Carl Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. If the Senator will yield?

Mr. LEVIN. As I understand the objection, it is perhaps a temporary one. Is that the understanding of the Senator from Wisconsin? My understanding of what the Senator from Virginia said is that in order to protect the rights of other Senators, he would object at this time. But I suggest at least the possibility that the Senator renew his unanimous-consent request and perhaps there will be no objection, after there has been an opportunity for people to read the modification.

Mr. LEVIN. They are checking it out now.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Eden Murrie in Senator Lieberman's office and Dana Krupa in Senator Bingaman's office be granted the privilege of the floor for the remainder of this bill.

Mr. LEVIN. The 2-minute request was between the first and the second vote, not before the first vote.

Mr. LEVIN. On behalf of Senator Bingaman, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. LEVIN. On behalf of Senator Robb, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. LEVIN. Section 1061(a) of the amendment would require the President to promptly notify Congress whenever an ``investigation'' is undertaken. The term ``investigation'' is not defined in the amendment. I am concerned that some could interpret this to require the President to report to Congress every time the executive branch receives an allegation, even before the Justice Department or others have an opportunity to determine whether the allegations are based in fact. Such an interpretation could lead to the disclosure of a flood of unsubstantiated allegations to Congress, with a resulting injustice to innocent individuals who may be the subject of such allegations.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on that amendment I ask Senator Baucus be added as a cosponsor.

Mr. LEVIN. the issue will certainly have to be addressed in conference. The BQM-74 target drone is important to peacetime training and readiness. I know that the House Armed Services Committee authorized funding, and the Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended funding. It is my intention to work with the Chairman and our House counterparts in the upcoming conference to try to provide authorization funding for BQM-74 procurement in fiscal year 2000.

Mr. LEVIN. I thank the senior Senator from New Jersey for his willingness to expedite our consideration of this bill. We understand the House has a similar provision. During conference, we will give full consideration to the project as the Senator from New Jersey has recommended.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I ask unanimous consent for a minute for the Senator from California.

Mr. LEVIN. Before the Senator from Nebraska answers, if he yields, I will speak for perhaps 5 or 10 minutes on the subject. I know the Democratic leader wants to speak on this amendment, I believe, if possible, around 11:30. There may be others, too. We ought to find out if there are others before any such agreement is propounded.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am wondering whether the Senator from Virginia would consider the following approach: after the disposition of the Murray amendment, that there then be an hour of debate on the Kerrey amendment and, immediately following the disposition of the Kerrey amendment, that the reconsideration vote occur on the Gramm amendment, precluding second-degree amendments to the Kerrey amendment.

Mr. LEVIN. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. LEVIN. That would be at 1:45.

Mr. LEVIN. Reserving the right to object, I just want to see if there is any problem on that relative to Senator Kerrey. I don't know why there would be, offhand, but we are trying to make sure there is no problem. It is fine with me.

Mr. LEVIN. Neither one of us is asking for it.

Mr. LEVIN. I commend him for his leadership, which made our good progress possible. When he points out how few quorum calls we have had on this bill, the only suggestion I have in addition to the ones he has made is that there is a lot of wood around here to knock on, and we need to knock on wood that this will continue along the lines it has with very few quorum calls and significant progress. I do see the Senator from Nebraska on the floor. We look forward to his offering that amendment. Then I believe at 11:45, under the current unanimous consent agreement, we are going to return to the BRAC amendment and then have a vote on that. That would be the first vote, as I understand the UC.

Mr. LEVIN. If the chairman would just yield for a comment?

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. --and I am determined to do, if he is unable to be back here by the time the 40 minutes is utilized, we would then go to some other matters and protect him?

Mr. LEVIN. I add my thanks to the Senator from New Hampshire. As always, he is very cooperative with attempting to resolve issues. I didn't have a chance to thank him earlier today for his willingness to address the Trident submarine issue, even though he took a different position on the amendment of Senator Kerrey, that part of that amendment really had been addressed, at least in committee, with the Trident reduction. While I very much supported Senator Kerrey's amendment for the reasons that I gave, I didn't have an opportunity during that debate to thank Senator Smith for his participation in addressing one part of that issue which the Defense Department was most anxious to address. I thank him for that as well.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from Minnesota.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, how much time do the opponents have?

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, on behalf of Senator Bingaman, that Dr. Michael Cieslak, a fellow, be granted the privilege of the floor during the pendency of this bill.