Mark Hatfield

Mr. HATFIELD

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I can assure the Senator from Florida that I certainly think this is a matter which the FAA should carefully review. And, I look forward to working with him to bring both these matters to a resolution before the Congress finalizes the fiscal year 1997 legislation. vts 2000 colloquy

Mr. HATFIELD. I also appreciate the very knowledgeable comments of both of my distinguished colleagues from Louisiana. Maintaining the safety and environmental quality of this Nation's waterways remain critically important objectives of this subcommittee. The important cost issues raised by the Senators from Louisiana should be carefully considered by the conference committee as well as the completion of a final VTS system. mid-america aviation resource consortium

Mr. HATFIELD. Senator nickles, I appreciate your interest in this important issue and your strong commitment to safety training at the FAA. I oppose the House effort to reallocate $1,700,000 from the FAA Academy to MARC and will remind conferees of the intention of the fiscal year 1996 conference report to terminate funding for MARC. Finally, I will urge the fiscal year 1997 conference to maintain the position outlined in the Senate provision.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I know of no further amendments to be offered. I ask for third reading of the bill.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed.

Mr. HATFIELD. Now, Mr. President, I move that the Senate insist on its amendments, request a conference with the House of Representatives on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I want to call attention to a matter relating to one of our staff people, Pat McCann, who is the staff director for the majority party. He is a very interesting person who has been on this committee, the transportation subcommittee, for 13 years. It is illustrative of another matter, and that is how our committee must operate on a bipartisan basis. When we bring a bill to the floor we have to have comanagers, in which the ranking member and whoever he or she may be, a Democrat and a Republican, and the Chair, have to have agreed to the bill and therefore present a united front. I say this is unusual about committees in the Senate, but we are the only committee that has to report bills by law. We have to keep this country going and, therefore, we have to report 13 bills, come whatever may. I happened to be chairing the Appropriations Committee in a previous cycle, from 1981 to 1987. I, at that time, had an opportunity to hire on the committee Pat McCann, as the Republican majority at that time. But subsequent chairmen of that committee, the full committee, Senator Stennis and Senator Byrd, followed the same pattern that I followed and that is that we do not wipe out our staff in each election cycle, because they are truly professionals, serving both sides of the committee. So Pat McCann continued on in that professional role. My immediate predecessor, Senator Lautenberg, now the ranking member, as the chairman of that subcommittee, continued Pat McCann, and Anne Miano, our assistant staff director, was hired by Senator D'Amato when he chaired that particular subcommittee. As it was with Peter Rogoff, who is now the staff director for the minority. They continued all through these various changes of party and majorityship. So I not only pay tribute to Pat McCann for his faithful service, totally professional service that he has provided the committee, but to all the staff on our particular committee. I thank also at this time the outstanding work of Senator Lautenberg. We could not have brought this bill to the floor without Senator Lautenberg's leadership, and we could not have resolved the many conflicts and problems that we faced in this committee. Again, I say to Anne Miano, Peter Rogoff, Pat McCann that we only are able to do this when we have this kind of staff. We look good, and at the same time we have to realize it is more than just our charming personalities. It is the fine work of staff that has made possible the producing of this bill. So I just want to call attention to Pat's leaving of the Senate. He is going to move through the conference with us. By the time we get that conference report back here, he will probably be up in the balcony, up in the gallery. I hope he is not editorializing verbally up there as we proceed with the conference report, because I expect it to be of such quality that we will be able to pass it with a voice vote within a very, very brief time. I thank the Chair. Mr. LAUTENBERG addressed the Chair.

Mr. HATFIELD

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

Mr. HATFIELD

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to consideration of calendar order 504, H.R. 3675, the transportation appropriations bill.

Mr. HATFIELD. Perhaps there are none, and we could go to third reading. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HATFIELD. It is cleared on this side of the aisle.

Mr. HATFIELD. I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was adopted.

Mr. HATFIELD. Yes. I would be happy to yield for a question from the Senator from Alabama.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I send an amendment on behalf of Senators Kerrey and Exon to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I urge adoption.

Mr. HATFIELD. I move to table the motion. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 5134, as Modified (Purpose: To prohibit the Surface Transportation Board from increasing user fees)

Mr. HATFIELD. I move to table the motion. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 5135

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, the Senator from Nevada is correct that the RTC of Clark County is certainly a worthy candidate for discretionary bus and bus facility funds. In fiscal year 1996, nearly $17 million was provided for the project. I look forward to working with the Senator to make every effort to assist in advancing its project.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, this is an amendment by Senator Kempthorne that is budget neutral. It moves $5 million up to $15 million for national trail rehabilitation, which particularly suffered great damage in the Pacific Northwest during the floods of recent times. It has been cleared on both sides. I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. HATFIELD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 5138 (Purpose: To prohibit the issuance, implementation, or enforcement of certain regulations relating to fats, oils, and greases)

Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, I send an amendment on behalf of Senator Pressler to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.