T. Gorton

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we vote now on the amendment. Mr. President, this vote having been 50 to 50 on the motion to table, and the order having been that we vote on or in relation to the amendment, it seems at least to this Senator that the logical course of action would be to vote now on the amendment and then to vote on the energy and water bill thereafter. As a consequence, I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to vote on the Bumpers-Gregg amendment.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. I object to that, Mr. President, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, obviously, under normal circumstances, we would now go back to the Bumpers-Gregg amendment on grazing fees. The Senator from Arkansas, and I think the Senator from New Mexico as well, wish a little time before we do that. I believe it totally appropriate to grant that time. Second, the distinguished senior Senator from Alaska wants about 15 minutes to speak on the former Sergeant at Arms of the Senate. I will soon make a unanimous-consent request that about 15 minutes be devoted to that subject. After that point, I will ask we set this amendment aside and be ready to go to other amendments on the subject. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum. Excuse me, the Senator from Alaska is here, so I ask unanimous consent the Senate grant 15 minutes to the Senator from Alaska or his designee to speak on the recently retired Sergeant at Arms.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, in turn I wish to commend the Senator from North Dakota on a very thoughtful analysis of a problem which he understands from firsthand experience. I agree with him in feeling this proposal ought to be dealt with under different circumstances and trust that will be the decision of the Senate. Now, Mr. President, I do not believe that any other Member is going to come to the floor this afternoon to propose an amendment to this bill. If I am in error, I hope contact will be made with the appropriate Cloakroom promptly. I also hope that, having thoroughly debated this grazing fee amendment, we will be able to bring it to a vote promptly tomorrow morning. I understand the majority leader wants to call the Senate into session at 9:30 tomorrow morning, or at least to return to this bill at 9:30 tomorrow morning, and would like to vote at about 10 o'clock. That proposition is still being cleared. I expect the leader on the floor when the Senator from Arkansas has completed his remarks on this bill, and we will determine between now and then whether or not we can have a brief additional debate on this proposal tomorrow morning, vote on it, and move on to another subject relevant to this bill. Seeing the Senator from Arkansas here and knowing he wishes to speak again on this subject, I yield the floor.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I believe that debate on this grazing fee amendment has been concluded for the day. I have one short correction from last week that I now ask unanimous consent be printed in the Record separately from the debate on the grazing fee amendment.

Mr. GORTON. Last Friday, during debate on the Interior appropriations bill, I put a list of clarifying items into the Congressional Record. They were incorrectly identified as amendments to the committee report. So that there is no misunderstanding, these were clarifications of, not changes or amendments to, the committee report.

Mr. GORTON. Would the Senator from Arkansas withhold?

Mr. GORTON. Do we have a special order to proceed to a particular amendment?

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendment found on page 25 be laid aside and the amendment from the Senator from Arkansas be considered.

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I assume the Senator from North Dakota is here on a different subject. Is that correct?

Mr. GORTON. Then I will yield. Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.

Mr. GORTON. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. GORTON. The request made by the Senator from Arkansas seems, at least to this Senator, to be a reasonable one. The only frustration we may suffer is whether or not we can get anyone to come tomorrow morning to use 3 hours that ought to be devoted to a substantive debate on this bill. So, perhaps with the requests of both of us, we would be able to do exactly that and no time will be lost at all, if there is a serious debate on another contested amendment or, for that matter, if we deal with myriad amendments--I must have 30 or 40 of them here--that I know something about. If we can use tomorrow morning to deal with them, whether they are ones that can be agreed to or ones that will be debated, then we will not have lost any time at all in acceding to the suggestion of the Senator from Arkansas. He can use such time as he wishes now, and we will see whether we cannot work that proposition out for tomorrow.

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, we, of course, will take a careful look at this amendment. It is on a subject of which this Senator is well aware, as a member of the Commerce Committee, of which the Senator from South Dakota is chairman. It does address a very real need. On the other hand, Mr. President, it obviously has nothing to do with an appropriations bill for the Department of Interior and related agencies. The distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia and I have, as a policy, determined that we will not be friendly toward amendments which are entirely nongermane or entirely nonrelevant to issues before this bill. If we do, if amendments like this begin to pass, it is almost certain that the bill itself will be taken down. The sponsors of the amendments likely will not be successful in reaching their policy goals, and we will have frustrated the appropriations process. So I express the hope, and subject to what I hear from the distinguished Senator from West Virginia, that the Senator from South Dakota will be able to make a very important point, as he has, and as he has done eloquently, without opening up this bill in a way that has frustrated and perhaps destroyed some other appropriations bills, including the one that preceded this as a matter of debate. With that, as we do not have any votes to take place today, I suggest that we set the amendment aside and move forward to another subject.

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, this amendment proposed by the Senator from Oregon is, indeed, relevant to the subject matter of this bill. It is one, as he has already eloquently pointed out, that attempts to bring people together, people who have differing views often, and not only individuals with differing views but Government agencies, especially the Bureau of Land Management, and private landowners, in a way that benefits fish and wildlife, in a way that benefits the environment, and in a way which is entirely voluntary. He has worked with me and my office on all of the details of this proposal. I am delighted to say from the point of view of this Senator and the managers of the bill, the proposal is not only acceptable, but one for which I have an enthusiastic response and full support. 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 am informed that this amendment has been cleared by the manager on the other side of the aisle. Under those circumstances, from my perspective, it is ripe for a vote and for acceptance.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, it is obvious that the Interior appropriations bill is open for amendment. We are open for business. We have now heard an amendment proposed by the Senator from South Dakota. We have accepted one by the Senator from Oregon. For the information of Members, under the previous order, at 3 o'clock, the Chair is to recognize the Senator from Arkansas to introduce an amendment on grazing fees, which, obviously, will be a very controversial amendment. I hope there will be a full and complete debate on that amendment this afternoon so that it is ready for a vote tomorrow. It will not, under the unanimous-consent agreement, come to a vote today, but we can move this bill forward and make progress on this bill by having a thorough debate on that issue, one that, while it is controversial, is certainly relevant to this appropriations bill. In the meantime, the floor is open for any other Member who wishes to introduce an amendment to begin discussion, and perhaps conclude it if the amendment is not a controversial one. I invite other Members of the Senate who are within the sound of this debate to bring those amendments to the floor and we will deal with them as expeditiously and fairly as we possibly can. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, with the consent of both sides, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until the hour of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 17; further, that immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be deemed approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then begin consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 3816, the energy and water appropriations bill, with the reading of the report waived; further, that debate from 9:30 to 11 be equally divided with 45 minutes under the control of Senator Domenici, 15 minutes under the control of Senator Johnston, 15 minutes under the control of Senator Levin, and 15 minutes under the control of Senator Simon on the conference report.

Mr. GORTON. I further ask unanimous consent that at the hour of 11 a.m., the Senate resume consideration of the Interior appropriations bill, with the time between 11 and 12:30 equally divided in the usual form prior to a motion to table. I also ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess between the hours of 12:30 and 2:15 for the weekly policy conferences to meet.

Mr. GORTON. I further ask unanimous consent that at the hour of 2:15 on Tuesday there be 20 minutes remaining prior to a motion to table the Bumpers amendment to be equally divided, to be followed by a vote on or in relation to the Bumpers amendment to the Interior appropriations bill, to be followed immediately by a vote on the adoption of the energy and water appropriations conference report.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. For the information of all Senators, under the previous order, tomorrow morning the Senate will be debating the energy and water appropriations conference report. Following that debate, at 11 a.m., the Senate will resume the Interior appropriations bill debate and the pending Bumpers amendment on grazing. As a reminder to all Members, at approximately 2:35 tomorrow, there will be two consecutive rollcall votes on those issues. Senators should expect additional votes throughout the day on Tuesday and may also turn to any other items cleared for action.