Jim Inhofe

Mr. INHOFE

Mr. INHOFE. That is 10 minutes for each of you?

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I will not object. Let me propound a unanimous consent request; that is, the combined remarks of the Senator from Oregon and the Senator from Utah not extend beyond 20 minutes.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oregon and the Senator from Utah. They have a great deal of passion on their subject and they have worked long hours. I appreciate the fact they recognize we are considering what many people consider to be the most significant bill this year. Again, we will renew our request for Members to come down with their amendments. We have hotlined it twice. I want to make sure I say that enough times for Members. Senator Jeffords joins me in this. They have hotlined it on their side. If Members want their amendments considered, if Members want floor time, if Members want a vote, come down, bring it down. I am waiting for that to happen. We are open for business. We encourage Members to come.

Mr. INHOFE. No, I suggest you go ahead. I say to the Senator, after the Senator gave his eloquent talk about the safety problems that are out there throughout America right now, I came to the floor and talked about the safety core provisions that are in this bill, that if we are on an extension, as opposed to passing a bill, people are going to die. This is a life-or-death issue. I think you brought that out very forcefully, and I know it comes from the heart.

Mr. INHOFE. Very good. I yield the floor. (The remarks of Mr. DeWine are printed in today's Record under ``Morning Business.'')

Mr. INHOFE. Yes.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, how much time is remaining on this side?

Mr. INHOFE. It is urgent. Let me state why it is urgent. We have a deadline. We are on not our fourth, fifth, but our sixth extension right now. When you operate on extensions, as we have said over and over again, you cannot get anything done, you cannot have any of the reforms, you cannot take care of donor States, you cannot have innovative methods of financing. That is all in the bill. Core safety provisions are in the bill. None of that will be a reality if we do not get this bill. Why is it such a rush? This extension expires on the 31st of May. That is 19 days from now. We have to get this done. If we get this bill finished tonight, we will have time to have it over into conference and start working on it in conference in time to get the conference report back to the House and back to the Senate and to the President's desk prior to the expiration of this extension on May 31.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, it is my understanding the junior Senator from Virginia has an amendment he wishes to offer. It affects the commerce title of the bill. I ask if Senator Stevens would like to come down, since this is the commerce title of the bill, while he offers an amendment.

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

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

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, before I yield to the Senator from Alaska, I first wish to say how helpful she has been. I know the needs they have in Alaska are unique. She has been very helpful and a great member of our committee. I thank her publicly very much for that. I think we are making progress now. We have gotten the amendments under control so we can stay on the schedule that has been outlined by the unanimous consent agreement that has been accepted on both sides. I express my appreciation for everyone cooperating. I yield the floor.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, the Senator from Alaska named a list of things she would have preferred to see in the bill. As I thought of each one of them, I agree with each one. Of course, the Presiding Officer is also a member of the committee, and we know there are a lot of diverse needs in States. It is not a perfect bill. There are a lot of things I would rather have in it, but it is a consensus. It was give-and-take, and that is the way the system is supposed to work.

Mr. INHOFE. I yield.

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

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Vermont for an excellent statement. That historic perspective is important for a number of reasons. The whole highway system under Eisenhower came as a result of a quest for national security. That was almost 50 years ago, and we have been funding highways the same way we did 50 years ago. We have not changed at all. We have this excise tax. In the bill we are to pass--and hopefully it will get passed today and sent on to conference--we have new and innovative ways of financing. We allow the States to use their ways. We give them more latitude toward their methods of financing highways. We also appoint a national commission to study how we could do this in the future so we will not be standing up here 6 years from now talking about the same problems we have today. If we operate on an extension, that is not going to happen. I made a list of all these things that are not going to happen if we have just another extension. We are on the sixth extension right now. Let me, first of all, encourage anyone who is going to offer an amendment to come down and do so. Judicial Nominations But while we are waiting, Mr. President, let me respond to one of the statements that was made about an hour ago--or was it 2 hours ago--when they were talking about a floor vote. Regardless of how you interpret the Constitution on advice and consent, sometimes I say I am a very fortunate person in this body because I am one of the few Members of the Senate who is not a lawyer. So when I read the Constitution, I know what it says. It says we are supposed to advise and consent. It means a majority of us are going to have to determine whether a nominee who is presented by the President of the United States is one who is, in fact, acceptable. What we have been asking for, as our leader articulated many times-- and apparently the senior Senator from West Virginia agreed with the President yesterday--is just an up-or-down vote. That is all we want, an up-or-down vote. Now, is this so outrageous? I will go back and quote some of my good friends on the Democrat side who are opposed to an up-or-down vote. Senator Biden, on March 19, 1997, said: But I also respectfully suggest that everyone who is nominated ought to have a shot, to have a hearing and to have a shot to be heard on the floor and have a vote on the floor. . . . Senator Boxer said, on May 14, 1997: It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor. Senator Durbin, who has been very outspoken, said, on September 28, 1998: Vote the person up or down. They are qualified or they are not. Mrs. Feinstein, one of our fine colleagues, the senior Senator from California, on September 16, 1999, said: A nominee is entitled to a vote. Vote them up; vote them down. . . . Now, apparently, their interpretation of the Constitution is what mine is. Senator Kennedy, on January 28, 1998, said: But we should resolve these disagreements by voting on these nominees--yes or no. I agree with Senator Kennedy. Senator Kohl, on August 21, 1999, said: These nominees, who have to put their lives on hold waiting for us to act, deserve an ``up or down'' vote. Senator Leahy, on October 22, 1997, said: I hope we might reach a point where we as a Senate will accept our responsibility-- That is us. and vote people up or vote them down. Senator Schumer, on March 7, 2000, said: I also plead with my colleagues to move judges with alacrity--vote them up or down. So I am saying that I agree with all of my good Democrat colleagues that we should give them an up-or-down vote, and I have no question but that the American people feel the same way. You see different polling data, but when they are asked the question, Should these people be entitled to a vote up or down? they overwhelmingly believe they should. I yield the floor.

Mr. INHOFE. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, we have been pleading with our colleagues to bring amendments down. Will the Senator, in the event an amendment comes to the floor, then yield for consideration of that amendment? Judicial Nominations

Mr. INHOFE. I suggest that it is mutually agreeable to send it to the desk and that it be considered.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for his remarks. This bill is urgent. We have been, as I said, hotlining it. We have done it twice on our side. I am waiting for responses to see what kind of progress they are having on the other side of the aisle. I want to get on record here so that Members can all be aware it appears we are down to about 10 amendments right now on this side of the aisle. I think it would be very wise to continue to talk about this because we will be getting to a point where we are going to have to draw this to a conclusion, and now it seems like it may be some workable number. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, before I suggest the absence of a quorum, let me also echo my good friend. One of the real thrills I have had since I came from the other body was when Bob Dole was here with the Senator from Hawaii, and the two of them made such a spectacular image of everything that is good about this country and how good we feel. Every time I look at the Senator from Hawaii, I see a true American hero.

Mr. INHOFE. Yes.

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

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I thank those who voted the right way to come to a conclusion on this bill. This is likely the most important bill we will deal with this entire year. Right now we have a distressingly large number of amendments out there that are germane that people could come and offer. We are not going to have enough time to do it. As is usually the case, there are many out there who are not serious about their amendments. It is currently being hotlined to try to find out who is serious and who is not. I am going to be talking to individuals, but I would say, if you are serious about your amendment, and you want it considered, bring it to the floor. I am sure I speak on behalf of Senator Jeffords as well. We want these amendments brought to the floor, and we also want to know how many are out there that may not be serious amendments.

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I renew our plea for Members to bring their amendments down. We are making progress in terms of shortening the list. I would like to announce on our side we have hotlined it twice and we are down to 11 amendments by 9 different authors, different Senators. I encourage those nine to come to the floor while we have ample time. It is my understanding that after a couple of hotlines on the other side of the aisle, they only have about six amendments. That being the case, we could actually move the bill, if we can get these people down and get them to offer their amendments.