Wendell Ford

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, before we start, we had a minute on each side. Do they need it? I think we might as well get started. I don't think we need it on this particular amendment, but I wanted to be sure. Under the unanimous-consent agreement, there are 2 minutes equally divided prior to each piece of legislation. Mr. WELLSTONE addressed the Chair.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I have listened to my colleague from Missouri talk about the March of Dimes. I started with the March of Dimes. We raised $800 trying to find a polio vaccine until it was completed. For 25 years I have worked with the March of Dimes and scholarships. The March of Dimes can't be used to stop this amendment. The veterans and their children deserve the vote of this Senate. If you could listen to the Democratic leader and the statements he has made, if you want to vote against the Vietnam veterans' children with spina bifida, you go ahead and do it. Then we will see who suffers the consequences. We are talking about children here. Let us be compassionate tonight, and not be so hard that we say to these Vietnam veterans there is even the possibility that they should not be taken care of. I hope the Senate will join the Democratic leader and support his amendment. I yield the floor.

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. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 5194 (Purpose: To provide health plan protections for individuals with a mental illness)

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Then we vote on Tuesday.

Mr. FORD. I am not worried about how the watch is made here. I am just worried about the time. So we start at 10:30. There will be 4 hours equally divided, and then an additional hour. That will be all done on Monday?

Mr. FORD. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President.

Mr. FORD. Start at 10:30 for 4 hours on Monday?

Mr. FORD

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

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Lautenberg] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to pay tribute to the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, which is marking its 100th year of service to Cincinnati, OH, and northern Kentucky. Good Samaritan, the sixth nursing education program established in Ohio, was founded by the Sisters of Charity and has graduated nearly 5,000 nurses over the past century. These nurses have brought skilled and compassionate care to hundreds of thousands of patients throughout the world. Consistently a leader in nursing education, in 1906 Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing was among the first in the United States to earn accreditation. Its leadership status was again affirmed in 1927 when it affiliated with a baccalaureate degree program at the College of Mount St. Joseph; in 1952 when it created a third-year internship; in 1972 when it tailored a nationally recognized registered nurse program to further the skills of licensed practical nurses; and in 1981 when it introduced its diploma program for part-time students. Good Samaritan has also been a good neighbor. More than 30 years ago, realizing the existence of a medically underserved population in the area, it reached out and created its community health nursing course. Mr. President, I know I speak for many when I say that a huge debt of gratitude is owed to the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing for its century of service. I congratulate the students and the school's graduates and leaders as they gather to commemorate the school's first 100 years of nursing excellence.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray] and the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor], are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. We could do health care and those sorts of things.

Mr. FORD. That depends. That would be my position as of this time, that only the one judge. We can do judges, and that is plural. We can do safe drinking water. We can do the small business minimum wage conference report.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I was not privileged to the agreement among the distinguished Senator from Texas and New Jersey and our leader. So I am somewhat in a difficult spot here this morning. I will have to wait until the leader has arrived. He is not here at the moment, and we all understand why he is not, and also the Senator from New Jersey. Two things happened. I remember the distinguished Senator from Texas making a statement on the floor about how much stronger her bill was after the Lautenberg amendment was attached, and you made a very strong statement about the bill as it left here. The bill was only passed last week. We have been trying to get bills passed for 8, 9, and 10 months. So it was just passed last week. The problem in the House, as I understand, was they tried to strip the Lautenberg amendment from the stalking bill, and that is where it ran into trouble. The day is not over and tomorrow is not over, as the majority leader has said. Maybe things can work out. I am willing to help in any way I can, but I am somewhat at a disadvantage, if I may use that as a tool here. I will work with the majority leader, as Senator Daschle has. So I think what I am saying is correct here, that attempting to take the Lautenberg amendment off the stalking bill last night caused the problems, and that was the reason it was not brought up. Today is another day.

Mr. FORD. Yes, we could. But, I mean, we have a little problem with that bill. As the majority leader knows, we want to have a striking provision relating to a drug patent that was put into the conference report. We would like to have an opportunity to remove that before we move to it. Mr. LOTT addressed the Chair.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I know what the objection would be. The reason it has been brought up is because there would be an objection, and the objection was made last night. The finger pointing has gone too far here. I think we need to call a quorum, wipe the sweat off, and try to work things out instead of pointing fingers at each other. We are getting too harsh. The majority leader is working hard, trying to make this thing work, and then we have people jumping up and down fussing back and forth. It is time it stopped. It is time it stopped. I yield the floor.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, let me just take 1 minute, and then I will sit down. The Senator from Missouri is fussing quite eloquently here about not getting his bill up and giving a lot of reasons. The objection this morning came from your side, not from this side. It came from your side to bringing things up over a bill that is in the House, not in the Senate.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Would the Senator yield?

Mr. FORD. I have no objection to the recess. But we do have a couple Senators that were on their way to make some remarks on our side. If you could withhold that or set it at the end of the statements by Senator Kennedy and Senator Wyden and maybe Senator Baucus, because those three would like to make some remarks. That way we would not be wasting the time.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Mrs. KASSEBAUM addressed the Chair.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. It's not here yet.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] and the Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray] are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray] and the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor], are necessarily absent.