T. Gorton

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. I am certainly not going to have any objection to that request. I wanted to find out where we are in order to announce what I can announce, and this would not be inconsistent with the request of the Senator from Illinois. It looks like this debate will be concluded at about 4:45. There will then be a vote, I believe, on the amendment. I certainly do not propose to table the amendment. I now, with the permission of the minority leader, ask unanimous consent that immediately following the vote on the Ashcroft amendment, there be 2 minutes of debate, equally divided between Senator Bryan and myself, to be followed by a vote on or in relation to the Bryan amendment No. 1205.

Mr. GORTON. I don't think the request has been formally made yet. Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN addressed the Chair.

Mr. GORTON. The Senator from Washington is not going to object to a request by the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was rejected.

Mr. GORTON. Will the Presiding Officer bring the Senate to order?

Mr. GORTON. That understanding would not be correct.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, is my unanimous-consent agreement on the stacked votes agreed to?

Mr. GORTON. One other point, for the convenience of colleagues. When those 2 stacked votes have been completed, we will go to the Abraham amendment and, after that, on the other two amendments that have already been extensively debated on the National Endowment for the Arts, I believe there will be 30 minutes equally divided agreed to on each of those. Whether or not those votes will be stacked to occur all at the same time or not is yet undecided. But there will be more votes this afternoon. There will be more debate on the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, harvesters in national forests have declined by more than two-thirds over the course of the last several years. This amendment is designed to cause them to decline still further. Many of its principal sponsors outside of this body have as their design the entire termination of any harvest on our Federal lands. This proposal drives significantly in that direction. The amount of money in the bill for Forest Service roads is the recommendation of the Clinton administration. The Clinton administration reflects no savings of money by the ending of the Forest Service credit. It is simply another step in the desire to see to it that there is no harvest whatsoever on our forest lands.

Mr. GORTON. Have the yeas and nays been ordered?

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full Committee on Environment and Public Works be granted permission to conduct a business meeting Wednesday, September 17, 1997, at 9:30 a.m., hearing room (SD-406), to consider S. 1173, the Intermodal Transportation Act of 1997.

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Mr. Cochran and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Mr. Murkowski and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I understand the Presiding Officer has certain announcements to make.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of House Concurrent Resolution 134, which was received from the House.

Mr. GORTON. I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution appear at this point in the Record.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:10 a.m. on Thursday, September 18. I further ask that on Thursday, immediately following the prayer, the routine requests through the morning hour be granted, and that the Senate immediately resume consideration of H.R. 2107, the Interior appropriations bill, and the Hutchison NEA amendment as under the consent agreement.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I also express my strong hope and preference, and that of the majority leader, that after disposition of the Ashcroft amendment, unless it is adopted, that we proceed promptly to the consideration of the other amendments relating to the National Endowment for the Arts. They are: an amendment by Senator Abraham; an amendment by Senator Sessions and Senator Hutchinson of Arkansas; and an amendment by Senator Hutchison of Texas. Each of them has been debated thoroughly. While no unanimous-consent request has been made with respect to any of them, I hope that we will be able to get relatively short debate periods and thereby finish dealing with the most controversial aspect of this bill. There are also other outstanding amendments, some of which may require rollcall votes. I know of one relating to forest roads that will be proposed by Senator Bryan of Nevada. I hope we will, within the hour at least, be able to arrange a time for its debate. I believe that there are a couple of others. I am also delighted to report that Senator Bumpers and Senator Reid have apparently reached an agreement on an element in this bill which divided the two of them. I believe that, again, within the hour or hour and a half, we may be able to adopt an agreed amendment on that subject. I know the majority leader still would like to finish this bill tonight. That may be a vain hope, but I certainly hope we will get a long way toward that end. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for helping in getting this debate going. We already have a unanimous-consent agreement for a debate on the Ashcroft amendment on the National Endowment for the Arts of a maximum of 145 minutes beginning at 1:30. So there will be a vote on or in relation to the Ashcroft amendment before 4 o'clock. Personally, I hope it is much before 4 o'clock if not all of that time is used. There are 2 hours between now and the time at which that amendment starts. My friend, Senator Bryan, from Nevada, seems perhaps, I hope, ready for a 1\1/2\ hour debate on his amendment on forest roads. I am attempting to clear that on this side of the aisle and hope I can have it done so that we can complete that amendment and have the vote before the NEA debate begins. I do know there are several other National Endowment for the Arts amendments that will succeed the Ashcroft amendment, and maybe one or two others that require votes. Senator Bumpers may have one on mining. The majority leader is correct; we have been on this bill off and on, mostly on, since last Friday. We have yet to have our first rollcall vote on the bill or on any amendment to the bill. It is time to get going, and I believe my colleagues are about ready to do just that.