Patrick Leahy

Mr. LEAHY

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

Mr. LEAHY. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendments Nos. 1306 through 1308, En Bloc

Mr. LEAHY. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1305

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, how much time would the Senator be seeking? The only reason I ask is we are having a major hearing in Judiciary right now and we are trying to work it out based on the time that had been allotted.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. I thank the Senator from North Dakota. Then, as the Senator from Kentucky said earlier, I think it is pretty clear we on our side do not have any amendments beyond the unanimous-consent agreement that would require rollcall votes. I know of nobody on this side, nor am I, requesting a rollcall vote on final passage, insofar as we are going to have to have a rollcall vote when the conference report comes back, in any event. Amendment No. 1241

Mr. LEAHY. Once they have finished their time, I will ask unanimous consent that my time be yielded back.

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

Mr. LEAHY. Have the yeas and nays been ordered?

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have had questions about what six different administrations have done, since I have been in the Senate, in their operation of USAID, but I have never seen such micromanagement. This would could cost far more than it would save. It would actually cost far more money than this amount in debating it. It would not have been done in the Ford administration, the Nixon administration, the Reagan administration, the former Bush administration, the Clinton administration, and I would not support this kind of micromanagement in the current Bush administration. We would simply spend more money debating it than we could save, and I hope we would vote against it.

Mr. LEAHY. Reserving the right to object, and I shall not object, should we not have 2 minutes between each vote evenly divided between the sides in the usual form to discuss the next vote?

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, further parliamentary inquiry: Is it the intent of the distinguished Republican leader to request subsequent votes after this first one be 10-minute votes?

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

Mr. LEAHY. Have the yeas and nays been ordered?

Mr. LEAHY. I have spent almost 30 years on this committee, cutting out areas where I believed we spent tax dollars frivolously. This, however, is talking about $5,000 overall throughout AID regarding hospitality for visiting dignitaries. I have had disagreements with various Directors of AID over the years on particular programs, but I am not going to come on the Senate floor and seek to micromanage AID to the extent that if they have visiting dignitaries and they are trying to move through a program, they would be unable to even have recorded music for that or pay a modest honorarium to a local singer or something like that to come in and entertain, much the same way other countries do with us. We are talking about for the whole world--$5,000 in a multimillion dollar budget. Frankly, I will give the Bush administration--as I have since I have been in the Senate the Ford administration, the Reagan administration, the first Bush administration, the Clinton administration, and now the Bush administration--the benefit of the doubt that out of this multibillion dollar budget, they can handle this $5,000. I will vote against the amendment, and I yield the remainder of my time. Amendment No. 1242

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of our time.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would be willing to yield back my time, if the others are, to accommodate the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. LEAHY. I make that as part of the agreement.

Mr. LEAHY. That is right.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I commend the Senator from Kentucky for trying to move this bill along. I have been trying to do the same on my side. I am hoping we can. In fairness, if people actually have amendments, they should bring them forward. We have had several hours of quorum calls today. It would not seem to make a great deal of sense that we be here at midnight tonight finishing the bill. I join with the Senator from Kentucky. We could easily have had it finished by now. I will make one last call on our Members, but I am very eager to go to third reading. I see other Senators seeking recognition. I yield the floor.

Mr. LEAHY. Reserving the right to object, and I shall not--I discussed this with the Senator from Kentucky before--I will make two additions, one to add 5 minutes for the Senator from Vermont, which I do not expect to be using but just because of the way it is broken down, just to make sure that I have time; and secondly, this debate not start until such time as the Senator from New Jersey, the Senator from Wisconsin, and the Senator from New York who are on the floor, each waiting to speak briefly, make their statements before we begin the Coburn-Boxer amendment. With those provisos, the additional 5 minutes for myself, plus the time for the three of them, I have no objection.

Mr. LEAHY. They are asking, as I understand it, for 10 minutes.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I totally concur with the senior Senator from Kentucky. Friday, both he and I were here in a rather lonely Chamber, I might say. We would have been happy to have gone to third reading on Friday. We were advised Members on both sides of the aisle had matters to come before this committee. Of course, extending the normal courtesy managers do on such bills, we did not go to third reading so we could accommodate those Members. We are fast approaching that time. Frankly, if we reach a time tomorrow where we are ready to wrap up this bill, I will join with the Senator from Kentucky in doing that. I note to all Members that the bill is different than it has been in past years. We have both the operations of the State Department as well as what we normally consider the foreign aid bill. There are a number of items in the bill strongly supported by both Democrats and Republicans and a number of items sought by the President as part of his efforts in foreign policy. We have crafted what, by anybody's measure, has to be considered a bipartisan piece of legislation, one that should get overwhelming support by this body. We have taken into consideration those items the White House needs in the normal conduct of foreign affairs, as well as those items the State Department needs in their normal operations. But we still have to pass the bill. The bill, if it was brought to a vote right now, would pass overwhelmingly. But it still has to pass. I have never served as either leader of the Senate, but I sympathize with them. The leaders of this Senate--majority leaders Senator Mansfield, Senator Byrd, Senator Baker, Senator Dole, Senator Mitchell, Senator Lott, Senator Frist, as well as their counterparts--Senator Scott, Senator Griffin, and some of the same Senators I mentioned served as both minority and majority leaders, and Senator Reid. It is not an easy job to schedule the Senate. The distinguished Senator from Kentucky is the deputy Republican leader. He knows that. We are trying to accommodate him. We have done everything Senator Frist or Senator Reid have asked us to do in moving this bill forward. With a little cooperation from everybody else, we can wrap up this bill and get on to other matters because we still have to go to conference, which I would like to get to very quickly so we can get a final package before the Senate. I say that hoping someone will hear and know what the heck we are talking about, other than Supreme Court Justices. We really do want to get this bill wrapped up. Please do because once we reach a point with the amendments, we are going to vote them up or down and finish the bill. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as the distinguished Senator from Kentucky said earlier, we are on the Foreign Operations, State Department bill. We have virtually completed our work. There is a pending amendment. We are going to be ready very soon to go to third reading. We have had a number of Members say they might have an amendment, and I am delighted to hear that, but if they ``might,'' they might want to do it while the bill is still on the floor because it is going to be gone. Some of these amendments are very well thought out. Some Members have their press releases already written. But if Members want the press release released--as well as the well-thought-out amendment--one might want to do it while the bill is on the floor. I have no desire to hold up this piece of legislation. Senator McConnell has no desire to hold up this legislation. We spent several hours of quorum calls Friday and today. If Members are serious about an amendment, bring it to the floor. Otherwise, from this Senator's point of view, as soon as there is not an amendment pending, I will have no objection to moving to third reading. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c), I have submitted a petition to discharge the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works from consideration of S.J. Res. 20, a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the rule relating to the delisting of coal and oil-direct utility units from the source category list under the Clean Air Act, submitted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under chapter 8 title 5, United States Code, the Congressional Review Act. Discharge Petition We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with Chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, hereby direct that the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S.J. Res. 20, a resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency relating to the delisting of coal and oil-direct utility units from the source category list under the Clean Air Act, and further, that the resolution be placed upon the Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Patrick Leahy, Jim Jeffords, Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, Tom Carper, Jon S. Corzine, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, John F. Kerry, Maria Cantwell, Jay Rockefeller, Mark Dayton, Harry Reid, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russell D. Feingold, Tom Harkin, Herb Kohl, Frank R. Lautenberg, Joe Lieberman, Patty Murray, Paul Sarbanes, Chris Dodd, Dick Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama, Carl Levin, Barbara A. Mikulski, Jack Reed, Charles Schumer, Ron Wyden, Daniel K. Akaka.