Judd Gregg

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. That is correct.

Mr. GREGG. Madam President, at this time we will move to the amendment offered by Senator Grassley and Senator Dorgan. Hopefully they will both be here in short order to get that one started. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I would note the next amendment will be that of Senator Byrd, who I understand is on his way, and he has the floor beginning at 2 o'clock. I make a point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GREGG. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GREGG. That is correct.

Mr. GREGG. As I understand it, that is acceptable to Senator Talent.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I join once again with the ranking member of the Budget Committee to remind Members that we now have pending approximately 15 amendments and that it will take us 5 hours tomorrow to vote those amendments. Tomorrow evening, we are going to adjourn at 6 o'clock under any scenario, so if we cannot complete voting, we will be here on Friday. I do hope Members will be conscious of that as we move forward into the rest of this evening. I understand when this amendment is over we will then be proceeding to the amendment by Senators Lott and Lautenberg relative to ANWR. At this point, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, first I congratulate the Senator from West Virginia for bringing forward a thoughtful amendment, as always, and especially for the fact that it actually, I believe, adds to the savings, if I am not correct. So I cannot argue with that. To be honest, I am not engaged in this issue. The bill was reported out of the Judiciary Committee. We have heard from Senator Sessions, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee. I understand Senator Specter is not going to have the opportunity to come over and debate this because he is involved in a variety of other issues today. I am sure he has thoughts and opinions on this because it was part of the package they reported. I would like to speak briefly about the topic which the Senator from West Virginia has raised because I think it is such a critical one, which is the issue of our borders and how we deal with it. I do have the good fortune, along with the Senator from West Virginia, to have a responsibility for the Homeland Security Agency, he being the ranking member and I being the chairman of that appropriations subcommittee. We know that we simply have borders which are too porous. This year, with the significant assistance of the Senator from West Virginia, we were able to increase the funding relative to the number of Border Patrol agents to add another 1,500 agents when we count the supplemental, and we were able to increase the number of detention beds taking it up to about 20,000. We were able to add significantly to the number of immigration enforcement officials, and we were able to expand technology. We are nowhere near where we want to be. In fact, I asked my staff what we need in this area and we really need a lot more. We need about another 8,000 Border Patrol agents. We need about another 10,000 detention beds. We need a significant expansion of the technology capability, satellite capability, unmanned vehicle capability, helicopters, transportation facilities for our agents and physical housing facilities. We need training facilities. There are a lot of resources that need to be committed. As a result, basically, of the ramp-up time, it is very hard to get a lot of agents in place quickly because we want to get the right type of folks. It takes awhile to hire them. We are only able to hire and train about 1,500 a year. Hopefully, we can improve that. Over the next 4 years, this is something I know the Senator from West Virginia and I are going to spend a significant amount of time and effort to try and make sure our borders are secure and that we do have borders where we can expect the people who cross those borders are crossing legally. Part of it, of course, is making sure that people who get visas pay for the cost of issuing that visa. This is what this amendment is about. So I congratulate the Senator from West Virginia for his strong effort in this area. I appreciate his support as the ranking member on the Homeland Security Subcommittee and of course the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. I look forward to continue working with him on this issue.

Mr. GREGG. No.

Mr. GREGG. But the understanding is we should put somebody in----

Mr. GREGG. As a matter of fairness, that is the only way to approach it. At this time the Senator from Washington is ready to go and we can proceed.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we will be going to ANWR here in a second, and then we will go to the Grassley-Dorgan amendment, and then the Democratic leader of the bill will, I presume, compose an amendment and then we will go to the Lott amendment on Amtrak. Is that the understanding?

Mr. GREGG. I appreciate the Senator from Washington yielding and the Senator from North Dakota for allowing us to proceed here, also in arranging for this. At this time, I ask unanimous consent the debate time on the pending Cantwell amendment be extended to 12 noon and that the time from 10:45 to 12 noon be equally divided, except that the Senator from Washington shall, within that time, receive an additional 5 minutes; that any amendments to the language proposed to be stricken be limited to the time specified above and any second-degree amendments would be limited to the time specified under the agreement: that within the time allocated, Senator Talent shall have the right to offer an amendment relative to ANWR; that the following first-degree amendments are to be offered during today's session within the time limits specified, all time equally divided: Senator Grassley's amendment re: agriculture, from 12 to 1:30; Senator Bingaman's amendment relative to FMAP, from 1:30 to 2 p.m.; Senator Byrd amendment re: VISAS, from 2 to 3; Senator Lott and Senator Lautenberg amendment relative to Amtrak, from 3 to 3:30; Senator McCain amendment re: spectrum date change, from 3:30 to 4:15; Senator Murray's amendment re: dual eligibles, from 4:15 to 5 p.m.; Senator Ensign's amendment re: DTV, 5 to 5:30; and Senator Landrieu's amendment on coastal impact or a Senator Conrad-designated amendment, from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Mr. GREGG. From 2 to 3.

Mr. GREGG. During the period of pending debate from now until 12:00.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, what is the time situation?

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, consistent with the prior discussion we had with the Senator from Oregon, I ask unanimous consent that after the time has expired for this bill, which occurs at 6 o'clock, the Senator from Oregon have 45 minutes as in morning business without the right to offer an amendment.

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

Mr. GREGG. I appreciate the Senator from New Jersey and the Senator from Mississippi being so concise and effective in their arguments. The next amendment will be the McCain amendment beginning at 3:30. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GREGG. Seven and a half minutes.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I suggest we get started and have the Senator from Oregon speak for 7\1/2\ minutes, and then the remainder of the time will be available to Senator Lautenberg and Senator Lott as they decide to divide it.

Mr. GREGG. And we take the balance and parcel it between the Senator from Mississippi and the Senator from New Jersey since they were already here. As for the request of the Senator from Connecticut, hopefully, there is another window coming along so we can hear the Senator's concerns.

Mr. GREGG. I suggest that the Senator from Oregon can do his statement in approximately half the time, 7\1/2\ minutes. Is that possible?

Mr. GREGG. The majority manager is going to control the time in opposition.

Mr. GREGG. I don't think so, to be honest. It appears we do not have any time, either, for Senator Smith.