Wendell Ford

Mr. FORD

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

Mr. FORD. As far as Senator Chafee's amendment is concerned, now, as modified, this side has no objection.

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

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this side has no objection. We accept the Senator's amendment and thank him for his interest.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, it is my understanding the Simon pension amendment is pending?

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 5372 (Purpose: To prohibit the Surface Transportation Board from increasing user fees)

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, we are now in a position to accept this amendment. I think our colleagues will be thankful that this is the last amendment on the agenda.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Rhode Island for his cooperation and the modification of his amendment. As far as this Senator is concerned, as far as our side is concerned and the administration is concerned, his modification makes his amendment now acceptable. The chairman of the subcommittee, Senator McCain, is working on one other amendment. We feel we are ready to go at some point with your amendment, which will be accepted, I am sure. I do thank him, again, for his cooperation and congeniality.

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

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

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk for immediate consideration.

Mr. FORD. I move to reconsider the vote.

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

Mr. FORD. On behalf of Senator Bryan, this amendment relates to flying over the Grand Canyon National Park. I believe this is also agreed to.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, this is a sense of the Senate as it relates to evidence established relating to hostilities toward any U.S. citizen as it relates to the airlines. I believe this amendment is cleared and we can move forward.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I understand there are 14 minutes left on this side.

Mr. FORD. So, 13\1/2\ minutes. I yield myself as much time as I might use.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the call for the quorum be dispensed with.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Coming from Kentucky, and I guess in some other States, we have heard about midnight conversions or death-bed conversions. ``I've seen the light. Everything's going to be all right.'' Lo and behold, we found for a long time that this side of the aisle has been pushing for additional funding for education. And I read in the morning paper where there was a midnight conversion. Somebody has been reading the polls. For the first time in a Presidential campaign, education is No. 1-- No. 1. So rather than going out with a whimper, Republicans want to close this session down with a bang. It is not enough. If you read the stories in the press, the Republicans were forced into putting this money in the budget by Democrats. That is the story. That is the story. The midnight conversion was one we have been pushing hard, trying to get our amendment up yesterday, were refused, objected to, everything, because you did not want Democrats to offer their amendment yesterday. That is parliamentary procedure. I understand it. Every Senator in here understands it. I think the public understood it. So now the $2.3 billion or whatever the Republicans tried to put in last night in their midnight conversion, we think, is not enough. It should be a little over $3 billion. I hope that the Senate will allow us to vote on that amendment. We are getting to a point now where we cannot get appropriations bills out. It is not our fault. We are left out. We have bills that are coming up here that only the Republicans have dealt with--Democrats have never been called into the room. That is the way it has happened for over 18 months now. Somebody said, ``Why should Democrats be in?'' Some old fellow in the back said, ``Well, a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.'' Maybe, just maybe, they would have a good idea. A good idea has been education. I do not know who said it, but I want to tell you I will remember it as long as I live: A cut in education never heals--a cut in education never heals. That is what has happened here. The Republicans cutting education, that wound will never heal. I do not care how you try to paint it, how you try to phrase it in a 30-second ad, how the incumbents and challengers try to play it back home, that cut that was out there will never heal. The people will remember how you wanted to cut education. Mr. President, I am delighted that the Republicans were converted last night. I am glad the death-bed conversion worked because at least we are a little over $2 billion closer to what the administration feels and we on this side feel should be available for education. It used to be, and now I think it is a foregone conclusion, that a high school education is not enough. We worked hard in Kentucky with KET, with the Star Program, to get KET by television. It worked well. Practically every State in the Nation picked up on it, the Star Program, so that everybody would have an opportunity, even if they worked, they could stay at home and get their GED. I do not know how many tens of thousands of GED certificates were given as a result of the Star Program. It all came from Kentucky educational television. It was the pilot project that spread across this country. Now the President says that 2 years of college, 2 years of college ought to be the norm. We hear all about this tax cut. I do not hear much about it now; it has kind of faded away--15 percent tax cut. For an individual making $200,000, your tax cut at the period of time proposed in the tax cut is $28,900. That is annual. That will put 19 students through the community college if my hometown. So we give one individual making over $200,000 a year, the equivalent of giving 19 students their tuition, getting them through community college. I do not think Government ought to be in everything. I think they ought to be out of most things. But we have to give some leadership, and education is leadership in this country. The people understand it, constituents understand it, and, lo and behold, Republicans found out about it last night. So as you read the story where Democrats forced Republicans to add over $2 billion in education, that is the story. They are cutting. The cut in education never heals, and the cut that was attempted in education under the Republican budget, under the Republican appropriations bill, that cut will never heal because the people will remember what was attempted to do. Mr. President, I hope we will be able to bring our amendment up, and we will be able to offer it as we wanted to and which we were precluded. When you ask unanimous consent that your amendment be brought up and it is objected to, everybody understands that. You think it does not resonate beyond this Chamber? Of course it does. People that watch C-SPAN understand who is preventing the amendment to come forward to improve education, so that they, being the Republicans, could make their effort last might and make some headlines today. Read the story-- the Democrats forced them to do it. The Democrats forced them to do it. Mr. President, I am pleased at the movement in the right direction. I hope we can do a little bit more so that those students out there in my State and your State and other States will have an opportunity for education and will not continue to burden the families with the borrowing of money and the struggling in order to see that their family is educated. I yield the floor.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, Kentucky and the Nation suffered a great loss last week with the passing of Mr. Ralph Gabbard. Ralph was a nationally known broadcast executive, serving as president of Gray Communications. He was a leader in the television broadcast industry in my State, and ultimately was a national leader as well. Ralph was at the forefront of the industry's development in Kentucky for the better part of the last 30 years, including successful efforts to bring a television station to the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Among other things, he served as chairman of the CBS Affiliates Advisory Board and the National Association of Broadcasters television board. Most recently, Ralph played a significant role in industry discussions with the Clinton administration which led to the announcement of steps to improve the quality of children's programming. But beyond the long list of personal accomplishments, Ralph was probably best known for his integrity, his honesty, and his common courtesy in dealing with others. I was privileged to deal with Ralph on more than one occasion, and had great respect and trust in his abilities. He was a true asset for my State, and his presence will be missed. Mr. President, I ask that two articles which recently appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader describing the life and accomplishments of Ralph Gabbard be inserted into the Record at this point.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I do not need any personally. There will be opposition to the Senator, and I have not gotten a time agreement on that. I am sure we can work out something equally divided here, but I am not in a position to agree.