J. Exon

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I introduce legislation known as the Armored Car Industry Reciprocity Improvement Act. This legislation is a companion measure to H.R. 3431 which has unanimously passed in the House of Representatives. It is my hope that this bill which makes a slight modification to its companion can be taken up and swiftly passed this year to safely expand the benefits of the Armored Car Reciprocity Act of 1993 which I introduced in the U.S. Senate. The 1993 law which had support from law enforcement, public safety and armored car industry advocates replaced a patch work of State laws with a common sense, pro-safety, pro-interstate commerce approach to weapons registration, background checks and training for armored car crew members. The amendments to the 1993 law build on what was learned since 1993 and will make the reciprocal benefits of the law available to more States. The net result will be better screened, better qualified and better trained armored car crews. The armored car is one of the most overlooked instrumentalities of interstate commerce. Without the ability to safely and securely move currency, securities, food stamps, gold and other valuables, interstate commerce would be impossible. I am pleased to introduce this legislation which I encourage the U.S. Senate to overwhelmingly endorse. It is a tribute to the success of the 1993 law.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to comment on the bill which is before us. First, I salute the Senator from New Mexico and the Senator from Louisiana who are the leaders on this particular measure. I think they have done, by and large, an outstanding job. I hope we can move ahead as quickly as we can to approval of the measure before us, although I am certain some amendments will be in order. Once again, I emphasize that over the years, as has been alluded to by the Senator from New Mexico in his remarks, his excellent remarks just concluded, the Energy Department has played a much larger role in national defense and national security than is generally recognized. One of the problems that I have seen in this area, of course, is that generally we refer to the $260 to $270 billion annual appropriations for national defense. To give us a true picture of that, we should add on the billions of dollars included in the Energy Department under the discretion of the appropriators who have, for many years, taken a very close look at the operations of the Department of Energy. I urge them to continue that effort, as we in the Armed Services Committee do. Generally speaking, there has been excellent cooperation between the authorizers of these funds, the Armed Services Committee, on which I have the honor to serve, and the appropriators, working in close cooperation with the appropriators, especially in the Energy Department, with regard to a whole scope of international relations and international security. I emphasize, once again, the excellent remarks made by the Senator from New Mexico with regard to the excellent job that is done by two of the national laboratories that are located in his State. Certainly, I agree with him completely that the new challenges that we have placed on the Department of Energy, and especially under the laboratories that they oversee, with regard to the safety and reliability of our nuclear stockpile is very important. I have been one of the leaders from the very beginning to end, if we possibly can, nuclear testing of any type, but, of course, that remains to be seen as to whether or not we can get the rest of the nuclear communities around the world, other nations, to agree, because certainly, although I have pressed hard for the nuclear test ban treaty, I recognize and realize that we cannot go it alone forever, which brings me to a matter that I call to the attention of the Senate. Today in Geneva, Switzerland, the world peacekeepers, the negotiators, in an attempt to end the testing of nuclear weapons, are going into a fateful 2 or 3 days. Evidently, although there has not been a great deal of attention paid to this, unfortunately, I think it is one of the most meaningful international negotiations that we have ever seen, and I believe the success or failure of those negotiations, which are reopening today in Geneva, Switzerland, will go a long way to assure, if we can get the nuclear test ban treaty extended and signed, man's humanity for mankind more than anything else that we can do. I will say that I am very pleased to read in the newspapers this morning that evidently all nations that are considered nuclear states, or possibly nuclear states in the future, have agreed to sign on to a continuation of the nuclear test ban treaty with the exception of India. India, of course, is pursuing a course that is most difficult for most of us who have followed this with great interest to understand: Their continuing to say to the international community that they will not sign on to any kind of an extension of the nuclear test ban treaty so long as the nations of the world, the five big nations, primarily, and others, agree to dramatically reduce and get on a course to end the stockpile of nuclear inventory. While that would, of course, be something that might be good for peace, on the other hand, it might not be. The whole drive today is not to eliminate nuclear weapons from those nations that now have it. The whole concept of a nuclear test ban treaty is to put roadblocks in the way for new states, particularly Third World nations coming aboard and being part of the nuclear inventory states. That can only be very foreboding, as far as the future of peace is concerned, and especially the future of peace on the basis of not having and relying primarily--and I emphasize the word ``primarily''-- on nuclear inventories. Suffice it to say, Mr. President, a lot of very important things are going on today. I happen to feel that, by and large, the measure that has been advanced to the floor of the Senate by the appropriate subcommittee, in this case energy, is a good bill. I think it is an important step in the right direction, with some modifications and lots of compromises. In closing, I compliment, once again, the two Senators who are managing this bill on the floor for the excellent understanding that they have, the grasp that they have with regard to the whole complex matter of not only national security but international security. I thank them for their attention and thoughtfulness on this particular measure. I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.

Mr. EXON

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

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I wonder if the Senator from Nebraska might inquire from the managers of the bill as to the status of the Ag appropriations bill. I had the false impression earlier that there were not many matters to be resolved. I would simply observe the obvious, that not a great deal has taken place since noon when we had some votes. I would just like to know, for the schedule of the Senator from Nebraska, if the managers could advise as to the status of negotiations going on, whatever they are. What are the remaining matters of controversy on the Ag appropriations bill, which I thought had been so ably managed out of the committee by the managers of the bill, that we probably were down to not a great many contentious issues. We have not had a vote since noon, and since I have been around here a long time, I know I get the signal when you do not vote from noon until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, that means we might not vote by 8 or 9 o'clock tonight. I know that my friend from Mississippi has been struggling with this bill. The Senator from Nebraska has had some interest in some side issues that have basically been resolved. I inquire of the managers of the bill if they could enlighten this Senator as to what likely might happen the rest of the waking hours today or in the evening.

Mr. EXON. I certainly appreciate that optimistic report from my friend. That would mean the Senator from Mississippi holds out the hope we maybe would have final passage by 6 o'clock? Is that a fair assumption on the part of the Senator from Nebraska?

Mr. EXON. I thank both of my friends. I find myself in a similar position they are from time to time. It is very frustrating to manage bills on the floor of the Senate: Nobody offers any amendments; nothing is accomplished. I wondered about this earlier, since we have not voted since noon. As far as I know, no amendments have been offered since noon. I would simply say, we get into these ruts from time to time. I am certainly not blaming either of the managers of the bill. They are the ones who have been here. It is most frustrating on their part. I was simply making inquiry to maybe jar things along, to help the managers of the bill. I know they are trying to break the deadlock. I hope it takes place, and I appreciate their frankness with regard to what I think is a rather dark prospect for early resolution of these matters this afternoon. I hope we can dispose of them sometime during the daylight hours. I thank the managers of the bill.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, because the substitute has failed, what remains is--and I believe the Senator from Missouri agrees--what remains is the underlying amendment, as amended by the amendments that we adopted by voice vote. Consequently, I suggest we now simply adopt the underlying amendment as amended by voice vote as well. Mr. ASHCROFT addressed the Chair.

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

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, Senator Murray is now scheduled for recognition, I believe. Is that correct? The Senator from Washington should be recognized, I suggest.

Mr. EXON. I withdraw my objection.

Mr. EXON. My apologies. We thought things were cleared. They are not. We will have to object, pending a few moments. Could the Senator hold off for 5 minutes for a chance to work this out?

Mr. EXON. We also thought that we had an agreement, but I am sure you have had exceptions on your side, as we have, and in the best of times they do not always work out. I do not think it is a lengthy delay. I simply say we will try and give the Senator an answer in 5 minutes.

Mr. EXON. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I hope that the Chair at this time will advise the Senate of the procedures agreed to. As I understand the procedures, we will have a series of 24 or more rollcall votes. The first rollcall will be 15 minutes and then 10 minutes on all thereafter, is that correct?

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, we oppose the amendment offered by the Senator from North Carolina. What this amendment simply does is to say that people who are on SSI, or who might qualify under SSI, under the law, do not have the right to be informed about their options. Certainly, we do not encourage soliciting people to join the SSI Program. But the Faircloth amendment goes further than that, in our opinion. Therefore, we think the basic right of information, the people's right to know, a legitimate service to answer proper inquiries should be kept in place. We think that the amendment offered by the Senator from South Carolina goes far beyond what his supposed intent is. Therefore, we have raised a point of order and we hope the point of order will be sustained.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, we have no one on this side who has sought time to speak against the amendment. Therefore, I yield our time to the Senator from Michigan.

Mr. EXON. There is no objection on this side.

Mr. EXON. I move to table the motion. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Motion to Waive the Budget Act--Amendment No. 4929

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, we should oppose the Roth amendment because it negates the Chafee-Breaux amendment that was just agreed to. I yield the remainder of the time to Senator Chafee.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. EXON. I yield to the Senator from North Dakota.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, while I appreciate the thrust of the amendment offered by the Senator from Texas, we strongly oppose it. I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was agreed to.

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