Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Should I renew the request at this time?

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me say again, we worked very hard on both sides of the aisle to accommodate Senators on both sides of the aisle, including their desires to speak, but also the managers' desire to do some of their work and still be able to make other commitments. In this case, we are actually trying to protect the ranking member, Senator Murray, from Washington State. We ought to be able to work through that. I hope Senators will be understanding of the managers' desire to make some progress on the MILCON bill today. But at their request, which I think is reasonable, we will strike the ``relative to the bill'' part of the request and I will renew it. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the military construction appropriations bill, S. 2521, immediately following the adoption of the African trade conference report, and further, there be debate only, other than any amendments offered and cleared by the two managers, which would continue until 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2000.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Reid and all Members. Further, I assure the minority leader that I don't intend to file a cloture motion on this bill this week. I think we can make progress on military construction. It has broad support because of what is in the base bill and also because it has the emergency funding for Kosovo and fuel for the military. I believe we can complete this bill this week.

Mr. LOTT. I believe we will be able to finish the debate remaining on the Africa trade bill, and sometime between 12 and 1 o'clock get a vote on that, and then we would go to MILCON. The managers would like to spend, obviously, some time on the substance of that, and then we will go forward from there.

Mr. LOTT. No. We will vote on the Africa trade bill today, but then we will go to debate only on MILCON, and that would go until 2:15 until Tuesday. There would be no votes on that until Tuesday. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I call the Senate to order.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask Senator Lautenberg if he can give us some idea about how long he thinks that might take. The reason I am inquiring again is that we do have managers of the bill who have a time problem. I would like to encourage the Senator to talk with them and get some time agreements so they can move forward with the military construction bill. I feel as if they will be able to work something out with you.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am not managing the bill. I know there is at least one more Senator on the floor who wants to speak on the trade bill. I understand there may be one or two on this side. We have about four or five speakers.

Mr. LOTT. And a couple on our side.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, as I understand it, the debate now postcloture has to be on the African-CBI trade bill. After that vote occurs, which shouldn't be too long from now, we would go to the military construction appropriations bill. I assume that Senators who wish to speak on this subject will want to talk with the managers of that MILCON bill, including the Senator from Washington on the other side of the aisle, who has a time problem, and work something out. I assume you can get that worked out. I didn't know there was a consent that had been asked for that would guarantee that or how long that would be. And I am not sure the Senator wants to do that until he talks to Senator Murray to see what her situation is.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I don't believe there has been a unanimous consent request propounded. If there is one propounded, will the Senator be willing to include in that a time period for how long it would take? If he takes a couple of hours, he has a major problem because of his own Member's schedule. If he needs 10 minutes, then I think we could do that.

Mr. LOTT. The African trade bill? Why don't you speak now?

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I wish the Senators would at least talk to the Senator on their side of the aisle as to the time problem and see what Senator Murray has to say because I feel a little funny here. I am protecting Senator Murray's desire to do her part early. I think we could, if the Senator would agree to do this after Senator Murray speaks, and opening statements are made--I wish the Senator would talk to her we could agree to that. I presume it would be about 3:30 this afternoon, or so.

Mr. LOTT. I would like to urge the Senator to talk to Senator Murray and see if that is agreeable with her, and to the managers of the bill.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe under the unanimous consent request we agreed to that he would be able to do that.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, could I inquire?

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Moynihan, Senator Dodd, and Senator Grassley, for their comments. They are absolutely right. This is the way we can do things when we make up our minds that we are going to. Keep in mind that just a year ago, most people thought this had no chance. The House passed a bill that was only applicable to Africa. But then Senator Roth and Senator Moynihan said we should go forward on this. They made the point that we had not had a major trade bill in--I thought 5 years, but in fact it was 6 years. I yielded to the distinguished Senator from New York because he pays such close attention to this. The chairman and ranking member said we should go forward with this and we should add the CBI region and Central America to the package. We did that. We worked together across the aisle between the two parties. The administration did express its interest in this legislation. The President personally called at least twice--maybe three times--and talked about his hope that we could get this done. But I remember a critical moment a month or so ago, late at night, and we were trying to make the last decision that would close the package up. Dave Hoppe, my chief of staff, was there, and Jim Hecht on my staff, who worked so hard on this legislation, who knew the substance better than I would ever know it. It is mind-boggling in its detail and all the pieces that were in this package. But when I had to basically help make the final decision, as a matter of fact, I was looking at Senator Moynihan's staff and said, ``What do you think? Can we make this work?'' They said, ``Yes.'' That is the way it was. It wasn't partisan at all. To reach this point now and have a vote in the House last week of 309-110, and then 77-19 in the Senate, in an area where we have acrimony, regional division, and one sector of the economy pulling against the other, I think this is something we should take a moment and relish and take credit for and be proud of. It represents a significant step forward in our trade policy and a victory for the cause of free trade. Like Senator Dodd, I have been to Central America and met with the Presidents and Ambassadors from Central America and the Caribbean. They pleaded for this and said, ``Give us an opportunity.'' This is the way to help. This is the way to help their people and give them an opportunity to get jobs. It will help you, and it will help us. I suspect there will be a celebration today and tonight in Central America, in the Caribbean, and in Africa. I want to make this point. While that is important, we want free trade and this is good for America. I worked a great deal with Charlie Rangel, the Congressman from New York, who really wanted this. I remember a fateful meeting we had outside an elevator in the Cannon Office Building at which I said, basically, if you do Africa, we will do CBI, and we will get together. And we did. He said in some of our meetings: I don't want a bill that is going to cost America jobs. I believe we can have a bill that helps America, creates more American jobs and more opportunity for Americans, and that will be good for the sub-Sahara region and for Central America. I believe we achieved that. This bill retains the basic structure and approach of the original Senate bill. I want to emphasize that because we made a commitment to Senators who had reservations about this bill that we would do everything possible to retain the basic structure of the Senate bill. We fought for it, and I think we were successful in that area. The approach makes economic sense, allowing workers and businesses in this country and in our trading partners' to specialize in the activities to which they are most suited. The vast majority of the trade benefits under this bill will involve the use of U.S.-made components. They need it in those other regions. They need our yarn. They need our cotton. So we will benefit, and they will benefit. I am acutely aware of the concerns and challenges facing our domestic textile industry. Faced with vast amounts of unfair trade and blatant cheating in past textile agreements, our industry has seen a flood of foreign imports that have caused job losses. The U.S. textile industry will within a few years face the removal of quotas under WTO. At a time of such uncertainty, it is imperative that our trade measures be carefully geared to sustain and enhance the economic opportunities available to our textile industry and workers. I believe this measure before us today does that. It has some of the most stringent transshipment measures ever enacted, increasing resources for the Customs Service and ensuring that countries receiving benefits under the bill provide full cooperation with our authorities. That was one of the concerns--that other countries would use Africa, or the CBI, the back door, to transship, to violate the agreements and get in our country in an unfair way. Will this be perfect? Nothing in this area is perfect. But it will do the best job I believe we have ever done. We are going to watch it to make sure it is effective in that regard. I was pleased to see comments from members of the domestic textile industry as a result of this conference agreement. The president of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute has noted projections that the demand for U.S. fabric will double over the next 8 years under this bill. It is estimated that this will translate into more than 60,000 new U.S. textile jobs in America. This legislation will have real benefits, immediate benefits--for American consumers, for the retail industry, for the yarn industry, for cotton, and for textiles. All the other components in this area of job creation in America will benefit. So will Africa. So will the CBI. I am pleased we have come to this agreement. Actually, it is a little anticlimactic. In the end, the vote was so overwhelming that you wonder why all the huffing and puffing. But I believe it is because of the good work done by our staffs and by the leadership in the House and in the Senate. It would have not been achievable if Chairman Archer and subcommittee chairman Crane had not been willing to be flexible and agree to some of the things that were important to the Senate. I want to say a special word about our staffs that worked so hard, and through so many nights, to secure the successful conclusion we have seen today. I want to recognize in particular Senator Roth's staff, including Frank Polk, J.T. Young, Grant Aldonas, Faryar Shirzad, Tim Keeler, and Carrie Clark; and from Senator Moynihan's staff, David Podoff, Debbie Lamb, Linda Menghetti, and Tim Hogan; from Senator Grassley's staff, Richard Chriss; and from the Congressional Budget Office, Hester Grippando. And finally, with a bill of this detail and technicality, the diligent work of legislative counsel is especially critical. I would like to thank Polly Craighill, Sandy Strokoff and Mark Synnes for their extraordinary efforts. So, Mr. President, I do not want us to complete this effort without saying I am proud of it. I believe it will be positive for all concerned. I began the debate that way, and I end it that way. I extend my congratulations to all involved. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will immediately proceed to a vote on the motion to proceed to the African trade and CBI enhancement conference report. If the motion to proceed is adopted, cloture will be filed, and debate will begin on the conference report immediately. Many Senators have expressed interest in making statements on this important legislation, and therefore the debate is expected to consume most of today's session. By previous consent, the vote on cloture on the conference report will occur at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. Following disposition of the African-Carribean Basin legislation, the Senate will begin consideration of appropriations bills as they become available for action. I thank my colleagues for their attention. H.R. 434--Conference Report I extend my congratulations to the Finance Committee for their efforts in the conference on this bill. Chairman Roth was very much involved in the development of a very good conference report. I recognize the Senator from New York and his very effective staff for their involvement. We have not had a major piece of trade legislation pass the Congress in 5 years. I think this is a tremendous accomplishment. I think it is going to be good for the American people, for American jobs, for consumers, for sub-Saharan Africa, for the Caribbean and Central American countries, and good for the industries that are connected in this trade area. So I congratulate all those who were involved in this conference. I am very pleased to see we will take it up and I certainly plan to vote for it.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. If I could get this unanimous consent request in, then we would understand what the procedure would be for today and tomorrow and even Thursday morning. So if my colleagues will bear with me one moment. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the Senate proceed to the conference report to accompany the Africa trade bill, that the report be considered as having been read, and the vote occur on adoption of the motion to proceed immediately, and following the vote and the reporting by the clerk, I be immediately recognized to send a cloture motion to the desk. I also ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote occur on Thursday, May 11, at 10:30 a.m., with the mandatory quorum having been waived. This has been discussed with the Democratic leadership.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could go further, I ask unanimous consent that the time between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Thursday be equally divided in the usual form on the subject of the African and CBI trade bill.

Mr. LOTT. Therefore, a rollcall vote will occur at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and a vote is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. There may be additional votes after that. I think Members should expect additional votes on Thursday, although we have not agreed to what they would be at this point. I do want to note that I certainly believe the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is very important. That is why we have been on it the second week. We have given a lot of time to it. I think that is fine. This is a high priority in the minds of the American people and every State in the Nation, and with us. However, the appropriations bills each have emergency provisions in them--an emergency for the Kosovo funding and the fuel costs for our military; the agriculture bill has the emergency disaster funding in it, though some of it for North Carolina, and expected disasters; and the Foreign Operations bill has funding in it for the very dangerous situation involving Colombian drugs. That is why we are going to be trying to move those as quickly as possible. I thank my colleagues and announce there will be no further votes this evening.

Mr. LOTT. Let me again emphasize, first, that this would provide for a vote at 9:30 in the morning on the motion to proceed to the Africa and CBI trade bill. If it is agreed to, then the cloture vote, by agreement, will be Thursday morning at 10:30. With regard to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, our colleagues probably are aware we have already agreed that there are two more amendments that, by unanimous consent, we would go to next--the Stevens-Jeffords and others amendment; to be followed by a Kennedy amendment. So we have the next group of two amendments that would be in order. I have discussed this with Senator Daschle. It is our intent, now that we have appropriations bills that are becoming available, that, for probably now on into the summer, we are going to be dual-tracking bills wherever it is necessary, so we can get an appropriations bill done or an urgent bill such as the conference report on Africa trade and CBI. There is a belief we should go ahead and get that done and move to appropriations bills when they are available, and then come back to the authorizations, whether it is the elementary and secondary education bill or trade bill or whatever it may be. So it is our intent to come back to ESEA and proceed with the amendments that it is already been agreed we will consider next while we work to see if we can get another grouping of two or more amendments to be considered. I agree, there has been good debate. The amendments have been focused on elementary and secondary education, and we have amendments still pending on both sides that relate to that. As long as there is that kind of cooperation and progress being made, I think we should continue to pursue it. So it is my intent to come back to elementary and secondary education, if not later on this week, then next week, when we have a window.