Daniel Inouye

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I am pleased to yield all of my time to the Senator from Montana.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I am pleased to yield whatever time the gracious lady from California requires.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, what is the time situation?

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

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. Mrs. HUTCHISON addressed the Chair.

Mr. INOUYE. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Arizona be granted 5 minutes.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I am pleased to advise the Senate that the Senate Armed Services Committee is in favor of this amendment, and there is no objection on our side.

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

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays on final passage.

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I have been told that we are now ready for final passage.

Mr. INOUYE. I do think it would be appropriate for the Army to set aside the M105A3 contract for small disadvantaged businesses, and I urge the Army to do so. Senator Stevens, the chairman of the subcommittee, is on the floor. Would the chairman of the subcommittee be willing to share his views on this subject?

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be considered and agreed to, en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc; and that statements relative to the amendments be printed in the Record as though read.

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. Amendments Nos. 342 through 346, En Bloc

Mr. INOUYE. I indeed support such action by the Army. The funds were appropriated for trailer procurement, and the Army needs the M105A3. I urge the Army to use the funds to procure the M105A3.

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I am about to send to the desk several amendments on behalf of several Senators on both sides of the aisle. I am pleased to advise you, Madam President, that these amendments have been reviewed and cleared by the managers of the measure before us and all of the appropriate Senators from committees of jurisdiction. I send the amendments to the desk.

Mr. INOUYE. The Senator is correct. The Army reports that it has 9,926 M149A2 water trailers on hand, and no longer needs more of the water trailers. As the Senator has indicated, the Army still has $15 million of the funds Congress appropriated for the water trailers in fiscal year 1994 and fiscal year 1995. The Army does, however, need another trailer, the M105A3 cargo trailer. The average age of the M105 cargo trailer is 16 years, while the trailer's economic life is 20 years. Nearly one-quarter of the Army's fleet of M105 cargo trailers is older than twenty years, and many of these overage trailers are assigned to fight units. The overage trailers can impair unit mobility and readiness.

Mr. INOUYE. The Senator is correct. The Senator from North Dakota is aware that, as Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I strongly supported procurement of the M149A2 because it provided the Army with a modern water trailer which it sorely needed.

Mr. INOUYE. I will be glad to engage in a colloquy with the Senators from North Dakota.

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendments be dispensed with.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. I yield the floor. Amendment No. 337 (Purpose: To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue a Certificate of documentation for the vessel L.R. Beattie)

Mr. INOUYE. Are we now prepared to have a time certain for final passage?

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, will the chairman yield?

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I am personally prepared to accept the amendment, but I just received a request from the Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. Pell] that he would like to look over the amendment, and he will be here shortly. So may I request that the acceptance be held up for, say, 5 minutes?

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I have conferred with the chairman of the committee and I am prepared to accept his recommendation.