Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Thank you.

Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I wish to make a point in case there are people observing the Senate. Senator Nelson from Florida indicated he had been waiting a long time--maybe all day--to be heard. There are a lot of Senators all day long who would like to come to the floor and be heard. The Senate is not the place where we just come down to the floor and automatically, if we come here, we ought to be heard. We have business, and we have rules. I am glad the Senator found time and we allowed 5 minutes and we allowed Senator Byrd 30 minutes, but we are engaged in a bill we are trying to pass. I had a lengthy discussion with my friend from Nevada, and I have no doubt he wants to get this bill finished. I thank him for his willingness to move along. We will have another amendment ready pretty soon. My objection to the Bingaman amendment is very simple. He alludes to last year and what happened with amendments such as his last year. There was no alternative last year. There is an alternative this year. It is the underlying electricity bill, which clearly protects the citizens, the users, and all of those concerns about mergers. The merger review in our section is supported by groups such as the National Rural Co-ops, the rural power people, and many others. If, in fact, we did not have protection in this area with reference to gobbling by merger, obviously they would not be for this underlying bill. So I oppose this amendment because we do not have to expand FERC's merger authority. They have merger authority. Under current law, electric merger departments are heavily regulated. FERC, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission must review proposed mergers for their impact on competition. States also review proposed mergers. Expanding FERC's authority to cover the acquisition of generation facilities is unnecessary. We have plenty of merger authority if that is what we are worried about. We are getting rid of undue regulation. There is no need to impose more. Further, changing FERC's review standards will impede efficient transactions, and we do not need that today, either. So while I have great respect and admiration for my friend, I believe the electricity bill that is pending before us, which has been carefully put together, has broad support all based on the fact that it fits all the pieces together properly. It should be left alone. We do not have to add more merger review layers. I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, one of the most difficult negotiations in this bill was getting the language that prohibited the finalization of SMDs until July 1, 2005. The occupant of the chair knows that. That is what we have been talking about. Other Senators wanted a longer time. Some wanted a shorter time. Well, Senator Bingaman changes the language surrounding that July 2005 agreement. Frankly, I would be letting down all of those different groups that worked together to negotiate the language that said the finalization of SMDs will be delayed until July 1, 2005; by changing the words around it, all kinds of groups will be saying we have let them down; we changed what we agreed to. In other words, I regret to say that the exact words surrounding this 2005 letter expansion are binding. Senator Bingaman wants to clarify it one way. There will be a whole group of people who worked on it saying, well, I did not want it clarified that way. I wanted it clarified another way. The point is, it will work like it is. It might work like he wants it to work but the problem is we agreed to these words. Believe me, I am not agreeing to words just for words. They will work. It is just that the distinguished Senator would like to be more precise, more specific, his way. In doing that, he puts this Senator, who has worked this out with all of these other people, in a bind that if I say, yes, let's change it, then we are going to have telephone calls besieging Senators all over saying vote no; the senior Senator from New Mexico is not doing what he told us he would do. Now, I regret that but that is just the result of the way we do things. I am very proud of the words, the date, and the negotiation. I do not lose a lot of Senators on that language and that date. Maybe six or eight wanted more time but we got a pretty good deal for almost everybody. So I just cannot take the risk. I am sorry. With that, I do not need any more time. I yield back any time I have remaining. Vote on Amendment No. 1413

Mr. DOMENICI. I move to table the first Bingaman amendment, which is the pending subject matter, and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I say to the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, I will speak to the majority leader, as soon as an amendment is laid down, with reference to the issue Senator Kennedy just raised. I understand if we proceed on an amendment, we will have an hour or so, at which time I will talk with the majority leader and tell him of your desire and others to speak, and see what his wishes are in that regard.

Mr. DOMENICI. Without losing my right to the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. I will mention the Senator's name.

Mr. DOMENICI. Yes.

Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I cannot do anything more than that, and I think the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts accepts my statement as an honest statement.

Mr. DOMENICI. I will leave the floor. I will find the leader, and I will tell him what is going to happen. I will seek his advice and give him my advice. I very much appreciate the Senator from Massachusetts letting me know. We have a number of amendments left. We have important legislation before us. It is absolutely impossible to do the people's business if, in fact, during the next 12 hours we have 6 or 8 hours taken up by speeches with reference to a judge. We will get it done, but we will be here Sunday, which is all right with this Senator. I do not think I want to let that happen under my watch as manager, but I guarantee my colleagues, for those who insist they are going to speak, I can assure them we are going to be here. Sooner or later the speeches will run out, and we will be here, and we will take up the pending amendments on this bill. I have been told that by the leader unequivocally. I assume that is true if only 60 Senators stick around. So long as we do not lose a quorum, I presume we are going to be here on Friday, on Saturday, and on Monday to finish this bill. Senators have their rights, but we have an obligation to do this work. I say to the distinguished whip, if he will call up the next amendment, I will leave the floor and find out what the leader will do about this, and perhaps we can come up with some accommodation with reference to this issue. I thank Senator Kennedy for his willingness to let me do that.

Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. DOMENICI. How long does the Senator intend to speak?

Mr. DOMENICI. Does the Senator from New Mexico have the floor or the Senator from Massachusetts?

Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Senator yield? I will get right back to him.

Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, let me repeat----

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask for a couple of minutes, and it will not take any longer.

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator. First, I say judges are important, and speaking on behalf of or against judges is very important. I say that not only to the Senators but to our majority leader. It is also very important that we pass an Energy bill. We have been waiting for weeks and weeks. This committee was asked to put a bill together. The Senator from New Mexico wants to get the Energy bill finished. Clearly, I find nothing in the rules that says the Senator from Massachusetts is not entitled to make his speech of 30 minutes or up to an hour. I do believe it is important, nonetheless, that somewhere along the line there be some accommodation and that we proceed to get the Energy bill finished. I understand there are four or five amendments. I wish I could see them sooner or later so I will know what they are about but nobody owes me that, either. We will take it as it comes. I will ask the distinguished majority leader to be accommodating so we can get this bill finished, but I am doing that with great trepidation, not as to Senator Kennedy but as to whether there is a willingness to pursue this bill with vigor if that accommodation is made. I am not sure about that based on some things that have been happening but I hope it is. It is with that in mind that I will talk to the leader, hoping it does mean that if accommodation is made, we will proceed with dispatch on the Energy bill. I thank the Senator for yielding to me.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Object to what?

Mr. DOMENICI. Reserving the right to object, I want to say to everyone who is listening, in case you are confused, we are not on the Energy bill.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I appreciate that my colleague and fellow New Mexican worked with me to help alleviate the current situation with the silvery minnow. I concur with his understanding of the language which is designed to narrowly address the silvery minnow situation in the Rio Grande. It is intended to prohibit the use of San Juan-Chama water in the Rio Grande for endangered species purposes and to implement the March 17, 2003 Biological Opinion. I also concur with his view of the benefits of Section 205 in general, and will strongly advocate for its retention in conference, as well as inclusion of this interpretive language in the conference report.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Have the yeas and nays been ordered?

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we are going to vote on this amendment, and then immediately following that, the next amendment will be the Bond-Levin amendment, which will be preceded by 2 minutes of debate on the part of Senator Durbin in opposition and Senator Bond in favor. So Senators should know we have one vote, with 4 minutes of debate followed by another vote. I ask unanimous consent that the second vote be a 10-minute vote.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I think the minority leader has convinced me, and his suggestion was a good one. I withdraw the Campbell amendment provided he has the right to offer it at a later date.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I thought the other side said I could dispose of it however I would like so we could get on with the business. I just tried to do that.