Herb Kohl

Mr. KOHL

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. KOHL. The minority accepts it also.

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, Senator Durbin wants to go on as a cosponsor of this amendment, the youth gun crime initiative amendment.

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

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I ask that the amendment be adopted.

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

Mr. KOHL. I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. KOHL. I send an amendment to the desk

Mr. KOHL. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 933 (Purpose: To clarify the limitation on undertaking a field support reorganization in Aberdeen, SD)

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, it has been cleared on our side.

Mr. KOHL

Mr. KOHL. Second, while it is unfortunate that Eric Holder is being held ``hostage'' to Joel Klein's nomination, the truth is that the sooner we confirm Mr. Klein, the sooner we can move forward and confirm Eric Holder. The Department of Justice, and the American people, will be better off with a confirmed Deputy Attorney General. Third, I respect the efforts of my colleagues, Senator Hollings, Senator Dorgan and Senator Kerrey, who have fought long and hard for consumers on telecommunications matters. Like me, they clearly want someone in charge of the Antitrust Division who will bring about the kind of competition promised in--but not yet delivered by--the Telecommunications Act. They have sent a strong message to Joel Klein on how to interpret Section 271 of the Act, and I believe he understands that message and will work hard to promote vigorous competition in the telephone industry--and all other industries. My hope is that Joel Klein, as a confirmed appointee, will surprise his critics and please his supporters in his enforcement of the antitrust laws. I urge my colleagues to support him.

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, let me make a few brief points. First, it is kind of ironic that Joel Klein's nomination has nearly universal Republican support, but has divided many Democrats. After all, he is the President's choice for the job and any Presidential nominee for an executive branch appointment--Democrat or Republican--deserves the benefit of the doubt. More than that, Mr. Klein has the support of many prominent Democrats, among them Judge Abner Mikva, Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, Lloyd Cutler, and others. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from them--and from prominent Republicans--in support of Joel Klein be printed in the Record.

Mr. KOHL

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

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

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

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I request--temporarily, I hope --of Senator Campbell that we don't act on this at this time.

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Bob Simon and Dan Alpert, legislative fellows in the office of Senator Bingaman, be granted floor privileges during the pendency of this bill.

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

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

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

Mr. KOHL. On behalf of the minority and Senator Feinstein, we yield back our remaining time also.

Mr. KOHL

Mr. KOHL. Likewise.

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I thank the Senator. As the distinguished Senator from Colorado has just indicated, we are bringing to the floor recommendations on the fiscal year 1998 appropriations level for the Treasury, general Government agencies. First, I thank Senator Campbell for his dedicated work on this bill. He has worked long and hard on the difficult issues that he has just outlined for our colleagues. As a result of his efforts, I believe the committee has developed a balanced approach for dealing with the many programs and activities under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee, while staying within the budget allocation. Since this budget allocation was $489 million below the administration's request, we have been required to make some substantial reductions. However, the subcommittee actions have resulted in a bill that is both fiscally responsible and I also believe very reasonable. Senator Campbell has discussed the major funding highlights, and rather than repeating those highlights, I will limit my comments to a few areas that I would like to emphasize. First, the funding provided for IRS activities. Tax processing, tax law enforcement and information systems is at the President's request. Additionally, $325 million has been provided for an information technology fund. While we continue to have concerns over the IRS modernization efforts, we believe that it is important to provide the IRS with the tools necessary to collect taxes owed. By providing full funding, we can be assured that the critical century date change and data center consolidation occur in a timely manner and allow the IRS to continue smooth operations into the year 2000. Second, the national media campaign proposed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy is not fully funded. I fully support, of course, the efforts to combat the drug problem in this country, and I support the efforts in leadership of Gen. Barry McCaffrey, but I am reluctant to provide billions of dollars for an untried and untested media program. So I supported funding at a smaller pilot program level, which would provide the administration and Congress with the evidence of the success that is necessary when we are committing such huge taxpayer dollars. However, Senator Campbell and I have come to a compromise position: funding the national media program for 1 year at $110 million, after which the program will be evaluated. We are also providing over $35 million for community-oriented drug prevention programs, such as a drug-free prison zone program and the initiation of the Drug Free Communities Act grants. Finally, I want to highlight that no funds are provided for the General Services Administration's Construction and Acquisition Program. The Federal buildings fund is experiencing a shortfall in revenue resulting from GSA miscalculating rent income and miscalculating construction completion dates. While I am concerned over the financial situation generating this shortfall, I believe it provides a good opportunity to review the principles applied to the Courthouse Construction Program. As a result, the report accompanying the bill contains criteria that the General Services Administration and the Administrative Office of the Courts must apply to future courthouse construction projects. According to these criteria, projects included in future requests must: One, meet the design guide standards for construction; Two, reflect the priorities of the Judicial Conference of the United States; Three, be included in the approved 5-year construction plan; And four, must be accompanied by a standardized courtroom utilization study. It is hoped that the application of these criteria will result in a well-justified Courthouse Construction Program in the future. Mr. President, that concludes my highlights of the bill's funding levels. We believe we have provided the best funding levels possible under the funding restrictions. Before I yield the floor, I also want to acknowledge the fine work done by the staff on this bill: Pat Raymond, Tammy Perrin, Lula Edwards, Frank Larkin, and Barbara Retzlaff, and others. I thank them for all their hard work in helping to bring this bill before the Senate. I yield the floor. Mr. CAMPBELL addressed the Chair.