Jesse Helms

Mr. HELMS

Mr. HELMS. That is correct.

Mr. HELMS. Yes.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, this amendment has been agreed to on both sides.

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

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I believe the business before the Senate is the amendment. Is that correct?

Mr. HELMS. I believe it is understood between us that this will be approved on a voice vote. Is that correct?

Mr. HELMS. I ask the Chair to put the question.

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

Mr. HELMS. I thought I had yielded mine back.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, yes. A judgment obtained in Federal district court will be considered a valid claim. Clearly there could be no more valid claim than a judgment received through the adjudication process.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I will be happy to yield to the distinguished Senator from Virginia.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I am prepared to do that. So the numbers reflect the intent of the conference report.

Mr. HELMS. I yield such time as the Senator may require.

Mr. HELMS. I certainly do, Mr. President.

Mr. HELMS. It is not a violation of the rules, and it is not undesirable unless the other guy is doing it to you. I remember when the other side was in the majority, with a different chairmanship. I must say that Senator Pell has always been a thoroughbred gentlemen. I have said that in many public forums, and I think he knows I mean it. I hope that some may later on think that I am a gentleman, too. But I am interested in getting the job done. I reiterate, as I said at the very outset this afternoon, that this could have been handled months ago if the other side had been willing only to let the Senate speak on the bill. But, no, no, the first day when it came up, they brought out Mr. Kennedy from Massachusetts to speak for 1 hour and 20 minutes on the minimum wage. Some things are hard to understand. But I figured out, after a while, that they were filibustering, that they did not want the Senate to speak its mind on this bill. It began there. But if we had had a vote, no Ambassador would have been held up. And if we let the Senate function as it is intended to function from now on, no Ambassador will be held up in the future. I am going to use every technique that comes to my mind to try to do the best I can for my country. Now, if the Senator wants to talk about what it costs to operate the foreign policy establishment, we can get into details like, why did the United States State Department, or the foreign aid apparatus, have 600 people stationed in Cairo, Egypt, alone to give away money? Since I brought it up, they have reduced, somewhat, the number of people in AID, the Agency for International Development, stationed in Cairo. It is something over 400 now. But they did not do a cotton-picking thing about it until I began talking about it in this bill. I am going to do the best I can for what I believe in, and I know the Senator from Delaware feels the same way about it. We will do the best we can together. I yield the floor. Mr. SARBANES addressed the Chair.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, yes. It is our expectation that the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission will establish an expedited procedure to pay such claims, given that their validity is not in question.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Texas for her kind words, and I am happy to discuss section 168 of S. 908 with her. Section 168 would exclude from the United States aliens who have expropriated U.S. property or who traffick in such property. As the Senator knows, this provision has been deleted from the pending bill at Senator Dodd's request because it is included in the House- passed version of H.R. 927, and he would prefer that it be addressed in that bill. Senate conferees will be named for H.R. 927 immediately upon Senate passage of S. 908.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, section 168 reflects the frustration with the lack of progress in resolving property claims, especially in the Western Hemisphere. The Dominican Republic is among the worst offenders, and the distinguished Senator from Texas can count on my support.

Mr. HELMS

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

Mr. HELMS

Mr. HELMS. Very well. Mr. President, before I begin, I will yield to the Senator from Montana to speak as in morning business. I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for me to yield to the distinguished Senator 6 minutes, not to be charged to either side, at which time the time will begin running on the bill.

Mr. HELMS. I thank the Chair. The Chair is absolutely correct. Mr. President, I believe there is a time agreement on this of 4 hours equally divided.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to make the pending business S. 908.

Mr. HELMS

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the impression will not go away: The $4.98 trillion Federal debt stands today as a sort of grotesque parallel to television's energizer bunny that appears and appears and appears in precisely the same way that the Federal debt keeps going up and up and up. Politicians talk a good game--and talk is the operative word--about reducing the Federal deficit and bringing the Federal debt under control. But watch how they vote. Mr. President, as of the close of business, Wednesday, December 13, the total Federal debt stood at exactly $4,988,313,115,981.39 or $18,935.72 per man, woman, child on a per capita basis. Res ipsa loquitur.