Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I know the Senator from Georgia is prepared to speak. Will he allow me to intervene for a moment? I do not want to take away from time that may be reserved, so I yield myself such time from my leader time as is necessary.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I will be brief. I want to commend Senator Warner for the effort he and his staff have put into this bill. I am hoping we can wrap up the debate and get to the votes that are going to be required on the point of order and final passage before too late in the evening. This has been a long time coming. It has been a laborious process. Senator Warner stuck with it. Obviously, he had help from his colleague on the other side of the Capitol, the gentleman from South Carolina, Congressman Spence. He worked with Senator Levin, the ranking member. But this is a monumental achievement. There are some people who have the idea we do not need the Defense authorization bill if we have already done the Department of Defense appropriations bill and military construction appropriations bill, but we need this bill because it authorizes important programs; it authorizes important changes in the law; it authorizes the money that we need. I want to touch on a few of those very briefly. The funding level for new budget authority for the Department of Defense in this bill is $309.9 billion, which is $4.6 billion above the President's budget request. It is an increase over what was requested for procurement, for research, development, test and evaluation, and operations and maintenance. It also has a 3.7-percent pay raise for our military personnel effective January 1, 2001. Last year, when we had a pay raise for our military men and women, the word I got from the rank-and-file troops, and also from the Joint Chiefs, including specifically the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, was that it absolutely transformed the attitude of our military men and women who were leaving and were not ``reuping,'' as the saying goes in the military, because they really wondered if we appreciated them and knew they were there. At least by improving their pay, by dealing with their retirement benefits, and now in this bill, another pay raise, and dealing with this question of health care, it is going to have a good effect on morale. Obviously, we want the morale to be good. We want quality of life in the barracks. We want the ships and tanks and everything we need. But if we do not begin with decent living arrangements for our military men and women, then all is lost. This bill comes at a critical time. Just today we see what the risks are--the U.S.S. Cole, built in my hometown of Pascagoula--I believe I was there when it was commissioned--300 sailors on the ship, and now we see 3 dozen or more of them are killed or injured and others are missing. Yet this is one of the most sophisticated ships in the world. But it shows once again, if we have kamikazes who are willing to put it all on the line, to get killed, to do damage, they can do damage to our equipment and to our men and women. This is no time to nitpick this bill and turn away from it. There are those who say we should not be starting these new programs or make them permanent. But for our military men and women, active duty and retirees, and for their families, we need to address this health care question. For our military people to be told, at 65, you are off, you are off this program, go there and get on Medicare or find some other arrangement, is wrong. When we talked to our military personnel and our retirees and we said: what is really the thing that you want the most in helping you deal with your health care needs, they cited the pharmaceutical problem, the need for pharmacy benefits, either mail order or, in this bill, through retail. This is a major achievement. I have already had military retirees and veterans call my office literally in tears to say thanks for what we are doing here. Maybe it was not done exactly the prettiest way, or in the way it should have been done early on, but this is a major achievement. I do not want to be the one to explain to some veteran, because of a procedural issue or a point of order, that we don't address this need of our military men and women and their families and our retirees. I am not going to explain that. I am going to vote for this bill, and I am going to do it proudly. Then there is another provision that objections have been raised about, and that is the Department of Energy employees who were injured due to exposure to radiation and other problems at our DOE facilities and nuclear facilities. Again, there may need to be more work on it. Maybe it should have been handled in a different way. But who wants to tell these people who have been injured by our Government operation, ``There is no program for you.'' Not me. I do not think we should walk away from this at this point. This is a reasonable compromise. Both the retirement and the DOE program that was added as we went along, and expanded, while it may present certain difficulties for some of our people, in the end it is the right thing to do. Also, it is attached to a bill that we need desperately--a good bill, a bill that has been a long time coming. I thank all those involved. There are so many parts of it I could refer to that are important, but I didn't want us to get to final passage without me saying we should do this bill--we should defeat the point of order, and we should pass this bill. It is the right thing for the defense of our country, for our veterans, and the right thing for people who have been injured and haven't been properly compensated. We can fine tune the program as we learn more about the extent of the damages and how much they are injured and the proper way to deal with it, but for now I urge my colleagues, vote for this legislation. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could ask the Senator to yield and make sure I understand what he is saying, did you say we could do this by voice vote?

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask consent that at 10 a.m. on Friday the Senate turn to the conference report to accompany H.R. 4461, the Agriculture appropriations conference report, and it be considered under the following agreement, with the time equally divided in the usual form. I ask consent that debate continue beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday and proceed through the day. I ask consent the vote occur on adoption of the Agriculture conference report at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday and paragraph 4 of rule XII be waived.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again, we will keep working to try to get agreements accepted. I do not quite understand why the Agriculture appropriations bill cannot be debated tonight, now, and voted on tomorrow. And I do not understand why we cannot get an agreement to have debate on it on Friday and Tuesday, and a vote on Wednesday. I know there are Senators who want to talk on it. That is their right in the Senate. But if we are ever going to get this process completed, we need to get the Agriculture appropriations conference report done. I am still holding out some hope that maybe the Commerce-State- Justice conference report and even the Labor-HHS conference report could be agreed to and could be dealt with tomorrow in such a way we could have a vote on them on Thursday or Friday. But we do not have that yet. Is there objection?

Mr. LOTT. I think the Senator knows there is a great difference between moving to proceed and asking unanimous consent. For now, obviously, we cannot get the unanimous consent agreement, so we will not be able to proceed. In light of the discussions we have just had, and since we cannot get an agreement on taking up Agriculture now, the next votes will occur at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow regarding HUD-VA and related issues, and additional votes will occur late tomorrow afternoon regarding the DOD authorization conference report if we can get this time agreement worked out, and I assume we will be able to. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Thompson for his consistency and for the remarks he just made. I don't know that it will sway the vote, but it is certainly worth contemplating what he just said.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that immediately following the vote on the adoption of the HUD-VA bill on Thursday, the motion to proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which the conference report to accompany H.R. 4516 was not agreed to be immediately agreed to, and the vote occur on the conference report immediately, without any intervening action or debate.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the veto message with respect to the conference report accompanying H.R. 4733 be considered as having been read, printed in the Record and spread in full upon the Journal, and the message then be referred to the Appropriations Committee. Before the Chair grants this request, I would like to say to my colleagues that, unfortunately, the Senate does not have the votes to override this veto. I still believe strongly that the energy and water appropriations conference report should not have been vetoed and that there is a real threat of danger as a result of the provisions that are in controversy. The vote in the Senate was 57-37, which is a very strong vote. But at this point it appears there certainly would not be sufficient votes to override the President's veto. I regret the veto. The Senate needs to proceed now to complete these appropriations bills, and therefore we have had to go through the process as just be outlined in these previous unanimous consent requests. Therefore, this consent addresses the immediate concern of the veto message entering the Senate Chamber.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, while Senator Daschle is here, he may want to make comments. I thank him again for working to help get this agreement worked out, as Senator Reid certainly has been helpful, and Senator Bond, chairman of the committee, and Senator Mikulski, ranking member of the HUD-VA appropriations subcommittee; they have done good work. As a result of these agreements, we will be able to act tomorrow on the HUD-VA appropriations bill, the energy and water appropriations bill, as will be modified to put in the agreed-to language with regard to section 103, and we also will then have the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill included in this process. We will continue to work after this vote at 4:30 to get an agreement with regard to the time and a vote on the Defense authorization bill. We are working through the difficulties which are probably on this side; maybe on both sides. We will try to work that out, and also a time when a vote will occur on the Agriculture appropriations conference report. I will have to communicate some more. I thought it important to go ahead and get these agreements lined up. I remind Members, we have two votes scheduled at 4:30.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, after extensive collaboration with Senator Daschle, we have come to this consensus which we believe is in the best interests of all concerned. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 801, H.R. 4635, the HUD-VA appropriations bill, on Thursday at 9:30 a.m., the committee substitute be agreed to, one amendment which will be offered by Senator Bond and Senator Mikulski be immediately agreed to, and the bill time be limited to the following: Fifteen minutes under the control of Senator McCain; Five minutes under the control of Senator Kyl; Ten minutes equally divided between the subcommittee chairman and ranking minority member; Ten minutes equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member of the full committee. I further ask unanimous consent that there be one amendment in order by Senator Daschle, or his designee, regarding the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill, and following the offering of that amendment there be 10 minutes for debate to be equally divided in the usual form, and no amendments be in order to the amendment. I further ask unanimous consent that following the vote relative to the Byrd amendment, Senator Boxer be recognized to offer up to two first-degree amendments relative to environmental dredging, drinking water regulations, and Clean Air Act area designation, and there be up to 30 minutes of debate on each amendment to be equally divided in the usual form, with no other amendments in order, and the amendments not be divisible. I further ask unanimous consent that following disposition of the amendments just described, the bill be advanced to third reading and passage occur, all without any intervening action or debate. I further ask unanimous consent that the votes just described occur beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday and there be 2 minutes before each vote for explanation. I further ask unanimous consent that following the vote, the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, those conferees being the entire subcommittee, including Senators Stevens and Byrd.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we do have some additional consent requests we have been working on. I have a couple here and Senator McCain has agreed to allow us to do these. Then he has a couple of unanimous consents he wants to ask. The first has to do with the Defense Department authorization bill for the next fiscal year.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the DOD authorization conference report following the reconsideration vote on H.R. 4516 on Thursday, and the conference report be considered as having been read and debated under the following time agreement: 2 hours under the control of the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, 1 hour under the control of Senator Gramm, 2\1/2\ hours under the control of Senator Levin, 30 minutes under the control of Senator Wellstone; That following the debate just outlined, Senator Kerrey be recognized to make a point of order and that the motion to waive the Budget Act be limited to 2 hours equally divided in the usual form. I further ask consent that following the use or yielding back of time on the motion to waive, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion and, if waived, a vote occur immediately on adoption of the conference report, without any intervening action, motion, or debate.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am sure there is a good faith effort being made here. So I will revise my unanimous consent request. But let me emphasize to all the Members that this is a very important bill. Some people think: We have passed the Defense appropriations bill, the military construction appropriations bill; what do we need an authorization bill for? This is the bill that makes the law that authorizes things for our military men and women, including an increase in pay, including the very important, laboriously worked out provisions with regard to health benefits for our active duty men and women and their families and our retirees. It also has the Department of Energy language in which the Presiding Officer has had so much interest. This is really a big bill and an important bill. So I hope we can get agreement. I believe we will. Also, I emphasize that by spending 6 hours on this bill, you know that is time we could be spending on the Agriculture appropriations conference report or other conference reports that may be ready by tomorrow afternoon. So I hope we can get this locked up soon. But, in view of the legitimate request that was made by the Senator, I modify my unanimous consent request and end it after the words ``considered as having been read'' in the first paragraph.

Mr. LOTT. OK.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I will continue to work on this with Senator McCain. I understand other Senators are coming to the floor to discuss the issues with him.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I have been involved in other meetings this morning, and I have not heard the discussion. I have not had an opportunity to see the level of disagreement on this. Let me just say to Senator McCain --and we just talked about it--I don't have a personal problem with this. But give me a little time to make sure that all of our people know to what we are about to agree. Hopefully, within the next few minutes he can offer that again. I will object at this point, but if he will withhold, because I understand there may be more objections, I will check that out.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I submit a report of the committee of conference on the bill H.R. 4475 making appropriations for the Department of Transportation and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would like to acknowledge the upcoming retirement of Mr. Charles A. Gillis, who will retire on October 20, 2000, as Branch Manager of the Gulfport Branch Office, United States Small Business Administration (SBA). I know that I am joined by the entire business community of South Mississippi, Charlie's colleagues at the SBA, and all those who have had the privilege of interacting with him over the years. I especially want to thank Charlie for a long career of completely devoted service to his community, the State of Mississippi, and this Nation. I have known Charlie for many years and have seen firsthand the substantial impact his extensive knowledge and business expertise have had on countless small businesses and the local economy of Southern Mississippi. Charles Gillis' ties to the Gulf Coast run deep, as does his record of service and achievement. He is a life-long resident of Harrison County and a graduate of Gulfport High School. Charlie served in the First Cavalry Division in Korea in 1951. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), and later completed additional graduate studies in business at the USM-Gulf Park Campus. Prior to serving with the SBA, Charlie was a small business entrepreneur in his own right, as owner and operator of Gillis Furniture in Gulfport. Moreover, Charlie served as a furniture manufacturers representative with regular travel assignments covering five states. Throughout his private sector career, Charlie honed the business skills that later made him such an invaluable public sector resource to other small business owners and operators. Charlie began his tenure of service with the SBA in July 1982, and has faithfully served the agency ever since. His service in the SBA's Gulfport Branch Office is especially important to me since the branch office was created after Hurricane Camille devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast and its economy in 1969, and during my service as Administrative Assistant to then Congressman William Colmer. Charlie has been recognized for his continuous dedication to duty and his tireless community spirit. Over the years, he has been chosen as one of the ``Outstanding Men in America,'' recognized as among the ``Personalities of the South,'' and selected as ``SBA District Employee of the Year.'' In addition to personal accolades and longstanding official service, Charlie generously has given of his time in many ways to improve his community. He served as President of the University of Southern Mississippi's Alumni Association, as Chairman of the Harrison County Election Commission, and as Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Gulfport Area Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, Charlie is an associate member of Delta Sigma Pi Fraternity, and serves as a Mason, a Shriner, Rotarian, and a charter member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Gulfport. Charlie's constant professionalism and vast knowledge will be greatly missed by the Small Business Administration, the South Mississippi business community and officials at every level of government, who have had the distinct pleasure and benefit of his insight. Whenever called, Charlie always responds in a timely and effective manner with eagerness, efficiency and courtesy. Although I know he will miss daily interactions with his co-workers and colleagues, I also know that Charlie, his wife Rose, and their family, will have many opportunities to focus their abundance of energy and exemplary community spirit.N O T I C E Effective January 1, 2001, the subscription price of the Congressional Record will be $393 per year or $197 for six months. Individual issues may be purchased for $4.00 per copy. The cost for the microfiche edition will remain $141 per year with single copies remaining $1.50 per issue. This price increase is necessary based upon the cost of printing and distribution. Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. If the Senator would allow me, we have one other unanimous consent request. If we could get that entered into--it has been agreed to--then you would have the floor without the pressure of making a short statement. I think Senator Reid would be able to leave the Chamber, too, if he chooses.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 841, H.R. 4868, regarding tariff and trade laws.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the Interior appropriations conference report obviously is a very important bill. There has been an awful lot of work that has gone into it. It does have bipartisan support. As I understand it, it is positioned to be signed into law. It passed the House 349-69, something of that nature. The Senator from Illinois has some difficulties with a provision in this legislation. Certainly, as any Senator, he is entitled to make his point, and to make his point at length within the provisions of our rules. It is important we move forward now. We are prepared to move forward on this legislation. Cloture Motion

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk to the pending Interior appropriations conference report.