Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. And then we will vote on or in relation to it.

Mr. DOMENICI. Do we understand the unanimous consent request? After all of that has happened, the Senator from New Mexico would be recognized.

Mr. DOMENICI. Before the Senator proceeds--but you have the floor-- could you yield to me for 1 minute?

Mr. DOMENICI. I want to say the distinguished Senator from Florida, who has been speaking, submitted a proposal quite a few hours ago, an idea, a thought piece. I want everybody to know that was not acceptable not only to the Senator from New Mexico, it was not acceptable to Democratic Senators on his side of the aisle. So we have not tried to hide anything. I regret the Senator has even implied that we tried to do that. It is not right. We have been working as hard as we can. It is not much to take 4 or 5 hours. Sometimes around here you have to take a dictionary when you are working on something because people do not understand words. That is how hard it has been in the past. Having said that, I yield the floor, and I will give the Senator this statement. I hope he understands--the senior Senator and the junior Senator--I would like both of you to read it. I don't think it is anything fabulous, but I hope the Senators will feast their eyes on it.

Mr. DOMENICI. The Senator is correct.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DOMENICI. Parliamentary inquiry: What is the status of the bill now?

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Chair.

Mr. DOMENICI. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. DOMENICI. I believe I have the floor. I am pleased to yield.

Mr. DOMENICI. I don't know what would happen if we went to the House with it. Maybe we could hurry it up that way. In any event, a number of Senators want to speak. I will not address the issue that was spoken to because many others are going to--except I remind everybody that something was said here about a monopoly, lack of competition. The Senator from New York made the case for lack of competition. When we use gasoline, let's not forget we have been subjected to the most monopolistic control mechanism for the price of almost anything this country has ever seen. The cartel is strangling us. As we drive down the road, we are driving on gasoline that is indeed noncompetitive. It is competitive for a few cents because the filling stations might be competitive, but the basic price is the monopolistic issue.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, it is my position that it is unfair to prejudge any hypothetical amendment, ruling it in or out without knowing the substance of the provision. Furthermore, I do not want to be in a position to preclude any of my colleagues from offering what they think are improvements to this legislation. That having been said, I assure my colleagues, Senator Nelson and Senator Martinez, that I will not support any amendment that alters current OCS moratoria with respect to submerged lands off of Florida's coast or that affects lands in Lease Sale 181, not so much because of the substance of any amendment of the sort, but because it would bog down this bill. I want it to be clear that restricting development of our natural resources is not a policy view that I share, particularly in these times of severe shortages and high prices. I am on record supporting the principle that individual States should have greater input in petitioning the Federal Government to allow oil and natural gas production on the OCS. I am also on record stating that I believe that the time has come for the executive branch to draw boundaries and publish these boundaries as previously required under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. I also believe that it is imperative that we increase our production on the OCS in order to decrease our dependence on foreign sources of oil. Finally, I think that it is important that we work toward recognizing, in real financial terms, the sacrifice that certain coastal States make toward helping our Nation meet its energy needs. Having said all of this, I understand the importance of this issue to my colleagues from Florida. Although we do not agree, I respect their difference of opinion. I respect their passion on this issue and I make this concession because I understand the necessity of moving forward with this energy bill. This bill in its totality is more important than any one part. And, to that end, I extend this offer to my colleagues. It should be noted, however, that this position does not apply in any way to any provision currently contained in this bill as reported out of the Energy Committee, including the comprehensive OCS inventory. While I will assist Members in working toward what I think are improvements to the inventory section, I will strongly oppose any attempt to strike the section. Furthermore, I will oppose any amendment that I think weakens any of the OCS provisions already contained in this bill. I thank my colleagues for their attention to this issue and look forward to working with them on this in the future. As I said at the outset, I will not support any amendment that alters current OCS moratoria with respect to submerged lands off of Florida's coast or that affects lands in Lease Sale 181.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I congratulate Senator Talent for his excellent work in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He was the leader of a group that put together the new 8 billion barrels that we are going to have as our new American goal for ethanol. That was not easy to put together. It got a very large vote in committee. That momentum brought it here. I think he is to be congratulated for his effort. I appreciate Senator Craig's managing the bill for me. I would like to say to the Senate, there are two or three amendments that people want to offer to this bill. I wish they would bring them to the floor. We are prepared now, from what I understand, to debate amendments. I understand Senator Boxer has one. Maybe Senator Feinstein has one. There may be one other. If we could get them up, we are going to be here for a while tonight. Even though we are leaving early, we could get those debated and voted on, and then the next thing that we would do would be to take up the amendment the distinguished minority leader chooses to bring up. We hope that can come up tomorrow morning before Senators leave for the Exon funeral, which means we might get the amendment for Senator Cantwell offered that the minority leader wants to have brought up, get that up tomorrow before we leave. That would get two very major issues behind us, plus the amendments on this bill. Again, if Senators have amendments on the ethanol provision, bring them down so we can debate them. I ask the minority leader in short order if he would help me try to get that accomplished. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I appreciate the Senator's attitude and his willingness to cooperate. I remind the Senator, in all graciousness, that we are going to be on this bill for about 2 weeks. So nothing is going to happen. We have our own initiative, and we have prepared something. There is a Senator who wants to see it from my standpoint before we submit it. It is en route to her now--Senator Landrieu. She has been working in our committee. She is looking at what I suggest. It is what I have in mind. We should be ready soon. I thank the Senator for inquiring, and I hope he will let us take up an amendment on ethanol. It will not take very long, and we will be back to the Senator very soon.

Mr. DOMENICI. Senator, could I say to you, please let us proceed. The reason I am showing it to a Senator is to try to make sure you get something quicker rather than later. It is not an effort to avoid you. We are not just discussing Florida. We greatly respect you, but some other Senator would like to look at this, which would make it easier for you. I can make a deal with you, Senator, and I have to show it to some other Senator. I am trying to show it to one who I know wants to see it. Now, we cannot just drop everything. I very much am sorry about that. I am going to do my best, but if you would like to talk tonight, we will all leave and you can talk tonight. If you would like us to get a little bit of work done, please relax. We know you are going to win. Nothing is going to happen to Florida. How many more times do you want us to say it? We are hiding nothing from you. We have some other work to do. You are terrific. You are a great advocate. You are going to win for Florida. You have got the most terrific Senator. Please understand you are going to win. Senator Martinez, you are going to win. You do not have to come down here every minute. You are going to succeed. Floridians, do not worry. This bill will be here 2 more weeks. It cannot pass without you two. So would you give us a little leeway? I just beg you. Now having said that, I ask the Senator from California to offer an amendment that is relevant.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security be authorized to meet on Tuesday, June 14, 2005, at 2 p.m. for a hearing regarding ``Accountability and Results in Federal Budgeting''.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Patent Law Reform: Injunctions and Damages'' on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at 2:30 p.m. in Dirksen 226. Tentative Witness List: Carl Gulbrandsen, Managing Director, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), Madison, WI; Jeffrey P. Kushan, Partner, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, LLP, Washington, DC; J. Jeffrey Hawley, President, Intellectual Property Owners Association, and Legal Division Vice President, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, New York; Mark A. Lemley, Professor, Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA; Jonathan Band, Counsel on behalf of VISA and the Financial Services Roundtable, Washington, DC; Chuck Fish, Vice President and Chief Patent Counsel, Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 161, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed at the appropriate place in the Record as if read, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 15. Further, I ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 6, the Energy bill. I further ask consent that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. on tomorrow for the Republican Party luncheon.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will resume consideration of the Energy bill. Currently pending is a Schumer second-degree amendment to the underlying Domenici ethanol amendment. We expect a vote in relation to that amendment early tomorrow morning, hopefully by 10 a.m. Senators should take note of that fact. That is a probability, not just a speculation. For the remainder of the day, we will continue working through the amendments to the bill.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Harkin for up to 15 minutes, Senator Durbin for up to 25 minutes, and Senator Dodd for up to 10 minutes.

Mr. DOMENICI. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. We think it will be Senator Inhofe, but leave it up to the manager to decide.