Carl Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the Senate to proceed en bloc to the consideration of the following calendar items: Calendar No. 156, S. 1417; Calendar No. 157, S. 1418; and Calendar No. 158, S. 1419; that all after the enacting clause be stricken, en bloc; that the following divisions of S. 1438, as passed the Senate, be inserted as follows: Division A, S. 1419; Division B, S. 1418; and Division C, S. 1417; that the bills be read a third time, passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc; and that the consideration of these items appear separately in the Record. I further ask unanimous consent that with respect to S. 1438, S. 1417, S. 1418, and S. 1419, as passed the Senate; that if the Senate receives a message from the House with respect to any of these bills, the Senate then proceed to the House message; that the Senate disagree to the House amendment or amendments, agree to the request for a conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, or request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses; and that the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees with the above occurring with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Allard, Senator Warner, and others who worked so hard on this amendment. We made some very important progress in the bill that came from committee on assuring voting rights for men and women in the Armed Forces and those who leave the Armed Forces, for a short period of time after their departure. Senator Allard has worked hard and has suggested some additional ways in which we can give that assurance that every eligible voter serving in our military does have a meaningful opportunity to vote and that properly cast ballots will be counted. I commend him. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, Senator Dodd, and Senator Max Cleland worked so hard. I ask unanimous consent someone who has also worked extremely hard on this issue and made wonderful contributions, Senator Landrieu of Louisiana, be added as a cosponsor to this modified amendment.

Mr. LEVIN. In addition, Mr. President, I express my thanks to Senator Allard. This is a complicated issue, and it is important we hear from a number of sources, including secretaries of state of the various States, between now and the time we go to conference. We will be seeking to get their input on this language. We have not had a chance to do that. There may need to be some additional work. In the meantime, I support the amendment and hope we will adopt it.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am sorry I did not have an opportunity to hear all of Senator Carper's words, but I think I understand enough to know what he has indicated, that apparently there has been now a statement from the DOD to the FTC on this matter. If so, that was the purpose of the Torricelli amendment which was supported, I believe, by the Senator from Delaware and one other Senator.

Mr. LEVIN. Senator Biden as well. If that information for whatever reason turns out not to be accurate, Senator Torricelli, Senator Carper, Senator Biden, and others have my assurance that I will be putting tremendous weight on the Department of Defense between now and conference to be certain those views are expressed, whatever those views are. It is not up to me, at least, to express an opinion as to the substance of the matter. I do not know enough about it. But they have apparently now expressed those views. If they have not, I will do everything within my power to make certain they do between now and the time this bill comes back from conference. I thank Senator Torricelli and Senator Carper for their position on this matter now.

Mr. LEVIN. I do believe the services should consider such insurance products.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, could I add my thanks to the majority leader for his very strong and determined leadership to bring this bill to a close. I must say it could not have happened without the determination of the majority leader to finally just simply file cloture. That is what it came to. We were not able to bring this to closure without that cloture motion. The majority leader's leadership has been absolutely superb and essential. That is going to permit us to have a strong vote and a unified, bipartisan voice in support of our troops. Both the majority leader and the Republican leader at an earlier time had sought to limit amendments to some kind of procedure. I thank both the majority and Republican leaders for that effort. They did not succeed in achieving that, but the next step will be taken. The majority leader took that action. That is the true mark of leadership, and the Nation is very much in his debt.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. finally, we are removing language from the bill that would have stated that DOD may not be required to make purchases with a value less than the micropurchase threshold of $2500 from FPI. The micropurchase threshold is important, because the removal of statutory requirements on small purchases makes it possible for DOD and other agencies to use efficient purchasing methods, including credit cards. For this reason, DOD has long sought, within the executive branch, an exemption from FPI's mandatory source requirement for purchases less than $2,500. So far, FPI has been willing to grant an exemption only for purchases up to $250. We are removing this language from the bill so that the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice can continue efforts to work it out within the executive branch. It is our hope that, with the elimination of the mandatory preference for DOD purchases from FPI, the two agencies will be able to work this issue out in a constructive manner. Would the Senator from Wyoming agree with this?

Mr. LEVIN. It is now the understanding that we will recess until 2:15 and that we will be back at that time. We hope to be able to work out a pending amendment or two so we can complete consideration of this bill, hopefully before the briefing which has been scheduled for, I believe, 2:30. It would be our goal that we can use that 15 minutes to resolve these pending amendments, that we can then go to final passage right after the 2:30 briefing. That would be my goal.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am sure we all remember the lengthy, spirited debate on the question of whether or not private businesses in this country should have an opportunity to bid on items which the Government is buying or whether they ought to be preempted from being able to bid on those items by the monopoly position of Federal Prison Industries. The Senate spoke and spoke loudly. Senator Gramm strongly opposed it. He had some suggestions afterward which I find acceptable, Senator Thomas finds acceptable, and those suggestions are now incorporated in the amendment which we have sent to the desk. It leaves intact the thrust of our amendment. I ask unanimous consent the amendment be considered.

Mr. LEVIN. Second, we are removing language from the bill that would have expressly stated that DOD may not be required to purchase national security systems from FPI. There are certain types of products that are inappropriate to produce in our prisons. I don't think we want guns produced in our prisons. I don't think we want missile guidance systems to be produced in prisons. I don't think we want rocket launchers to be produced in prisons. I don't think we want bullet proof vests to be produced in prisons. We have agreed to drop the language in the bill because it is unnecessary. With the elimination of the mandatory preference, DOD will no longer be required to purchase any product from FPI, unless the Department determines that FPI offers the best product and the best price, and with a delivery schedule that meets the Department's needs. For this reason, we do not believe that is necessary to retain the language singling out national security systems. Would the Senator from Wyoming agree with this?

Mr. LEVIN. Senator Allard, Senator Nelson of Florida and others, Senator Dodd, are working hard to see if we can come up with something which moves in the direction we all want to move in terms of voting rights for our military personnel and that does so in a way that we can protect against any unintended consequences. That is our hope over the lunch period. We will come back at 2:15 with high hopes and, if not, we will have to resolve it in other ways.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, we had hoped and expected there was going to be an additional amendment of Senator Hollings to which Senator Warner and I had agreed, but there was a last minute objection, I believe, on the Republican side. We will try to do the best we can on that in the morning.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LEVIN. I urge the Senate adopt these 12 amendments.

Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order now to send 12 amendments to the desk and that they be considered en bloc. I understand these amendments have now been cleared by the other side.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I believe now we have cleared the decks of all cleared amendments. We are hoping more can be cleared yet tonight. We will be here at least for a few minutes. For the moment, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I commend our dear friend from Connecticut for his very passionate argument. He has been the leader in the effort to provide these resources for our valued firefighters whose amazing contributions were so dramatically demonstrated on September 11. The Senator from Connecticut has been the leader in this effort. The contribution which I have made to his effort is small indeed compared to what he has been able to put forward with his leadership. I can only say in amazement that as powerful a speaker as the Senator from Connecticut always is, somehow miraculously, despite the fact he is up half the night changing diapers for his daughter Grace, he is more powerful and more passionate than ever. That says something about fatherhood. I congratulate him not only on his argument and tell him I am proud to be a cosponsor of his amendment, but I again congratulate him on his wonderful new family addition.

Mr. LEVIN

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

Mr. LEVIN. So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess until 3:15. At that time, we will be in this Chamber to discuss amendments that Senators might wish to offer. And the managers will stay as late today as is necessary to discuss any of those amendments. I thank the Chair.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. And that Senator Dodd's speech be limited to 15 minutes.

Mr. LEVIN. Just to offer it.