Orrin Hatch

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. This is not the gun lobby, this is Senator Hatch sending a modification to the desk.

Mr. HATCH. Do we want to get this done or don't we?

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, that just plain is not true. The language does correct those loopholes he is talking about, but just to guarantee it, I send a modification to the desk that certainly clarifies and corrects those loopholes.

Mr. HATCH. Yes.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be given an additional 2 minutes and also if the other side needs an additional 2 minutes.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, is all time yielded back?

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I do hope this amendment will be tabled. I intend to move to table it. I know my colleague is very sincere about it, but I am concerned about decent, law-abiding people and having these onerous burdens placed upon them. Mr. President, I move to table. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I have listened carefully to the minority leader, and I appreciate his usual courtesy. But just stop and think about this. There has been all this time on this bill. If we were to vote on it today, it would pass overwhelmingly. It would make a tremendous amount of difference to this country at a time when that tremendous amount of difference needs to be made. We all know how this game works around here. If we don't put a finality to it--and our leader has tried to do that--in this very tight time-constrained situation, with Y2K and all the other bills that have to come up, defense bills, the supplemental appropriations bills, and other types of appropriations bills, we will wind up spending another 4 or 5 days, or maybe even 2 weeks, on this bill. I know the majority leader does not have that much time and neither do we on this side. If we wind up without a juvenile justice bill this year after we have come this far, I think it would be catastrophic for this Nation. The next time we have another situation like the Columbine massacre, I wonder what kind of excuse we are going to use at that time if we didn't do the very best we could. I hope my colleagues on the other side will think this through. We are seeing a situation that could bring this bill down because we don't have the time to play politics with it. To have everybody bring up their amendments--we could go on for years with amendments on juvenile justice. We have done that for 2 years now. I know the distinguished ranking member of the Judiciary Committee has worked closely with me to get this to a conclusion. I think this is a pretty fair offer. I understand the minority leader may not be able to get his people together on this at this particular time. But let me tell you, I can't blame our majority leader if he has to pull this down and get the other bills done under these circumstances. I am very concerned.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will resume consideration of the juvenile justice legislation. There will be two back-to-back votes at approximately 9:40 a.m. The first will be on or in relation to the Hatch-Craig amendment, with a second vote on or in relation to the Schumer Internet firearms amendment immediately following. Additional amendments are anticipated, and therefore further votes are expected throughout today's session of the Senate. The cooperation of Senators is appreciated as the bill's managers work to finish this important legislation. I thank my colleagues for their attention.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. HATCH. I object.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, when I suggested equal time, it was on those particular amendments because of the need for certain Senators to be here on those particular amendments. Earlier this morning, Senator Lautenberg desired to call up his amendment and I respectfully requested that he reserve bringing it up until Monday because there are people gone who will not have an opportunity, who have asked me--who believed these amendments would not be brought up, who asked me to protect their right to be here when the amendments are brought up. As a courtesy, I ask him not to bring up the amendment. So I have no alternative other than to object to it. We have had six amendments brought up. It is our turn on our side to present an amendment. I think we are making progress. But we should honor, to the best of our abilities on each side--the request of some of our colleagues that they might be here on amendments they consider to be important to them, especially since this is a Friday and almost everybody left believing we would not do much more today. Be that as it may, that is why I have to object. I have objected and I will object to certain amendments where I have to protect people on our side, as I would expect the distinguished Senator from Vermont to object if we tried to bring up an amendment when Senators on his side could not be here to respond. I have another amendment for our side to bring up at this time. It is an amendment on the part of Senator Sessions and Senator Robb and Senator Allard. I send the amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. We understand that most Senators have left. We also understand some of these amendments are controversial and they need debate on both sides. We also understand that some of us have to protect ourselves on both sides or protect our Senators. We are moving ahead. I just put in a very important amendment for Senator Feinstein and myself. We are submitting our statements for the Record today rather than taking the time of the Senate. We are moving ahead in a regular forum. We can move with some amendments today and some we can't. We do want to move ahead and we will certainly try to do so and accommodate Members. When it comes to protecting Members of the Senate, we have to do that. It is just a common courtesy that has been used in this body ever since I have been here for 23 years. I don't want to see that courtesy not extended at this time. What I am hoping is that we can proceed with the Byrd amendment, which happens to be the bill that I filed on alcohol sales over the Internet. We know that the Senators from the States who are in opposition are not here today. We will try to work out an arrangement where this amendment can be filed and reserve time, an equivalent amount of time, for those who may be in opposition. We have asked for just a few minutes for one of our distinguished Senators who has a direct interest in this to be able to read the amendment. It is not a long amendment. If we could just get a few more minutes of time. As I now understand, the amendment is OK. Let's go ahead. May I propose a unanimous consent request?

Mr. HATCH. Will the Senator yield for a unanimous consent request?

Mr. HATCH. Nobody is accusing anybody of surprise. The Senator has every right to call up his amendment and we are glad he is. I ask unanimous consent whatever time the Senator takes on this amendment today, that those in opposition be permitted to take when they return on Monday.

Mr. HATCH. If you will do that, that will be--

Mr. HATCH. I believe I was inarticulate. I believe I did not make it clear that one of these nine amendments should be used. If the Senator wants to be technical about it and not utilize one of those nine amendments, then let's quit debating and wasting time on it. We will just expand the amendment list by one in order to accommodate a Member of his side, but I would prefer, if he would, that he grant her the use of one of the nine which currently are not being used, as a courtesy to me and to her. And if he doesn't, we will do the other. I don't care, but I don't want a big debate on it. I want to get to the Ashcroft amendment, if we can.

Mr. HATCH. Let me say--

Mr. HATCH. I am prepared, but I think we should use one of the nine open amendments to be fair about it. But if you want to raise a technical objection and not use one, that is fine with me, because it is fair to the distinguished Senator from California, whom I oppose. That is why you kept those amendments. I think it is fairer to use one of them. That way, we do not expand the list. That is what I would do for you. If you won't, then I will accept whatever.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President. During the debate over juvenile crime, we have heard a lot about the negative activities that juveniles participate in--playing violent video games, viewing unseemly sites on the Internet, and watching objectionable movies. But little has been said about the constructive things that kids can be--and are--doing with their time. It seems, sometimes, that there are few alternatives to the pollution that modern culture often feeds to our children. However, in my home state of Utah there are many programs that help children to focus their attention away from destructive activities. For example, the Police Athletic League in Ogden, Utah provides sports lessons and intramural teams for 325 kids. Police officers serve as mentors to children and supply much needed attention through athletic activities. The Hispanic Cultural Youth Program in Utah holds dances and social events that present a safe place for youth to socialize. And the LDS church has an extensive youth program that provides social events, educational activities, mentoring and community service activities. I want my colleagues to be aware of an excellent program in Arizona that gives juveniles positive alternatives to the destructive activities that contribute to juvenile crime. ``Kid-Star'' Radio 590 AM, in Phoenix, allows children to produce, broadcast, and promote their own radio shows. Perry Damone, son of my good friend Vic Damone, has founded this program that places radio stations in the public schools and allows the children to control the broadcast. The kids run the entire program and have had phenomenal success with it. Over 3,000 students throughout Arizona have participated in the program. Individual schools report an almost immediate improvement in over-all student responsibility, and better written and oral skills. Under this program, the students have conducted numerous interviews with prominent individuals including country singer Garth Brooks, comedian Jay Leno and our esteemed colleague Senator John McCain. Children have emerged from this program with a better self-esteem, greater maturity, and life skills. In S. 254, the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, the Federal Government is required to disseminate data on prevention programs that are successful. This bill provides over $1 billion a year to the States to fight juvenile crime and prevent juvenile delinquency. This money will help the Department of Justice isolate and encourage successful prevention programs. Programs like the Police Athletic League, the Hispanic Cultural Youth Program, and ``Kid-Star'' should receive our special attention and be encouraged to continue the good work that they do. As we continue to search for solutions to juvenile crime, let's remember the best solutions come from individuals working on a local level to make a difference. We can learn much from these initiatives on behalf of our children. I am extremely enthusiastic about the programs I have mentioned and hope the positive benefits of programs such as this can be extended to the entire Nation.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I call for the regular order with respect to the motion to proceed to S. 96.

Mr. HATCH

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I see some colleagues who want to speak at this time. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Lincoln be recognized for 10 minutes and then Senator Voinovich, who will be on the floor shortly, be recognized for another 10 minutes.

Mr. HATCH. He can't yield the floor to another person--or did he have the floor? I don't know.

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, let me just answer that and then I will be happy to yield to the distinguished Senator from New Jersey. Look, the games are over as far as I am concerned. When a Senator stands on the floor and says he is protecting Members of his side and extends the same courtesy to the other side to protect Members on their side, all they have to do is tell us. If the distinguished Senator believes somebody on his side has to be protected, all he has to do to be protected is tell me and I will honor that. I asked for that same courtesy on our side because there are Senators who cannot be here who want to be here when Senator Lautenberg brings up his amendment. It is a fair request, a fair statement; it is a fair position. I really do not think people should try to make political points or political hay out of it. I might also add, nobody wants this bill more than I do. I have been working on it for 2 solid years. I have been working on it every day on the floor. I am going to do everything in my power to get it passed. I have to admit I have had a lot of cooperation from our distinguished ranking minority leader on the Judiciary Committee, for which I am very grateful. But there is no reason to play these games here. It is unreasonable for anybody to suggest that because somebody is protecting his side, because I am protecting my side, there is something untoward about that. I would not suggest it if the Senator wanted to protect his side. Naturally, I am going to yield the floor to my friend from New Jersey. I wish I could accommodate him, frankly, because I care for him. I know he is sincere on this amendment. But it is not unreasonable to ask that Senators, on something they feel very deeply about, since everybody left here today other than a few of us, that they be protected so they can be here when the amendment is brought up. Also, I note the distinguished Senator from Arkansas is on the floor. She wants to make a statement that is unrelated to the bill, as I understand it, or to either of the bills--the current bill that is on the floor or the prior bill we were debating. So I yield the floor for the distinguished Senator, and of course, hopefully the Senator from Arkansas will then make her statement.

Mr. HATCH. We are no longer on that bill. I really cannot do that because of the courtesies I must extend to people on both sides. I am sorry I cannot accommodate the distinguished Senator from New Jersey. We are no longer on that bill. As I understand it, we are on the motion to proceed to the Y2K bill.