T. Gorton

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. We went back and forth between the two sides. If the Senator would like to be after the next Republican amendment, I will be happy to set that up.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, there is nothing in this unanimous consent agreement that interferes with that. This just sets up the very first one. We will go back and forth, and I will certainly honor the request of the Senator from Florida.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that after the clerk reports the Interior bill, Senator Boxer be immediately recognized to offer an amendment regarding oil royalties; further, that there be 3 hours for debate on the amendment, equally divided, prior to a motion to table. Finally, I ask that no amendments be in order to the Boxer amendment prior to the tabling vote.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, September 16. I further ask unanimous consent that when the Senate reconvenes on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved, no resolutions come over under the rule, the call of the calendar be waived, the morning hour be deemed to have expired and the time for the two leaders be reserved. I further ask unanimous consent that the Senate then resume consideration of the Interior appropriations bill.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, we now are on the Interior appropriations bill. I hope we will not have quorum calls. I hope we will be able to move through amendments briskly, with appropriate debate. I count about 10 or a dozen amendments on this bill which are likely to require rollcall votes. As usual, we are having a difficult time this afternoon getting people to come to the floor with their amendments. I would like to go from Republican side to Democratic side and back to the Republican side. I ask that the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Enzi, be recognized next. If there are Democrats who will bring up their amendments this afternoon, I would like to hear from them. They would go next. We will have more amendments this afternoon that will require rollcall votes. Amendment No. 3592 (Purpose: To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from promulgating certain regulations relating to Indian gaming and to prohibit the Secretary from approving class III gaming without State approval)

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I understand now that Members on both sides have agreed to a 1-hour--I will withhold that request at this point. Is the Senator ready?

Mr. GORTON. Then, Mr. President, I will yield the floor and I will ask the Senator's indulgence, if we have cleared a time agreement, to get that time agreement. We would like to have a vote on the amendment before the lecture by Senator Byrd at 6 o'clock this evening.

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

Mr. GORTON. I move to table the Ashcroft amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I yield half of our remaining time to the Senator from Massachusetts and half to the Senator from Utah.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, would the Senator from Arkansas like the last 2 minutes that is available?

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, the Senator from Missouri, Mr. Ashcroft, is here and will be ready in just a few moments to present an amendment respecting the National Endowment for the Arts. We will debate that until debate is completed. I rather suspect that amendment will require a rollcall vote. But this is to notify Members who are interested in the National Endowment for the Arts that this will be their opportunity to speak on that subject. It was the subject of some controversy and a number of speeches last year, and I suspect there may very well be Members on both sides who would like to make their views on the subject known, and they are invited to come to the floor. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I know of no one else desiring to speak on this Enzi proposal. It seems to me that it is a relatively simple one. It simply enjoins for one additional year the right of the Secretary of the Interior to avoid the requirements of both the 11th amendment and of present law by making it a determination that a State has not engaged in good faith in negotiating a class III gambling compact and that it has stated its sovereign immunity in an action by an Indian tribe or another kind against it. In light of the fact that the report of a long-term commission on the effect of gambling in the United States has not yet been made, it seems to me that this is a reasonable amendment. I know of no request for a rollcall vote on the amendment. Mr. President, I believe we are ready to vote on the Enzi amendment.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, by reason of the Byrd lecture this evening, I now ask unanimous consent that the time between now and 5:30 p.m. be divided, with 17 minutes for the opponents of the amendment and 8 minutes for the proponents of the amendment, and that at 5:30 the manager of the bill or his designee be recognized to offer a motion to table, and that no second-degree amendments be in order prior to the tabling vote.

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

Mr. GORTON. Is the Senator not an opponent of the amendment?

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I note the presence of the Senator from Massachusetts. I am going to use very little of this time and will allow him to speak on it. Mr. President, the eloquent and thoughtful Senator from Missouri has raised two specific criticisms of the continuation of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. One relates to a notorious anti- Christian play called ``Corpus Christi'' about to be produced in New York City, the sponsor of which originally received the tentative NEA award on the basis of an application described by the Senator from Missouri. Personally, I think the NEA should probably have turned down that application at the time at which it was granted on the ground that it sounded as though the play was on no subject other than a very standard and Orthodox Christian theme which is perhaps inappropriate for funding by government. In any event, the National Endowment for the Arts has not funded the production of that play, might well have decided that it did not wish to subsidize anything else that the theater was doing, but certainly has not breached any of the requirements which Congress has laid down for the National Endowment for the Arts itself. Had it gone ahead knowing what the play was about, we might be having quite a much longer debate here today and one in which the future of the National Endowment for the Arts might be very seriously under threat, including, from among others, this Senator. Secondly, the Senator from Missouri quite accurately describes the decision of the Supreme Court on the decency standards included in former and current versions of the funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. I say, joining myself with the Senator from Missouri as a former State attorney general, that I was somewhat disappointed in that Supreme Court decision which largely ducked the fundamental issues that were involved in the limitations Congress has placed on the way in which the National Endowment for the Arts can make its grants. The Supreme Court at least nominally upheld those decency provisions but raised some very serious questions about their future applicability under future challenges. The bottom line was, however, that the National Endowment for the Arts, that had refused to fund certain activities by Ms. Finley, among others, was upheld in that refusal. As long as the courts continue to uphold the National Endowment when it engages in that kind of rejection, I think we will be in good shape. If at some time in the future the Supreme Court should say that this Congress does not have the ability to provide limitations on the use of this money to enforce commonly held decency standards in the United States, we will be debating a different issue. But at the present time we are debating the issue of the continuation of the National Endowment for the Arts under the rules under which it has operated for the last couple of years, during which it has not funded grants that outraged a significant majority or even a very large minority of the American people. The great bulk of the grants--or rather most of the money that the National Endowment for the Arts uses--goes to State art agencies. Most of the rest goes to institutional kinds of activities--symphony orchestras, art museums and the like. The restrictions on the NEA funding of individual projects are very, very significant and have prevented the kind of controversies that took place 5 or 6 years ago. In other words, Mr. President, it is my view that the reforms that have been imposed on the National Endowment for the Arts by the Congress of the United States have, in fact, worked, and the grants made by the National Endowment for the Arts help the arts scene all across the country, which are far more decentralized than they were before, in far more underserved areas, in far more deserving entities in small towns and small cities around the United States. On balance, it seems to me highly appropriate to continue the modest support that Congress gives for the NEA imprimatur. And almost all of our constituents involved in the arts tell us that even a tiny grant from the National Endowment provides for the arts and entities that get the great bulk of their money from charitable contributions, from generous-minded people in their own communities. I attended an opening of a new concert hall in Seattle on Sunday in which perhaps $100 million or more was spent for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, an occasional minor recipient of grants from the NEA. That fund drive was greatly strengthened by the kind of support that the NEA gives. It is almost solely financed by State government, county government, local government contributions, and even larger contributions from the private sector itself. The NEA, for better or worse, is a catalyst for arts support, private and public, all across the United States, and the endowment should be continued. Mr. COATS addressed the Chair.

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, tomorrow the Senate will resume debate on the Interior appropriations bill, with Senator Boxer recognized to offer an amendment regarding oil royalties with 3 hours for debate. At the conclusion or yielding back of time, the Senate will proceed to vote on a motion to table the Boxer amendment. Following that vote, it is expected further amendments to the Interior bill will be offered and debated. Therefore, Members should expect rollcall votes throughout Wednesday's session in relation to the Interior bill or any other legislative or executive business cleared for action.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I remind all Members that the leader's lecture series will begin promptly at 6 p.m.--that is about 1 minute from now--this evening in the Old Senate Chamber. Senator Robert C. Byrd will be the guest speaker for this evening's lecture.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. For the information of all Senators, tomorrow the Senate will resume debate on the Interior appropriations bill. Senator Bumpers will offer an amendment relating to mining laws with the vote occurring on or in relation to that amendment at 2:25 tomorrow afternoon. Following that vote, it is hoped that Members who still intend to offer amendments to the Interior appropriations bill will work with the managers of the legislation to schedule consideration of their amendments. I thank my colleagues and remind all Members that the first vote will occur on Tuesday beginning at 2:25 in the afternoon.