yeas and nays?

Mr. DOMENICI. I am trying to get us finished so we will have two votes back to back, one on this amendment and one on final passage. Senator Coburn wants to take a few minutes. He wants to offer an amendment. Amendment No. 1086 Withdrawn

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask it be in order to ask for the yeas and nays on final passage at this time.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I believe from our side--and Senator Reid is here--there is no further business to bring before the Senate on this bill.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. DOMENICI. I appreciate the Senators from Virginia and their interest in this important matter and I agree with the importance of the 12GeV Upgrade at the Jefferson Lab. With the funds available to the subcommittee, we made recommendations to give priority to increasing operational time for all of our existing labs as opposed to spending these resources on capital expansions. I recognize, however, that with regard to Jefferson Lab we are soon at a scientific turning point when the increased energy will be critical to maintaining the pace of discovery. If it would be satisfactory to the two Virginia Senators, I would like to explore this matter further to see if it can be addressed in the fiscal year Conference and by the Department in their fiscal year budget proposal.

Mr. DOMENICI. I would be pleased to enter into a colloquy with the Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Inouye, a member of the subcommittee.

Mr. DOMENICI. As you know, the comprehensive energy legislation that the Senate recently passed authorizes this program.

Mr. DOMENICI. I would like to assure the Senator from Hawaii that I will work with him to ensure that this program will be considered in conference.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, there is no time agreement on the amendment, but I did understand we were going to accept it. I didn't think we were going to have any time. I ask the Senator, could we proceed to adopt the amendment, if the Senator from New Mexico is willing to do that?

Mr. DOMENICI. We are willing to accept the last amendment that was offered by the Senator.

Mr. DOMENICI. I say to the Senator, you understand this is a difficult amendment. We have had objection from the Armed Services authorizing committee. We take it to conference willingly, with the clear understanding we are going to work on it with the Secretary of Energy, and Defense, and with you and the Armed Services Committee, and do the best we can as we complete the matter in conference.

Mr. DOMENICI. I have an amendment on behalf of Senator Lindsey Graham that has been cleared on both sides. I send it to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, July 12, at 10 a.m., in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The purpose of this hearing is to consider the nominations of: Jill L. Sigal, of Wyoming, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. David R. Hill, of Missouri, to be General Counsel of the Department of Energy. James A. Rispoli, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am a long-time supporter of free trade agreements because I believe free trade agreements can be beneficial to everyone. Free trade agreements have a positive impact on the job market and the economy. I have spent many hours listening to this body debate the Dominican Republic-Central American-United States Free Trade Agreement (DR- CAFTA). Upon careful consideration of the issues at stake in this important economic measure, I have come to the conclusion that the ratification of DR-CAFTA will result in the growth of our national economy. Additionally, DR-CAFTA's passage will represent an enormous step towards increased prosperity in Central America. The reasons to support DR-CAFTA are numerous. The measure is favorable to our Nation's export market. DR-CAFTA countries currently make up the twelfth largest market for U.S. exports, with those countries purchasing more than $15.1 billion in U.S. exports in 2003. I believe we should do what we can to foster additional growth in that market. Passage of DR-CAFTA will do just that. In addition, DR-CAFTA is favorable to our country's textile suppliers. Passage of this bill will put our suppliers on a level playing field with their counterparts in Asia. I believe that the argument that DR-CAFTA will represent an exodus of jobs and dollars to Central America is unfounded. Under the status quo, 80 percent of all imports from Central America and 99 percent of agricultural imports from Central America enter the United States duty free. In contrast, many American farmers suffer from the burden of tariffs ranging from approximately 7 percent in the case of Nicaragua to 23 percent for certain products from the Dominican Republic. Creating a more equitable duty system for agricultural imports and exports is important to my home State of New Mexico, which is heavily involved in the agricultural industry. This agreement is also important to New Mexico because an estimated $234 million worth of products, many of them semi-conductors and electronics, were exported from New Mexico to DR-CAFTA countries in 2004. This ranked New Mexico thirteenth among U.S. States exporting goods to CAFTA countries. Clearly, my home State will benefit from a free trade agreement with these Central American countries. DR-CAFTA is important to our country. It is a pro-export, pro-worker, pro-agriculture, pro-economy trade agreement, and I appreciate the efforts of the administration and our trade negotiators in crafting such an agreement. I am proud to vote in favor of DR-CAFTA.