Kay Hutchison

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Thank you, Mr. President. What is the order?

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, it is with much pride that I rise today to recognize the 160 members of the Coronado High School Thunderbird Band who will be representing North America in the Russian Republic's Freedom Day Parade this May. These gifted student musicians from El Paso will travel to Moscow this spring to celebrate the rise of democracy there and to share their extraordinary musical talents with the people of Russia. It was last September when Richard Lambrecht, the students' band conductor, received the phone call from the Russian Ministry of Culture, inviting the Coronado students to perform in the Freedom Day celebration held annually in Red Square. Since that moment, the students, their parents, and their avid supporters have been working tirelessly, day and night, to raise the necessary funds for this once- in-a-lifetime trip and to maintain their exceptional grade point averages. This recognition is a fitting testament to the dedication, character, and talent of these Texas teenagers. But it is not the first honor the Thunderbird Band has received. In fact, the band has received the Sudler Flag and the Sudler Shield for both concert and marching performance by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation. These awards are given to only two bands annually, representing the best in the United States for that year. Coronado is one of only three bands to have ever received both designations. In addition to honoring the Thunderbird Band for this achievement, I would also like to welcome both Alexander Demchenko, the Russian Minister of Culture, and General Victor Afanasiev, the Russian General Conductor, to the United States. These two officials will be visiting the Coronado students on March 27 in El Paso. The Republic of Russia has generously offered to finance a portion of the band's traveling costs, and I would like to thank them for their country's cooperative efforts in making this trip a reality for the Coronado students. Mr. President, I am confident that the Coronado High School Thunderbird Band will represent the people of Texas, the United States, and North America with both honor and distinction. I congratulate them on this remarkable accomplishment, and I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, the purpose of my amendment is to restore the funding level for Sematech to the full amount authorized in the 1996 Defense authorization bill. Mr. President, semiconductor manufacturing leadership is as critical to America's national defense and economic security today as it was in 1987 when Sematech was formed. Sematech has proven to be a model for government-industry cooperation. Unlike so many other programs, Sematech has produced all that it has promised it would and then took the unprecedented step of deciding to decline all future direct Federal funding. It is indeed ironic that as this program come to an end, our competitors in Japan recently announced they are establishing a consortium modeled after Sematech. They have publicly admitted that the success of Sematech has resulted in America reclaiming world market share leadership in both chips and the equipment used to manufacture them and the Japanese now feel the need for their own Sematech. We must never surrender our leadership or our resolve to be the technology leader of the world. In this the final year of funding, I believe we have an obligation to provide adequate funding to ensure Sematech is able to complete its mission and finish research project already underway that the industry and the Department of Defense are counting on. Criminal Justice Identification Systems

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I applaud the efforts of Senator Bond and Senator Bumpers once again. I hope that we can pass this regulatory bill, regulatory relief bill for our small businesses with a 100- percent vote. I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to do this on a very timely basis. The small business owners of our country deserve this relief. It will help our economy because once we free small businesses to be able to grow and prosper, what will happen is more jobs will be available for the working people of our country. That is in all of our best interests. So I applaud the sponsors of the bill. I appreciate the time, and yield back my time. Thank you.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity to say how much I appreciate the leadership that the Senator from Missouri, Senator Bond, the Senator from Arkansas, Senator Bumpers, have provided for the small business people of our country. We have been working together in the Small Business Committee for over a year to try to get regulatory relief for those who cannot afford the excesses to spend money, frankly, on things that do not help the bottom line, that do not help the ability to create jobs, that do not help the ability to create new capital, and that is our small business people. They are the ones that just do not have that margin to be able to fight excessive regulations that sometimes do not make sense. I think all of us have come together in a very bipartisan spirit, under the leadership of Senator Bumpers and Senator Bond, to say, let us give relief at least to the small business people of our country so that they will be able to grow and prosper because what will make this country economically viable once again is strong small businesses. That is what this bill does. This bill will give some relief where it is so needed. I especially appreciate the willingness of Senator Bond and Senator Bumpers to work with Senator Nickles and myself on the amendment that will allow congressional review. Of course, that bill has passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin. That would allow Congress to be able to review regulations that come through. I think that is going to be a very important first step for accountability in our regulatory agencies. It is really a matter of Congress taking responsibility for the laws it passes and the delegation that it gives to our regulators. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be listed as a cosponsor of the Nickles amendment.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Kentucky. I think that we have clearly established the intent of the Senate. These aircraft are to be provided to Jordan, in support of Jordan's participation in the Middle East peace process. Furthermore, to support U.S. exports and to help preserve the private sector defense industrial base, the required engine, structural, and related upgrades are to be performed in the United States.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise to speak on a matter which could profoundly affect the U.S. defense industrial base. It is my understanding that the Committee on Appropriations recommends the appropriation of an additional $70 million in fiscal year 1996 funds for the Foreign Military Financing Program. These funds would be joined with $30 million in previously appropriated funds to provide initial grant funding in support of the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Jordan. Ultimately, 16 F-16 aircraft are to be upgraded and then leased to Jordan in support of its participation in the Middle East peace process. Mr. President, I have recently received information which suggests that the necessary upgrades will be performed on these aircraft in the United States prior to making them available to Jordan. If that is the case, I will support the committee's recommendation, because I believe the required work will enhance the defense industrial base. Mr. President, I would ask the junior Senator from Kentucky, who serves as the chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, who has served on that subcommittee as a champion of U.S. private sector exports and who has insisted that American foreign aid programs serve our national interests, is this what the committee intends by its recommendation? Does the committee intend that engine upgrades and structural upgrades will be made by the U.S. private sector prior to the lease of these F-16's to Jordan?

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, is there a time limit on this amendment?

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise to speak on behalf of the amendments that have just been laid down by the majority leader and by Senator McConnell of Kentucky. I think it is very important that we continue to keep in mind that the agreement that was made by the Senate, over my objection, frankly, that we would send the troops to Bosnia, nevertheless did include some very important points. After the United States has expended so much to try to keep this peace agreement, it is most important that the agreement be kept in force, including the arming and training of the Moslems. That was a key reason that so many people on this floor voted to support sending the troops. It is most important that we get on with that part of the agreement. Otherwise, after all the money that we have spent trying to bring peace to the Balkans, the results will be short-lived, because if there is not some sort of parity there among the three parties, I think it will be difficult to keep the peace for a long term. The one chance that I think we have is if there is parity among the parties. So I hope the President will remember that part of the agreement that was made and get on with the other parts of the Dayton agreement that would give the best chance for this to be a successful mission. So I am very pleased to support and ask unanimous consent to be added as a cosponsor of Dole-McConnell amendments.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 5 minutes.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I yield 30 seconds to my colleague from Texas and 30 seconds to my colleague from Wyoming.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank the Chair. Mr. President, the argument has been made in the Chamber that we might lose some very important endangered animals in America. I submitted an amendment to the amendment to make sure that that would not happen. We allow emergency listings if there really is a danger of losing any animal or any species that is under the old act. Let us look at what the Reid amendment does. You have heard people on the other side argue that there are problems with the act, but nevertheless they are urging you in the Reid amendment to go forward under the old act which we acknowledge has problems, regardless of the fact that it costs people jobs, that it hurts the economies of many States, and that it takes away a fundamental constitutional right in this country, and that is the right to private property. That is wrong. It would be ridiculous for the Senate to vote today to go forward, take away jobs, hurt the economy, and take away private property rights under an act which everyone has acknowledged has problems. If we are sincere about doing what is right, if we are sincere about reauthorizing the bill with some common sense, with some protection for private property, if we are sincere about making sure that private property rights and people's jobs have some part in the equation in the decisionmaking, then we should vote for the Hutchison-Kempthorne amendment. The Hutchison-Kempthorne amendment protects emergency listings. If there really is a danger of losing one of the endangered species, it protects that right. However, what we must do is also protect the right of the people in this country. The jobs and the people who work for a living ought to have some protection by the Senate. If we vote for the Hutchison- Kempthorne amendment, their rights will be protected and we will also reauthorize the Endangered Species Act to protect the animals in our country as well. Let us do it right. Vote for Hutchison-Kempthorne. I thank the Chair.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, how much time is remaining?

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I yield 5 minutes to the senior Senator from Texas.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I had 7\1/2\ minutes the last time I asked.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I yield the floor and reserve the remainder of my time.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I have submitted an amendment to the amendment because I think it is most important that we keep the integrity of what we are trying to do to protect the endangered species. The authorization for the Endangered Species Act ran out several years ago. That is because of the ridiculous excesses that have been perpetrated on the private property owners in this country. So we called a moratorium on the old act so that we could reauthorize it, so that we could protect private property and protect the endangered species. And we want to have good science, we want to have cost-benefit analysis, we want to have economic impact analysis because, after all, Mr. President, there is no reason for people in the Northwest to have the entire timber industry shut down because of the spotted owl. There is no reason to have put people who had worked for generations in the timber industry there out of work and untrained to do other things. In fact, Mr. President, you and I are paying $250 million to retrain those people because we were protecting a spotted owl that could have been put somewhere else in a national forest to protect. We could have had it both ways if we had just used common sense, Mr. President. But we did not do that. And that is why it was necessary and why this Congress voted overwhelmingly to put a moratorium on the Endangered Species Act listing--not the preparation for listing, not the research, just the final listings--until we could have a reauthorization of the act that would put common sense into it, that would put people into the equation, because after all, people should be in the equation as well. I like to joke sometimes and say that the only endangered species not protected is Homo sapiens. Now, Mr. President, it is time that we started putting common sense into this act. Let me talk to you about a few of the excesses that have caused us to be in the situation where we are, needing to do a drastic reorganization and reauthorization of this bill. In Texas, my home State, there is a golden cheek warbler. Fish and Wildlife originally said they were going to set aside an area the size of the State of Rhode Island to protect a golden cheek warbler. Mr. President, we want to protect golden cheek warblers, but I think it is a little excessive to cause property values in that entire area to plummet to save this golden cheek warbler when we can do it with other means. Not only that, but what they said you could not do on your property is cut cedar. Now, cedar has a very bad impact on people's health. People have what we call cedar fever. People are miserable with cedar fever. So they cut cedar trees to keep people from having this very annoying sort of sneezing attack. Well, in addition to that, even more important to the farmers and ranchers in the area, cedar absorbs water so that we lose the ability to use water downstream because the cedar trees are absorbing the water upstream. So it really is a hindrance and something that our farmers and ranchers need to deal with. One Travis County, TX, owner, Margaret Rector, invested in land 25 years ago to help her in her retirement years. In 1990, her land was worth $830,000. After it was designated a golden cheek warbler habitat, its value plunged to $30,000. Mr. President, that is not a guess, that is an assessment on the county tax rolls in Travis County, TX. Mr. President, that is ridiculous. Next is the southwestern willow fly catcher in California. The Army Corps of Engineers built the Isabella Dam in Kern County, CA, to catch the runoff of melting snow from the southern Sierra Mountains to save it for use in the summer. It has saved millions in flood damage, increased the water supply, and it is the third largest food- producing county in the entire country now. But the listing in February 1995 of the southwestern willow fly catcher has put the dam's use at risk, fearing the reservoir will flood fly catcher nesting areas, a harm to the bird's habitat. Now Fish and Wildlife may force the Corps of Engineers to release water from the reservoir to protect the habitat that did not exist until the dam was built. These are two examples, Mr. President. The jaguar in Texas. Mr. President, they have not seen a jaguar in Texas since 1948 when one wandered up from Mexico, they think, and it was cited as sort of an anomaly. Now they are talking about listing the jaguar as an endangered species in Texas, having not seen one since 1948, and it could cause restrictions on land use in 30 counties along the Rio Grande River. Mr. President, that is why so many groups and private property owners--the American Farm Bureau is alarmed by what is happening with this Endangered Species Act. They are in total support of my amendment, which does the following. My amendment just says that we will protect the ability to have emergency listings. It has been said on this floor that we might lose some of the very important endangered species. Well, we will not. With my amendment, we give the Secretary of the Interior the right to do an emergency listing so there would not be a danger of losing an endangered species on an emergency basis. But, Mr. President, I think it is very important that we realize that the people who are holding up the progress on the reauthorization are also the people who are here wanting to lift the moratorium. I do not understand that. I do not understand why they would want to lift the moratorium on a bill that they have all said has problems. I have pointed out a few of those problems here this morning. Why would they lift the moratorium under the old act that they say has problems when they have the power to reauthorize and to protect everyone--private property rights, private property owners, and to protect the animals under the Endangered Species Act, as well? Why would we not do things the right way, Mr. President? That is my question here today. Mr. President, how much time remains on my side?

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HUTCHISON

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

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I offer an amendment to the Reid amendment. I send it to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration. This is a Hutchison-Kempthorne amendment.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, last year, Congress put a hold on listing of endangered species and the designation of critical habitat that went along with that to give us time to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act. We called a timeout on new listings so we could reexamine a 20-year-old law without the pressure of new listing decisions. Authorization for appropriations ended on September 30, 1992 --3\1/2\ years ago. Mr. President, we have been operating without an authorization for this act, and that is because so many things have been done that are far beyond the bounds of common sense. The moratorium was to give us the timeout so that we would be able to put listings on under the new reauthorization, to pass without opposition in the House of Representatives, and with 60 votes here in the Senate-- a clear mandate to say, wait a minute, let us stop doing things that do not make sense under a law that is not reauthorized, and let us talk about what we ought to be doing to protect the endangered species of our country. But let us do it without taking private property rights and without hurting jobs, without hurting the economy in this country. We can do both. We can have a positive solution. But, Mr. President, there are 239 species that are ready to be listed. In fact, we have tried to work with the other side to make sure that the listings could be prepared and that the funding was there to prepare the listings along the way. We have done that in good faith. We did not think that someone would come up and try to use the fact that we had, in good faith, allowed the Department to continue to do all of the preliminary listing procedures, and then spring 239 species that could cause untold economic damage on States all over our country. No, we acted in good faith. We believed that the right thing to do was to have a moratorium until we have a reauthorization so that we can then list, taking into account some of the new measures that we hope to have that will encourage conservation, that will encourage the endangered species protection, through voluntary means, or other incentives. Those are the things that are not allowed today but will be allowed under the reauthorization. We are not putting potentially endangered species at risk. The ones that are an emergency could be listed today. In fact, one of the things that we want to do is make sure that an emergency listing would be available. But, in fact, Mr. President, we are going to debate tonight--as I understand it, we do not have a time agreement at this point, but we are going to debate the merits of lifting the moratorium prematurely. That is really the issue here. We have agreed on two occasions in this body, and on the House side, that we should not act precipitously. Now, all of a sudden, the same people who are fighting the reauthorization are now saying to lift the moratorium. I really do not think that it is the way we should do business here. I think we have been acting in good faith. We have done the things that we have been asked to do to try to take that timeout, so that when we have a reauthorized act we can come back in and make sure that the species that are scientifically designated as endangered will, in fact, be protected. That is what all of us want. If we free those species--the 239 that we have allowed to be prepared to be listed when, in fact, they are being prepared under the old act-- I think we will do a lot of harm to many States--my State, the State of California, Arizona, and many States across this country are going to have significant economic impact if we do this. Mr. President, it is not necessary. There is no reason to act precipitously on this omnibus bill that we are trying to get through. We are trying to fund Government until the end of this fiscal year. Mr. President, there is no reason to put something on that is so extraneous, that causes this kind of debate right at a time when we are trying to work with the other side to come up with an agreement that will fund Government until the end of this fiscal year so that we can start turning toward the next fiscal year, which is going to take our time. Mr. President, I think this is the wrong thing at the wrong time. This is like saying we have this modern, new automobile but we are going to put Model T parts in it because that is what we have on hand. Let us not do that. That is not the way to do business. I am going to speak on this issue again. But, Mr. President, I want to lay the groundwork for what I think is a terrible injustice. I think it is breaking a gentleman's agreement that we had that we would work together for reauthorization because I assumed that was everyone's goal. But to have a lifting of the moratorium before the reauthorization comes, I think, is the wrong thing to do for our country, for the private property owners in our country, for the small business people in our country, and for the working people who could lose their jobs if this happens. This is not right, and I hope the Members will turn it back. I hope the Members will do the right thing and let us proceed with Senator Kempthorne to reauthorize in a judicious way. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I will yield that to the Senator from Montana.