Carl Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, we have no objection to the amendment.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Bingaman, I offer an amendment which authorizes $2.1 million to conduct research and development activity for the Holloman Air Force Base high-speed test track. I believe it has been cleared.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 807

Mr. LEVIN. No objection on this side.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Biden, I send an amendment to the desk which would increase by 30 the personnel end strength of the Air National Guard.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 806

Mr. LEVIN. It has been cleared on this side.

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

Mr. LEVIN. We do.

Mr. LEVIN. I am not sure I can hear the Chair.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I offer a modified amendment on behalf of Senator Daschle that would add an additional $20.3 million for B-1B bomber modifications. I believe it has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 791, As Modified

Mr. LEVIN. There is no objection.

Mr. LEVIN. We have no objection to the amendment on this side.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 817

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, my colleagues Senators DeWine and Voinovich of Ohio, Senator Stabenow of Michigan, and I are pleased to introduce the Great Lakes Water Quality Indicators and Monitoring Act. This bill will provide science-based assessments of the health of the Great Lakes and whether restoration projects are working. The bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency to develop indicators of Great Lakes water quality and related environmental factors and a comprehensive network to monitor those indicators. The Great Lakes contain almost 20 percent of the world's fresh water. Millions of people rely on the lakes for drinking water, for economic livelihoods such as fishing and shipping, and for recreational opportunities, including swimming and boating. But the Great Lakes have suffered from decades of toxic discharges, urban and agricultural runoff, and other environmental challenges. We've made some progress in improving water quality, but we know we have a long way to go. The stewards of the lakes at the Federal, State, and local levels use a variety of methods to determine the health of the Great Lakes and whether they are improving. For example, EPA and the Fish and Wildlife Service monitor the accumulation of chemicals in Great Lakes fish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration detects changes in the ecosystem from space-based satellites and waterborne buoys. The Geological Survey samples stream flow and quality, and the states inspect for compliance with water quality standards. But these efforts to collect scientific data are largely voluntary and suffer from a lack of funding and coordination. They use inconsistent methods that often produce incompatible results. This week, members of the Great Lakes Task Force released a General Accounting Office report on Great Lakes environmental programs. GAO looked at almost 200 Federal and State programs and found that a lack of coordination, poorly defined goals, and insufficient data make it difficult to evaluate the success of these programs. GAO found that there are no data collected regularly throughout the Great Lakes, and that the existing data are inadequate to determine whether water quality and other environmental conditions are improving. In 1990, I authored the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act, which strengthened the water quality standards in the Great Lakes region. This year, Congress passed the Great Lakes Legacy Act, to speed the cleanup of contaminated bottom sediment. But we haven't established a way to evaluate the impact of these measures. A restoration program is only as good as its ability to demonstrate results. To show results, we need science-based indicators of water quality and related environmental factors, and we need to monitor those indicators regularly throughout the ecosystem. GAO recommends that EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office lead an effort to develop indicators and a monitoring network. Our bill gives that office the mandate to work with other federal agencies and Canada to identify and measure water quality and other environmental factors on a regular basis. The initial set of data collected through this network will serve as a benchmark against which to measure future improvements. Those measurements will help us make decisions on how to steer future restoration efforts. With a clear picture of how the Great Lakes are changing, we can change course when needed and spend public funds on the most pressing demands. This bill serves a second purpose--it provides EPA with dedicated funding to make sure that data collection can begin in a timely manner and be carried out consistently and comprehensively as long as the Great Lakes are in need. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill and help speed its passage. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LEVIN

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

Mr. LEVIN. If the chairman will yield a minute, I join in thanking Senator Byrd. He has a unique role in this institution and in this Nation. He makes a huge contribution in ways sometimes which are visible but often in ways which are not visible and are not known. One of those ways has been on the Armed Services Committee with so many issues. The issues he pointed out where the so-called flexibility was being sought but was not incorporated in this bill is in significant measure a tribute to his strength in defending the role of the legislative branch. It is a reflection of what is not only a big part of him but what he has instituted in so many others as a role model in this institution for fighting for a branch of government which is truly coequal to the executive branch. We have sustained that in this bill. While the Senator from West Virginia will be voting no for the reasons he gave, the fact that he noted and welcomed the effort we made to keep out the excess power and flexibility in the executive branch to me is very heart warming indeed. I thank him for it.

Mr. LEVIN. I share this concern. I will work with the Senate Armed Services Committee, through our important oversight role, to insure that the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program continues to be carried out effectively by the Departments of Defense and Energy, especially now that we have repealed the ban on low-yield nuclear weapons.

Mr. LEVIN. I believe a careful, systematic study is needed by the executive branch on the effects of such a repeal, and especially, how it affects nations such as Russia, where we are cooperatively working to reduce the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. LEVIN. We have included, however, a requirement for the specific authorization for low-yield warhead development beyond phase 2A or 6.2A. With this amendment, Congress and this committee, will continue to play an important oversight role on nuclear weapons development.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. environmental restoration of the former eaker air force base

Mr. LEVIN. No objection.