T. Gorton

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 2295, which was adopted last night, be modified by striking any reference to ``December'' and inserting in each such place ``November''. This agreement is cleared on both sides and is necessary for the amendment to be internally consistent and also consistent with the assertions by its sponsors that it was a 90-day moratorium on the Secretary of Interior implementing any grazing regulations.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, once again, this amendment by the Senator from North Carolina on the reintroduction of the red wolves is a significant amendment. If there are those who are going to debate the Senator from North Carolina on it or object to it, we would appreciate notice from them reasonably promptly. Mr. President, we know that we have one other amendment that will be contested. It will be proposed by the Senator from Vermont [Mr. Leahy] regarding the stewardship of an incentive program. We hope that we can get him to come to the floor as promptly as possible. We have cleared a few other amendments for a wrap-up session. But it is now 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Most of these contentious amendments on this bill have been debated and voted on. We urge Members to tell us now whether or not they want to have their amendments considered. And there is no better time to come and have an amendment considered than right now. If Members want that kind of consideration, would they come as promptly as possible? With that, and waiting with bated breath the next Senator who wishes to speak, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, this is more or less in the form of a notice that I have listened to the Senator from North Carolina. He is dealing with an issue which is almost exclusively contained within his own State. Personally, I defer to his judgment on the matter and tend to support him in his amendment. At the same time, I recognize--and I believe he recognizes--that this could well be considered to be a relatively controversial amendment that would require a rollcall. So what I should like to do at this time is simply put Members on both sides of the aisle on notice that the Senator from North Carolina has spoken to the amendment, and we will deal with it much as we dealt with the amendment of the Senator from Idaho [Mr. Craig] this morning, and state that if there are those who are going to oppose the amendment, would they please notify us? Better than that, will they please come to the floor so they can debate the amendment? If I may request of the Senator from North Carolina to withhold his request for the yeas and nays, and if no one comes to oppose the amendment in an hour or so, we will simply accept it by a voice vote. But if it is going to be opposed, we will certainly have a rollcall vote on it.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, indeed, the Senator from Nevada is correct. This amendment was modified, changed, and worked out to the satisfaction of all concerned and to my satisfaction and that of the Senator from West Virginia. I believe at this point, unless there is further debate, we are prepared to accept it.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of the Senator from Hawaii. I yield the floor. Mr. REID addressed the Chair.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, they do.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, the Senator from Arizona in his set of remarks made a second point which is important to respond to. In dealing with this bill, the Senator from West Virginia and I had to keep our focus constantly on the total amount of money we had available and carry it out as we did. The Senator from Arizona, together with the Senator from Hawaii, chairman and ranking member of the authorizing committee, the Committee on Indian Affairs, have far more expertise than we do as to internally how to divide such moneys and efforts in the programs. I can say for myself that I defer to leadership and the advice and counsel of the Senator from Arizona and the Senator from Hawaii on those internal divisions of money, and we look forward to his advice. I think I can say that his advice will be followed.

Mr. GORTON. I thank my friend from Arizona. I point out to him what he already knows--that there is perhaps a larger difference in this account between the House and the Senate than there is in any other account in this bill. The Senator from Arizona also knows and has expressed his appreciation for the very difficult challenges which have faced both me and the Senator from West Virginia in meeting these stringent requirements of the budget. But I have made private assurances, which I wish to make public, to the Senator from Arizona. The conference committee report is not going to come back with the figure which caused so much heartache to my friends from Arizona, New Mexico, and Hawaii. And I am certain that I will support significant restorations to the accounts which were of such concern to the three Senators who proposed that amendment.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I know the Senator from Nevada is ready with his amendment. But the Senator from Arizona has spoken very eloquently on the earlier amendment with respect to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and wished to engage in a colloquy with me in lieu of another amendment on the same subject. We hope we can do that in an informal fashion and then go to the Senator from Nevada.

Mr. GORTON. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Mr. GORTON. As I do, Mr. President.

Mr. GORTON. Is the Senator from Illinois ready to yield the remainder of his time?

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I will use very little of that time. The report of the Commission on the Future of the Smithsonian Institution, issued earlier this year, says: To assure the future, declare a moratorium on new museum construction unless the incremental funds needed for construction and operations are assured. Mr. President, they are not assured and they cannot be assured. Second: Devote attention and resources to the rehabilitation and maintenance of existing facilities. That is what we attempt to do in this bill, given the severe limitations and great cuts to which it is subjected. Mr. President, is the Senator finished?

Mr. GORTON. Is there any more time available?

Mr. GORTON. I yield to the Senator.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, it is with deep regret that I am going to have to oppose the amendment proposed by the Senator from Illinois, although I suspect, if I looked up rollcalls, that I would have voted for his proposal in previous Congresses. But, Mr. President, there just is not any money for this project now, and it is almost certain that there will not be any in the foreseeable future. I wish to emphasize the amendment is an authorization. We are dealing with an appropriations bill. The authorization bill is before the relevant committee. It has not been reported or recommended by that committee. The Smithsonian is now authorized to build a museum of the American Indian. Very large amounts of private money have been collected for that museum, but it is simply not possible to appropriate so much as a dollar for it in this bill. The Smithsonian is authorized to expand the Air and Space Museum in a significant number of facilities out near Dulles Airport. Planning has actually gone on that one, and money has been spent on that one. There is no way that we can fund its creation. By dint of very careful management and reductions in this bill, which have been objected to since the moment the bill's debate was begun, we got together a little bit more money so that the present Smithsonian can literally fix the roof, so that deferred maintenance, which must be accomplished, can be accomplished. The Smithsonian, together with the National Gallery of Art and a couple of other Federal cultural institutions and the National Park Service, are literally the only functions in this bill that do not have budget cuts from last year. But we cannot build another museum. We cannot build two museums we have already authorized. And there is nothing in a budget resolution leading to a balanced budget in the year 2002 that indicates we are going to be able to do so between this day and that. So to pass this proposal is to make a promise we cannot keep, and, regrettably, I believe it to be irresponsible. Mr. BYRD addressed the floor.

Mr. GORTON. I yield the remainder of my time to the Senator from Alaska.

Mr. GORTON. I think it is wonderful myself. I do have present on the floor the Senator from North Carolina who would want more time to amend if the amendment survives a motion to table. So if the Senator will agree, I will ask there be 30 minutes equally divided on the Simon amendment prior to the disposition of the motion to table, and that no second-degree amendment be permitted prior to the expiration of the 30 minutes and the disposition of the motion to table.

Mr. GORTON. That is a wonderful offer on the part of the Senator from Illinois and is completely--I will put it in this fashion. I think that is a gracious offer on the part of the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Reserving the right to object, and I will not object, the Senator from Arkansas has been waiting a long time to make remarks and I certainly want to allow him to make the remarks. We do have now present in the Chamber the Senator from Illinois, who will have an amendment which will require a rollcall vote. So as promptly as the Senator from Arkansas completes his remarks, I hope we will go to the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, we are open for business. There may be discussions going on at the present time. I can say I know the Senator from Vermont [Mr. Leahy] has an amendment on stewardship incentive programs which will require debate and a vote. I believe the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Helms] has an amendment on the red wolf, which I suspect will require a vote. I know Senator Simon has an amendment on a museum that I believe will require a vote. And perhaps two or three others. But I solicit Members to come to the floor and see whether or not we can accept their amendments or have a debate. The majority leader, understandably, would like very much to finish this bill by late this afternoon in order that we can go on to further business and begin our summer recess promptly. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. GORTON. I note the presence of the Senator from Vermont now.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I listened to the Senator from New Mexico. I understand the Senator from Kansas [Mrs. Kassebaum] has had concerns about this amendment and it is also for that reason a quorum was put in. We needed to check with her to see whether or not she wished to speak on the amendment. I am now informed the Senator from Kansas will later put a statement in the Record on this, and is willing to allow the amendment to be voted on by voice vote.