Judd Gregg

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, how are the quorum calls being charged?

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, what is the status of the time?

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I send a modification to the desk of amendment No. 1111, on behalf of Senator Dorgan, and ask unanimous consent that it be agreed to.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw amendment No. 1113 of the Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Akaka.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I suggest all time be yielded back.

Mr. GREGG. Madam President, this amendment would add to the deficit by $302 million. It exceeds the committee's allocation. More importantly than that--or equally important--the Department cannot spend this money. The Department does not have in place yet the plans necessary to pursue this type of technology. The administration asked for $40 million in this account. The committee put $50 million into this account. We believe the first focus should be on pilot security relative to cargo, which is what we are working on right now, and then moving forward with technology which we are also working on, but we should do it in an orderly way, and this amendment would create a disorderly process and, as I said, add $302 million to the deficit. I hope people will vote not to waive the budget point of order.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I point out initially that this amendment exceeds the budget allocation of the committee and is a deficit spending item. More important than that, the Department of Homeland Security does not yet have the technology nor the pilot programs capable of doing this. They will be pursuing this course of action when they are ready to do this in an effective and comprehensive way, and we will fund it. Again, there dollars are being put in a problem that there is no solution for at this time. The Department has not asked for money for this because they know they are not capable of handling it yet. We will certainly pursue this activity, if it is appropriate, as the Department gets their pilot programs in place and shows that they can handle this type of program. Right now it is premature. In addition, of course, it is deficit spending. I hope Senators support the budget point of order and vote against waiving it.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I have a modification of my amendment No. 1220 which I send to the desk and ask be accepted.

Mr. GREGG. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, this is an amendment to increase funding in the mass transit area by $100 million which is done by taking that money out of a different account, specifically the State and local first responder account. The reason that account was chosen was, as we discussed before, there is over $7 billion of unspent money in those accounts. To the extent the States have the capacity to handle that money, we will make sure they get additional moneys, but right now they have more money than they can handle in those accounts. This will be within the budget. I hope Members support this amendment. Amendment No. 1205

Mr. GREGG. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I raise a point of order under section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act that the amendment offered by Senator Shelby provides spending in excess of the subcommittee's 302(b) allocation.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we have had substantial debate on the substance of this amendment, the fact that the $1 billion probably will not impact dramatically the security situation. It might actually misallocate funds that could otherwise be used for intelligence and for Border Patrol agents and for other activities that are so critical and that are threat-oriented. But the practical bottom line is this amendment is $1 billion over the budget and will add to the deficit by $1 billion, if it is adopted. I urge that the motion to waive be defeated.

Mr. GREGG. I ask again the modification I sent to the desk be accepted.

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

Mr. GREGG. Thank you. Amendment No. 1217

Mr. GREGG. As I understand it, the prior unanimous consent request that I asked for reflects the Democratic leader's time was also agreed to.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 1117, Senator Nelson; amendment No. 1118, Senator Nelson; amendment No. 1137, Senator Collins; amendment No. 1108, Senator Lott; amendment No. 1197, Senator Lautenberg; and amendment No. 1194, Senator Nelson, which are at the desk, be called up and agreed to en bloc.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I am fairly confident that earlier, at the beginning of this section, I asked that all quorum calls be charged equally in relationship to the time allocated. In fact, I am absolutely confident that I made that unanimous consent request. However, I will renew that unanimous consent request at this time.

Mr. GREGG. I also ask unanimous consent that prior to the next two votes there be 2 minutes equally divided.

Mr. GREGG. I ask unanimous consent that after this vote, which is the final vote of this group, there be 3 hours to be divided in the usual form to be used concurrently on the amendments; provided further that following the use or yielding back of debate time, the Senate proceed to the votes in relation to the following amendments: Senator Byrd's amendment 1218; my amendment No. 1220, as modified; Senator Shelby's amendment 1205. Provided further that no second-degree amendments be in order and the amendments be prior to the votes. The time will be divided as follows under the 3-hour agreement: Senator Shelby, 15 minutes; Senator Schumer, 15 minutes; Senator Reed of Rhode Island, 15 minutes; Senator Carper, 15 minutes; Senator Biden, 15 minutes; Senator Sarbanes, 15 minutes; Senator Byrd, 15 minutes; and I will retain an hour.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time be restored in the context of that request, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.