Orrin Hatch

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Is that correct? All I am doing is setting the order in which these things would follow. He would not be deprived of moving to table the Frist-Ashcroft amendment, and if it is not tabled of offering amendments.

Mr. HATCH. I do not understand.

Mr. HATCH. Well, I think we would.

Mr. HATCH. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Harkin be permitted to offer his amendment, and that the regular order be the Frist- Ashcroft amendment, and if there is a motion to table by Senator Harkin, and it is not tabled, then it would be open for----

Mr. HATCH. Any motion to table, and it is not tabled, then it would be open for a second-degree amendment. But immediately following the disposition of that would be the Harkin amendment with the same conditions, the Wellstone amendment with the same conditions, and the Lautenberg amendment with the same conditions.

Mr. HATCH. With unanimous consent, it would.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, let me say one other thing. This is an amendment that has already been debated, and it was defeated. So it is coming back again substantially in the same form. Now, I was told yesterday that the minority believes they have narrowed their amendments down to about eight. As I understood it, they figured they would have three more gun amendments, including this, and possibly a fourth. All we want to know is how many are we going to have and what are they so we are sure of what is going to come up. But in all honesty, I do not want to just keep debating the same subject over and over when we have made real honest and decent efforts to try to resolve these problems. Be that as it may, I would like to know, as soon as I can, just exactly how many more gun amendments we are going to have to put up with or are we going to do the rest of the bill. Are we going to get something seriously done about juvenile crime or are we going to make political points in the Chamber, to the extent Senators think they are making them? That is what I am concerned about. I would like to pass this bill which will make a real difference on accountability, making kids who commit violent acts responsible for their actions. For the first time, we actually have prevention moneys, more than accountability moneys. We are doing something about the cultural problems in this society--not something, a whole lot about the cultural problems--that really will work if we can just get this bill passed. Of course, we are going to get tougher on violent juveniles in the sentencing phase and a number of other ways from a law enforcement standpoint. We have spent most of our time in the last 6 days--now 7 days--on gun amendments. We have made a real effort to try to accommodate people on the other side--and some on our own side--to resolve these matters. I think we have largely resolved them. Be that as it may, we will go on from here.

Mr. HATCH. Could I ask----

Mr. HATCH. His amendment will go in order after the amendments that were----

Mr. HATCH. The reason I was concerned is that we set these in order by unanimous consent. I had to go to great lengths to get that done. That is fine with me, if that is the understanding.

Mr. HATCH. We will be happy to do that.

Mr. HATCH. I withdraw my unanimous consent request at this particular point.

Mr. HATCH. We may want to set this aside for that purpose. If we do, I will ask the Senator, would the Senator please give some consideration to my request that we have a time agreement--I am not suggesting what time, but that we have a time agreement on the Frist- Ashcroft amendment so that everybody here knows what is going on? Then people will listen to his recitation of what he believes as to the situation. Can you give us a time agreement?

Mr. HATCH. I am going to yield to the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts. I just want to thank the Senator for getting here and making the speech. I am glad we could accommodate him. I am going to accommodate the Senator from Massachusetts now, and then hopefully I will have something to say about this when he has finished. I ask though, in the meantime, of the distinguished Senator from New Jersey, is there a possibility of us agreeing to a time agreement on this since the main proponents on this have spoken to it?

Mr. HATCH. Will the Senator just consider that, and then maybe, while the Senator from Massachusetts makes his remarks, chat with me and we will see if we can come to agreement?

Mr. HATCH. If the Senator will yield, I will take back the floor. The majority leader has asked me to get a time agreement when we finally vote. I think we are there. If you are down to eight, or actually seven after this one, I can get ours cut down once we know where we are, and then we can have final passage, and hopefully before the end of the day. I think we can do it.

Mr. HATCH. Would the Senator yield for another inquiry from the manager?

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would just like to take a moment to pay tribute to Ila Marie Goodey of Logan, Utah. I have just learned that Ila passed away on Saturday. Ila was a tireless and effective advocate for individuals with disabilities and served as an early and active member of my Utah Advisory Committee on Disability Policy. I have always appreciated her counsel on these issues. In particular, she believed in independence and self-sufficiency, and she directed as much of her energy to assisting others to reach this goal as she did to helping herself. She served as the first chairperson of the Utah Assistive Technology Program Management and Implementation Board. This consumer-responsive, interagency program has been hailed nationwide as a model for other programs of its kind. I know that her friends and colleagues at Utah State University and among the disability community in my state will mourn her loss. But, I also know that they, as I do, appreciate all that she has contributed. There can be no doubt that Ila has made a real difference.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 at 2 p.m. to hold a closed hearing on intelligence matters. The PRESIDENT OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. HATCH

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

Mr. HATCH. I am sorry, I misstated.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, in just a few minutes we believe we can get consent to have three more votes this evening and we will put over a stacked group of amendments for tomorrow, but we are just a few minutes away from having that consent. I suggest the absence of a quorum while we get it.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, unless there is opposition, I would yield that 2 minutes to the Senator from California. Has the Senator from California said all she wants to say on this?

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, we are making headway. I ask unanimous consent that the remaining votes in this series be limited to 10 minutes in length.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. If the Senator will yield, I believe the majority leader is going to propound a unanimous consent request. I am hopeful the minority will agree to this request so we can move this forward. If I could suggest the absence of a quorum so we can get this done, and as soon as that is granted, if that is granted, then we will move on to his unanimous consent and then try to work out the time for the Senator.