Jesse Helms

Mr. HELMS

Mr. HELMS. May I ask the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma how much time he believes he will need?

Mr. HELMS. I yield 7 minutes to the Senator.

Mr. HELMS. Yes. I think I have some time over in one corner.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I yield 7 minutes to my friend from New York.

Mr. HELMS. Insulting?

Mr. HELMS. I have here, Mr. President, a group of editorial comments, making, as Sam Ervin used to say, uncommon good sense, in opposition to this treaty. I ask unanimous consent they be printed in the Record.

Mr. HELMS. I yield to the distinguished Senator from Arizona [Mr. Kyl], such time as he may require. Does he have an estimate?

Mr. HELMS. Take a shot at it. I want to be through along about 3:30, so we can vote.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, allow me to inquire of the distinguished colleague, does he have somebody ready to go now? I do, if he does not.

Mr. HELMS. I believe I have an hour and 6 minutes that I saved a while ago. I yield 10 minutes of that to the distinguished Senator from Texas.

Mr. HELMS. I thank the Senator.

Mr. HELMS. I yield such time as the Senator from Arizona may consume.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I shall not move to table. I will yield back such time as I may have.

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

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

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HELMS. We have a small difficulty which can be remedied in short order. Without going into a great deal of detail, we are trying to adjust the time back to have accommodated the majority leader and his remarks. So I ask unanimous consent that--how much time did we agree to?

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, before I plead on this amendment, I have been around this place for quite a while. Before I came to the Senate as a Senator, I had the honor of serving with two Senators as administrative assistant. Time after time, at the conclusion of long arduous debate and votes on various issues, a parting ``thank you'' is made to the staff people who did most of the work. I talked to Senator Biden and told him I want to do it now before we begin to sign off. He suggested that I go first. Admiral Nance, sitting back there, with the white hair, that young man, he and I were boyhood friends back in Monroe. Adm. James W. Nance, the chief of staff of the Foreign Relations Committee; Tom Klein; Mark Theissen; Steve Biegun; Marshall Billingslea--particularly Marshall Billingslea--Colleen Noonan; Beth Wilson, and the rest of the Foreign Relations Committee staff. Senator Kyl has three remarkable young people: David Stephens, John Rood, and Jeanine Esperne. Senator Craig has Yvonne Bartoli and Jim Jatras. I want to thank, in particular, some people from the outside who helped enormously in our trying to build a case to protect the American people from the extravagances of this treaty. But that is neither here nor there, but I want to thank those four great former Secretaries of Defense who came up--Dick Cheney; Cap Weinberger; Don Rumsfeld; James Schlesinger; the marvelous Jeane Kirkpatrick; Steve Forbes, who came down from New York; Richard Perle; Frank Gaffney; Doug Feith, and Fred Clay. I also want to include the retired flag and general officers. I know that when I am driving home in a few hours from now, I will think of others. Just speaking for all of us, I want to thank them all. I know Senator Biden wants to do the same thing on his side. I yield the floor.

Mr. HELMS. I thank the Senator. I will add two things. One, I hope Bob Dole stays out of those coffee shops from now on. I am going to see if the distinguished ranking member would mention probably the most prominent player in this game. He didn't, but I will, because I had the honor of escorting her to North Carolina--the new Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. I don't always agree with her, nor she with me. But she is a great lady and she is doing a good job for this country. I thank her. Mr. President, one of the many fine people who contributed to the Chemical Weapons Convention is no longer among us. Mrs. Sherry Stetson Mannix, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, joined the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1984 and became its top expert on chemical weapons. She helped negotiate the treaty, and then she became a resource person for Members and staff of the Senate as we began to consider whether to give our advice and consent to ratification. Lieutenant Colonel Mannix was dying of cancer in 1994, when the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees first held hearings on the CWC. Despite being in terrible pain, Lieutenant Colonel Mannix faithfully and effectively managed the process of responding to our committees' questions for the Record. Sherry Mannix was only 44 years old when she died in early 1995. She had hoped to live long enough to see this convention ratified. We were unable, Mr. President, to grant that last wish. But Sherry Mannix kept faith with us, with her comrades in the U.S. Armed Forces, and with her country. Now we have the opportunity to keep faith with her, and with all our military personnel who long for ratification of this convention as a step toward curbing the menace of chemical weapons.

Mr. HELMS. What is the pending business, Mr. President?

Mr. HELMS. Which is?

Mr. HELMS. I yield to the distinguished Senator from Arizona [Mr. Kyl] for whatever time he may require.

Mr. HELMS

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 24, 1997, at 2:00 p.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Small Business be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate for an oversight hearing on ``SBA's Non-Credit Programs'' on Thursday, April 24, 1997, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. in room 428A of the Russell Senate Office Building.