Fritz Hollings

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. I am delighted to yield.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Right.

Mr. HOLLINGS. We should finish it momentarily. I know of two amendments they tell us about, but they have been telling us about them all afternoon. I am ready to move to third reading. We will have a recorded vote. We will pass this bill tonight. We are just about through. That is why I sent up the managers' amendment.

Mr. HOLLINGS. The Committee has long recognized the problems associated with the use and production of Methamphetamines, and we have provided real money to help local communities and law enforcement deal with this problem. It is the intent of this Committee that the money made available for the Washington State Methamphetamine Program be spread among the counties that you have mentioned. I do look forward to continuing to working with the Senators from Washington on this issue in the future. pacific coastal salmon recovery fund

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

Mr. HOLLINGS. Good.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Yes.

Mr. HOLLINGS. In response to the distinguished Senator, there is nothing specifically providing for funds. Actually the bill itself is silent. Section 109, which was used by the previous administration to charge the various other Departments of the Government that would be compensated as a result of a successful lawsuit, is still in existence and is available to the Attorney General. I have discussed that with the Attorney General myself. There is a real difference with respect to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. As the Senator from Illinois knows, we have had a couple of votes on this. In any event, we figured the best way was to remain silent. But I say affirmatively, section 109 and what was available to the previous administration is available to this administration to continue with the suit.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the distinguished leader and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. HOLLINGS. The first urge would be not to say anything, not to respond, but in deference to one of the best Senators I have served with over my 34 years, I know the Senator from Missouri is genuine, he is sincere, and he is concerned about the economy and the future of these airlines. I heard about this a little while ago. Let us have hearings. There is nothing to avoid that. We are going to have hearings, first of all, with respect to safety so we can get the airlines back up and running. I am an old-time trial lawyer. With respect to any kind of claims, if there are indeed claims, they would not be filed for months. It appears to me as an act of war they might define some negligence, but be that as it may, the FBI is going to do some of the best investigating for us. That will take months. If you filed a summons and complaint in the next hour, you would not get to court before the end of next year, I can tell you that, with the motions and everything else. So trying to compensate the victims, which we will be concerned with, there is no question the Senator from Missouri is correct on that particular score, that is to come. We heard this about the airlines and we found out last year from a GAO report that they had $100 billion in reinsurance. But barring that and later the statement made that we do not want to wreck the economy, we can save the economy in this Chamber of the Senate. A couple of months ago we were talking about surpluses, surpluses, surpluses, surpluses. As of this minute, according to the debt to the penny by the Secretary of the Treasury, there is $96 billion. It could well be these losses would amount into the billions, maybe not $96 billion. But you and I have done this in the last several months, talking about surpluses and cutting revenues some $74 billion and then running around in a circle, where did the money go? The economy went into a dip. We took $74 billion out this fiscal year that is going to end in 2 weeks' time. So for those who are concerned about the economy--and please include me in that number--let us look at where it has really been devastating. This act of war is devastation enough. I appreciate the sincerity and the vision of my colleague from Missouri. We definitely are going to have some hearings on this issue, and I will be supporting some kind of compensation, but as of this minute, the safety of the people is the supreme law--salus populi suprema lex esto. The Senator from New Hampshire will have to coach me on my Latin. He has the Boston Latin school up there, and they have the Charleston Latin school that is not quite as keen. In any event, it is the 12th Roman canon, the safety of the people to get on these airlines. Do not worry about claims. Do not worry about compensation. Worry about safety. Already one-third of the air traveling public says they do not want to travel on a plane right now. One of the best things we can do is have this quick hearing, establish a locked cabin door policy where the cabin is not accessible, where you cannot make a domestic flight into a weapon of mass destruction, and get along with those ways where we can do the real job of the Senate. As to compensation, we are going to have to get to that later in hearings. I do appreciate the Senator from Missouri raising this particular question and the fact that he will set it aside now so that we can move on this bill this afternoon. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. HOLLINGS. There is nothing.

Mr. HOLLINGS. The Senator from Washington State is correct.

Mr. HOLLINGS. If the distinguished Senator will yield, the Senator from Iowa wants to ask for the yeas and nays on his amendment. Can we do that?

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. I am awaiting the attendance of the Senator from New Hampshire who is in an important conference at the moment. Let me bring my colleagues up to speed. We have tried our best, working out certain amendments all yesterday and earlier this morning--those that would be accepted, those that would be included in the managers' amendment, and those that would still be pending. On both sides we are trying to assemble the determinant list of pending amendments. When we do, we will ask unanimous consent and see if we can facilitate the disposition of this bill today, and no later than tomorrow. We will see what best can be done. Pending that, let me say a word about the efforts of your subcommittee of Commerce, Justice, State in the field of counterterrorism. For example, in early May, your subcommittee, under the leadership of Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, chairman at that time, held 3 days of comprehensive hearings of which I now hold a transcript. On May 8, we had a hearing with Department of the Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill; Department of Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz; Secretary of State Colin Powell; and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. That afternoon, we had a hearing with FEMA Director Joseph Allbaugh; National Security Administrator John A. Gordon; and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard A. Meserve. On May 9, at that hearing, we had Attorney General John Ashcroft; Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson; Commerce Secretary, Don Evans; and in the afternoon, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi; Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman; and Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. On May 10, we had the joint task force civil support commander, Gen. Bruce Lawlor; the American Red Cross president and chief executive officer, Dr. Bernadine Healy; a panel of State and local representatives from fire, police, public health, and emergency management. And then in the afternoon, we closed the session with the Director of the CIA, George Tenet; the FBI Director, Judge Louis Freeh, and VADM Thomas Wilson. We were trying our best to lay the groundwork for better coordination of our effort on counterterrorism. I ask unanimous consent to have the statement by President Bush, dated May 8, printed in the Record.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Can we call that amendment up? Amendment No. 1543

Mr. HOLLINGS. I appreciate the Senator's understanding and willingness to withdraw the first amendment. I will see if we have an understanding.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the distinguished Senator from North Dakota very much.

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 11 a.m. to hold a nomination hearing. Nominee: John D. Negroponte, of the District of Columbia, to be the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador, and the Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations. To be introduced by: The Honorable Ted Stevens, United States Senate, Washington, DC; the Honorable John McCain, United States Senate, Washington, DC; and the Honorable Richard Holbrooke Counselor, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, NY.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:00 p.m. to hold a nomination hearing. Nominees: The Honorable Patrick Kennedy, of Illinois, to be Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador. Mrs. Laura Kennedy, of New York, to be Ambassador to Turkmenistan. The Honorable Ronald Neumann, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the State of Bahrain. Mrs. Marcelle Wahba, of California, to be Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 10:00 am to hear testimony on ``Medicaid Upper Payment Limits: Restoring the State-Federal Partnership.''

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 13, 2001, at 2:30 p.m., in open session to consider the nomination of General Richard B. Myers, USAF, for reappointment in the grade of general and for appointment as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.