Wendell Ford

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, will the distinguished manager yield for a question?

Mr. FORD. So private litigants, their attorneys are yet to be compensated. So you add those on to the $435 billion. Now, if you are talking about $10 to $14 billion in the other place, I wonder if we could just add a low figure $10 billion, so we are now getting to around $495 billion, almost $500 billion. So I want to be sure that we all are on the same wavelength. Then we are talking about the new taxes. That is another $50 billion. That is another $50 billion. That is just over a few years. That is not over the term of the contract. So you add that on and you are at about $530 billion. So if there is a possible doubling of lookback penalties, we are talking about another $42 billion. So I want to be sure everybody understands that $368.5 billion is just within a range for the States for those Medicaid payments. The Federal Government will get about 60 percent; States will get about 40 percent. There are a lot of things here I thought we ought to be sure about. The Senator's amendment, I wanted to be sure that it was in the $368 billion, and not in addition to.

Mr. FORD. Because it is not $368 billion, I say to my friend from Alabama.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, would the Senator from Alabama help me here a little bit? I want to be sure--the eloquence of his amendment has already been stated on the floor. Let us be sure, because this is a very complex piece of legislation. And I yield to everyone because I am not a lawyer and so, therefore, I have a hard time understanding side agreements, protocols, but I am learning. I am on the jury. As I understand it, your amendment applies to the $368.5 billion settlement?

Mr. FORD. I think we are all going to have to work at this pretty hard.

Mr. FORD. Alabama.

Mr. FORD. I thank the Senator. I hope you understand what I am trying to do. It is a huge, a humongous piece of legislation. The $368 billion is just the beginning. It is now, in my judgment, at about $525 to $530 billion. And we have not talked about the private litigants' attorney's fees, which are an add-on. You are not bothering that. I think it might be well, Mr. President, if I submit these figures, have them on a per year basis and with some question marks. There are other add-ons that will be question marks. And the attorney's fees are question marks. I think I will just put this in for a matter of the Record just so everybody will understand. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this be printed in the Record.

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

Mr. FORD. I thank the Senator for helping me here.

Mr. FORD. Yes.

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

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his support, and I do agree, once we have a sense of the Senate, they should be helped. How they are helped is another issue. I thank my colleague from Illinois for his effort here. I yield back whatever time I might have.

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

Mr. FORD. I ask, is it necessary that I call up my amendment?

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this amendment is cosponsored by Senator Robb, Senator Hollings, Senator McConnell, Senator Faircloth, Senator Helms, and Senator Thompson. As many of my colleagues already know, I have been extremely disappointed that the national tobacco settlement includes no provisions whatsoever to help the tobacco farmer. There is no question that this proposal will affect them. Yet there is nothing in the proposal for them. They were not invited to the negotiations. They were not consulted about the negotiations. They were not even briefed about what was going on during the negotiations. The proposed settlement contains money to compensate promoters of the NASCAR races who lose tobacco sponsorship. It contains money to compensate promoters of rodeo events who lose tobacco sponsorship. It contains money for other events, teams, or entries in such events who lose tobacco sponsorship. It contains money, big money, for a tobacco counteradvertising program. It contains money for smoking cessation programs. It contains money for individual lawsuits. It contains money for Medicaid lawsuits filed by the State. Mr. President, the proposed tobacco settlement contains compensation for just about everything you can think of, everything except the tobacco farmer. The negotiators found a way to compensate promoters of sporting events, but they completely ignored a 200-year tradition that is the cornerstone of many small communities in my State. In other words, the farmers got the shaft. I intend to do everything I can to keep any legislation from passing unless there is a fair compensation for tobacco farmers included in the $368.5 billion package. We have to take into account the future of these small families. We have to take into account the future of these small farm communities. There are about 60,000 tobacco farms in my State alone, Mr. President. Most of them grow a couple acres of tobacco, but they get about one-fourth of their farm income from tobacco. The national tobacco settlement leaves them out in the cold. It leaves the local economies of entire communities in shambles. We must do something about it. I have been working with my farmers and with other tobacco State Senators to develop a package that will provide fair compensation to tobacco farmers and tobacco-growing communities. We intend to have such a package included in any legislation to implement the tobacco settlement. I think other Senators from tobacco States share my view that we will simply not support any future legislation which does not address the tobacco farmers' future. So, Mr. President, all my amendment says is that farmers ought to be taken into account. We should not forget them. My amendment is a second-degree amendment which expresses the sense of the Senate that tobacco growers and tobacco-growing communities should be fairly compensated as a part of any Federal legislation for the adverse impact which will follow from enactment of a national tobacco settlement. I think this is a reasonable request, and I believe my colleagues are prepared to accept my amendment by unanimous consent. I am perfectly willing to do that without asking my colleagues to vote. I yield the floor. Mr. DURBIN addressed the Chair.

Mr. FORD. I have a second-degree amendment offered, 10 minutes equally divided. I understand it is acceptable. I will not ask for a rollcall vote. That might help expedite the decision here a little bit. We could proceed with my second-degree amendment which would have to go before the Durbin amendment, and then the amendment of the distinguished Senator from Alabama which would be after that. We can go ahead and get his out of way, if that would be acceptable.

Mr. FORD. Inside there?

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, if I have any time left, I will yield it back after asking unanimous consent that Senator Frist of Tennessee be added as a cosponsor.

Mr. FORD

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

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

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Kerrey of Nebraska, for himself, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Ford, and Ms. Moseley-Braun, I send an amendment to the desk.

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

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 1058.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, on the sense-of- the-Senate amendment that I just sent to the desk, that the cosponsors be Senator Hollings, Senator Robb, Senator Helms, Senator McConnell and Senator Faircloth.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Delaware [Mr. Biden], the Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Hollings], the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy], the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Kerry], the Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Lieberman], and the Senator from Vermont [Mr. Leahy] are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Hollings] would vote ``aye.''