T. Gorton

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I concur with my friend from Hawaii. I believe that this amendment is going to be cleared, but it is appropriate that both the chairman and the vice chairman of the committee be able to speak at least briefly to it. As soon as we have heard from the Senator from Colorado, we may be able to pass this amendment. Personally, I think it is a good amendment, and I commend the Senator from Kansas for bringing it to our attention. Mr. President, unless someone else seeks recognition, I am going to suggest the absence of a quorum. I am desperately attempting to get a time agreement on the Bryan amendment before 12 o'clock so that we can finish that before we begin the debate on the National Endowment for the Arts. In the meantime, if there is anyone else within sound or sight who wishes to propose an amendment, we invite their presence. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, there is an amendment that might have caused a lot of debate that has been agreed to by Members on both sides. I request the President recognize Senator Bumpers to offer that amendment. Senator Byrd has graciously agreed to give us a minute before his special order.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Was the unanimous consent request agreed to?

Mr. GORTON. So there will be votes at 7:30?

Mr. GORTON. I fully understand the concerns that have been raised about these provisions. As is the case with any measure developed over a long process, there are parts of this title which will not please everyone. I believe my proposal represents the most comprehensive solution possible given this issue's complexity. While I sincerely hope that we do not have to revisit this issue again next year, it is certainly appropriate to look at the next year as a test period, to evaluate how well the provision works, and to assess what changes, if any, are necessary. I commit to my colleague from Idaho that I will work with him and other interested Senators and parties to this end.

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, we will try to find some other business to occupy the Senate until that time. Does the Senator from Arkansas wish to speak?

Mr. GORTON. Will the Senator yield? I would like for Members to have more time, if I may.

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, we have until 7:30 before the vote. I think it would be appropriate to ask unanimous consent that the time between now and 7:30 be evenly divided between the two sides with the last 4 minutes devoted to the opponents and proponents using 2 minutes.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, as I said at the beginning of the discussion of this bill last Thursday afternoon, my subcommittee is an extremely popular one. I had some 1,800 special requests from Members, almost all for projects of one sort or another in their own States. I believe we may finish this bill tomorrow, but we have some two pages of amendments, most of which are not matters of profound national policy but, again, for specific programs or projects in individual States. It is with that in mind that I want to say how refreshing it is to hear from these two Senators of their tremendous desire to save the sites of the most important battles, many of the most important battles, in the history of the United States that were fought in that profound turning point in our history, the Civil War. I am quite a Civil War buff myself, a fan of Professor McPherson's book, perhaps an even greater fan of Shelby Foote, but with all of my reading, I fail to remember a single battle that took place in the State of New Jersey, and I can remember of only one skirmish that took place in the State of Vermont that was made into a movie a couple of decades ago. So the Senate has not heard from two Senators who are attempting to create projects in their own States. They are hearing from Senators who care deeply about our heritage and care deeply about the preservation of the physical aspects of that heritage. At least two of the amendments that will be adopted tomorrow will relate to sites of battles that have already been preserved in large part but where the ravages of time are having a negative impact. The Senators know of my bias in favor of supporting them. Even so, when the two Senators who sponsor this amendment first brought it to me, they placed me on the horns of a dilemma from which they now have most graciously removed me. The source of the money for the preservation of these sites is the Land and Water Conservation Fund. A $700 million infusion into the Land and Water Conservation Fund was a recommendation of the President, which at least at that level was acceded to by the Senate leadership in negotiations over the budget. It was not a mandatory part of that budget agreement. The House of Representatives omitted to fund any portion of that $700 million. Feeling very strongly, in general terms, about the importance of not just this kind of preservation but of other preservation, my bill does include that $700 million. It sets three priority items for use of that money, two of which amount to almost half of the $700 million, high- profile priorities of the President of the United States--the Headwaters Forest in California and the New World Mine in Montana. Another $100 million in it is appropriately earmarked for the States' share program, money to share with the States as we have in the past for their own preservation of recreational and other property. So when the Secretary of the Interior came to me with this request, we made the determination that we would not earmark money directly for any other projects. I didn't want to be faced with a whole series of recommendations from the administration in which we in the Congress played no role. And I think it's safe to say the Secretary of the Interior and the administration didn't want us to spend all of the money without the administration playing any role in that determination. So I agreed that we would oppose additional specific earmarks in this bill. At that point, these two Senators came along, either on their own, or knowing my own biases, and asked for money for a purpose which I think is worthy and of the highest possible priority. So they did put me on the horns of a dilemma. They have now agreed to make this a sense-of- the-Senate resolution as to how the money ought to be spent, with my support and with the support of the majority leader. So I want to do two things. I want to thank them for phrasing it in this fashion and I pledge my support as we vote on the amendment. I also want to tell them that as we do work with the administration to set priorities across the country for the spending of the money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, assuming that we can get the House of Representatives to agree that we are going to have the money at all, it is very difficult for me to imagine any higher priority than the preservation of these Civil War sites. So I want to agree with this amendment. Amendment No. 1218 (Purpose: To express the sense of the Senate regarding the preservation of Civil War battlefields)

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, this technical amendment clarifies language on the investment of certain funding by tribes and tribal organizations. The committee included language to provide some flexibility to tribes receiving advance payments of school grant funds. This language clarifies that such advance payments include those under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, or the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988.

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

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

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 ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Unanimous-Consent Agreement

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 ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I inform all Senators that tomorrow morning there will be 20 minutes of debate before a vote on or in relation to Senator Hutchison's amendment on the National Endowment for the Arts. Senators can, therefore, anticipate that the first rollcall vote tomorrow will take place at approximately 9:30 a.m. Following that vote, I hope that Members will cooperate with the managers of the Interior appropriations bill in offering their amendments. The majority leader has stated that we will complete action on this bill on Thursday. Senators should, therefore, anticipate rollcall votes throughout the day on Thursday. I thank all Senators for their attention and cooperation.

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the passage of S. 1061 be vitiated; further, that the bill be indefinitely postponed.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 17, 1997, at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m. to hold hearings.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Governmental Affairs Committee Special Investigation to meet on Wednesday, September 17, at 10 a.m., for a hearing on campaign financing issues.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet with the Senate Committee on the Judiciary during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 17, 1997, at 9 a.m. in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Building to conduct a joint oversight hearing on the problem of youth gang activity in Indian Country.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 17, 1997, at 10 a.m. in room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building to hold a joint hearing on: ``Criminal Gangs in Indian Country.''