Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ran into that hornet's nest yesterday. There are a couple relevant amendments that are certainly worthwhile and actively supported, but they also are very much opposed by others who want to second degree them. Clearly, that will be in order. I thank Senator Daschle for working with me on this, since the middle of October actually. I believe this bill can be considered and completed. Bankruptcy reform is something we certainly want to do. I know the minority leader has indicated his desire to have three nongermane amendments in order to the bill from Members of his side of the aisle. Those are relative to East Timor, agriculture, and minimum wage. I hope all Members would allow us to adopt this agreement in order for the Senate to consider and approve this very important bankruptcy reform bill. On our side, we will have three amendments, also, that relate to education, drugs, and business costs. I will specify that in a moment. So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now turn to consideration of Calendar No. 109, S. 625, the bankruptcy bill, and following the reporting by the clerk, the committee amendments be immediately agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc. I further ask consent that all first-degree amendments must be filed at the desk by 5 p.m. on the second day of the bill's consideration and that all first-degree amendments must be relevant to the issue of bankruptcy, and/or truth in lending/credit card agreements, with the exception of three amendments to be offered by the minority, or his designee, relative to agriculture, minimum wage/taxes, and East Timor, and three amendments to be offered by the majority leader, or his designee, regarding education, drugs, and business costs. I further ask consent that the 5 p.m. filing requirement apply to each of these nonrelevant amendments and there be a time limit of 2 hours equally divided on each nonrelevant amendment, with the exception of the agriculture and drug amendments on which there will be 4 hours each for debate, with no second-degree amendments in order to these six issues and no motions to commit or recommit in order. I further ask consent that at 3 p.m. on Monday, November 8, the minority leader, or his designee, be recognized to offer the amendment relative to the issue of minimum wage, and following the debate the amendment be laid aside, and the majority leader, or his designee, be recognized to offer the amendment relative to business costs, and that the votes occur in relation to the amendments at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 9, with 1 hour equally divided prior to the vote for concluding debate. I further ask consent that the first vote occur in relation to the minority amendment, to be followed by a vote in relation to the majority amendment, with 4 minutes prior to each vote for explanation. I further ask consent that following the disposition of all of the above-described amendments, the bill be immediately advanced to third reading, that the Senate then proceed to the House companion bill, H.R. 833, that all after the enacting clause be stricken, the text of the Senate bill as amended be inserted, the bill be advanced to third reading, and a vote occur on passage of the bill, without any intervening action, motion or debate. Further, I ask consent that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Senate bill be placed back on the calendar. Finally, I ask consent that the exchange of the amendments by the two leaders on the two issues regarding minimum wage and business costs occur at noon on Friday. If by 3 p.m. either Member objects to the text of the amendments, this agreement be null and void and the bill be placed back on the calendar.

Mr. LOTT. First, let me clarify one error I made. Staff informs me I did say: ``If by 3 p.m. any Member objects.'' It should say: ``If by 3 p.m. either leader objects to the text of the amendments, this agreement be null and void and the bill be placed back on the calendar.'' Now, under the Senator's reservation, Mr. President, responding to his questions, obviously, on both sides--there may be minor changes that you would want to make on your agriculture amendment or East Timor, whatever; same thing on this side. I think we have to continue to work in good faith. If it goes to fundamental substance, and changes a major portion or the overall intent of the bill, I think that would be exceeding the bounds of reasonableness. But if it is some technical change or some minor change, we will have to continue to work with each other to get that done. I hope everybody will continue to be as flexible as they can be in that effort. But there is no intent to come back now and change the whole thrust of the bill. And that would not be fair.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe we have a unanimous-consent agreement now. I will read it carefully, and if there are any questions, Senator Daschle may point them out. I believe it will be fair in the way it is going to be handled and will allow us to complete this important legislation hopefully by Tuesday or not later than Wednesday of next week. It will allow for, of course, relevant amendments and second-degree amendments if any will be in order to those, but it will limit the nonrelevant amendments to three on each side with an agreed-to time.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could respond to the Senator from Louisiana, I apologize for not directing my attention to her question. I was visiting with the Senator from Maryland with respect to possible votes tomorrow. The Interior appropriations conference report is being worked on while negotiations have been going forward on the foreign operations appropriations conference report. I have information that real progress has been made today on the foreign operations appropriations report, but they will not get to the point of wrapping up Interior until the foreign operations bill is done. I know the Senator from Louisiana has a real interest in that Interior bill, particularly provisions that could affect coastal areas such as hers and mine. Oil and gas revenues have been going in the Land and Water Conservation Fund for years and to lands out west, which is well and good. However, we take the risks in our area and we have not been getting any money. I don't think that is fair. We have beach erosion problems; we have estuary replenishment with which we need to deal. I am very sympathetic to the concerns of the Senator from Louisiana. No final agreement has been reached on Interior. The Senator still has time to weigh in mightily with the Senators involved, and the administration, and needs to talk to them. I know the Senator has Senator Daschle working feverishly in her behalf.

Mr. LOTT. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the Senate, then, has just passed the continuing resolution to the 10th of November. Progress is being made every hour on the appropriations process--some hours more than others. I hope Members will continue being patient while the final must-do legislation is completed. I want to say again that I think the last 2 days have been phenomenal when you stop and look at all the difficulty that was involved--the fact that we passed major trade legislation by a vote of 75 or 76 to 23 last night, and today we passed the biggest reform of the banking and securities financial services industry in several decades with 90 votes. It is incredible. We are going to continue to work to move vital legislation. We have other conferences that we hope to get agreed to. We need to get agreements. In fact, we must get an agreement on the FAA reauthorization bill. We are very close to getting an agreement on the satellite conference report. We are very close on the work incentives conference report. There are three or four major conferences that are very close to being completed. When they are completed, we will take them up as soon as possible. In addition, if agreements are reached on appropriations bills, of course, we would set everything aside for that. It seems to me that District of Columbia and perhaps the foreign relations conference reports could be ready as early as tomorrow. Certainly, if they are, we will vote on them. The Senate hopefully also will reach, in just a very few minutes, an agreement on how to proceed on the bankruptcy bill. Senator Daschle and I have been working on this for weeks actually. I think we are very close to having an agreement. We are exchanging amendments so each side will know what is in our amendments both tonight and again tomorrow by noon. I hope Members who have relevant amendments on the underlying bankruptcy bill will come to the floor and offer them yet today. We are in what I hope are the final days of the session. Members must be willing to work into the night in order to complete this legislation. I know there are some relevant amendments that are controversial and they will have second-degree amendments. Members should come to the floor and offer them. Members could also expect votes during tomorrow's session. One could come with regard to appropriations. We could have votes on amendments with regard to the bankruptcy bill. Members should expect that on Monday there will be recorded votes beginning at 5:30. Also, votes will be ordered on the bankruptcy consent, calling for two votes with respect to minimum wage and business cost issues at 10:30 on Tuesday morning. I am announcing that we may have to have votes tomorrow. We will have votes at 5:30 Monday. We will have votes at 10:30 on Tuesday. We hope within the next few minutes to be able to enter the agreement on the bankruptcy bill. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 75, the continuing resolution received from the House. I further ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be read a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. This has been cleared with the Democratic leader.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I hope now that Members will remain tonight to do their opening statements. I see the distinguished chairman is here, Senator Grassley from Iowa, who has probably asked me about this bill over 100 times this year. I apologize to him now for not having gotten it on the calendar and up for consideration before now. But he has been dogged in his determination to address this very important area. I say right up front we would not be having bankruptcy reform if it were not for the diligent efforts and the patience and the determination and the substantive involvement of the Senator from Iowa. So I think it is to his credit. Now we need to move forward and get this bill completed, get it into conference, and hopefully act on it very quickly out of conference. But since we do have this agreement now, and the manager is ready to go--and I presume the manager on the Democratic side is ready to go--I can announce now there will be no further votes this evening. The Senate will resume the bankruptcy bill at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. All Senators should be aware that votes could occur with respect to the appropriations process or amendments to the bankruptcy bill on Friday. Several Senators have been asking about exactly what we can expect tomorrow. I cannot say. If we have an appropriations conference report that has been cleared that we are ready to move on, we will try to do it on a voice vote; but if we have to have a recorded voted, we just have to have a recorded vote. If we are ever going to get to the final days of the session, we have to be prepared to vote on Fridays and Mondays, if that is necessary. So we cannot give any assurance at this point that there will not be votes tomorrow. There very well may be. Votes will occur at 5:30 Monday. And under this agreement, at least two votes will occur at 10:30 Tuesday. Then, in conclusion, I wish to, again, thank all our colleagues for their cooperation this week. The fact that we did overwhelmingly pass this very important trade bill involving the Caribbean Basin area, Central America, and Africa, after a long period of time, is a significant and positive step for our country, I believe, not to mention the additional trading opportunities in other countries. And also to have completed the conference report on the financial services modernization--the second monumental achievement this week--I think the Senate, as a whole, can take a lot of pride. And now we are ready to begin a third one. I wish every week could be as productive. With that, I yield the floor, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I observe the absence of a quorum, but we will proceed momentarily.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I officially welcome the new junior Senator from the State of Rhode Island, Senator Lincoln Chafee. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me just take a moment at this time, if the Senator would allow me. When the history is written of this session of Congress, it will probably identify this piece of legislation as the single biggest achievement. I have heard this financial services modernization issue discussed for my entire career in the Congress, which is now up to 27 years. It has been tried by Republicans, by Democrats in the Congress, House and Senate, administrations of both parties. It never quite occurred. I think it is appropriate we commend all of those who have been involved in this process for bringing us to this moment. This legislation is going to pass overwhelmingly. It is going to bring us into the modern era of financial services. It is going to allow us to be more equally competitive around the world. I think we should properly note what has happened. If today's papers are any indication, we passed major trade legislation yesterday and it didn't even make the first section of one of the papers in this city; it wound up in the business section. It was hardly noted, the effort that was put into passing that major free trade legislation. I hope that will not be the case with this major legislation. So for all those involved--I won't begin at the top and go to the bottom--obviously Secretary Rubin was involved in earlier discussions; Alan Greenspan was involved; Secretary Summers has been involved. The administration did stay engaged when they could have said we are not going to talk anymore. Leaders in both the House and the Senate, the elected leadership, Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol worked to make this happen. Let me say for the record--I know, because I watched it very carefully and had some meetings which, I think, helped give it some momentum, some impetus--it would not be where it is today, it would not have been achieved, without the leadership of the senior Senator from Texas, Mr. Gramm. He has done a masterful job. Many people said: It won't happen. Many people said: He will kill it. I kept saying: No; you wait. He will make this happen through thick or thin. It will get done. It is being done. To take nothing away from all those involved-- including the ranking member of the committee, Senator Sarbanes of Maryland, who was actively involved--I have to note, with a lot of appreciation and gratitude, the tremendous leadership of the Senator from Texas. I don't think he can probably ever replicate this effort again. So I think that at this time we should express our appreciation because it is a monumental achievement. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I remind the Senate pending is the trade bill with the substitute amendment pending in the first degree. Cloture was invoked; therefore, there is a total time restriction of 30 hours, including quorum calls and rollcall votes. Under an additional consent, relevant trade amendments are in order in addition to the germaneness requirement under rule XXII. Those additional first-degree trade relevant amendments must be filed by 2:30 today. I urge all Senators to offer and debate their amendments in a timely fashion. I request relevant amendments not be abused so we can complete this very important trade legislation. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask consent that amendments 2332 and 2333 be withdrawn.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I will be delighted to yield to my colleague from Mississippi.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, Walter Payton was the pride of Columbia, MS. He died all too early this past Monday at the age of 45 years--too young for a person of such integrity, ability, and generosity. The Clarion Ledger newspaper of my home State this morning wrote a magnificent article about him. It said Walter Payton amazed his Mississippi teammates with his kindness almost as often as he dazzled them with his ability. They tell of a man who studied audiology in college after playing high school football with a deaf friend. That told a lot about the early life of this outstanding young man, and it is the kind of life he lived until his final day this past Monday. Surprisingly, the man who would become a great football player did not even try out for football until his junior year in high school, choosing instead to play drums in the high school band. But he learned the game of football as fast as he could run, and long before the Nation had heard of the Chicago Bear named ``Sweetness,'' Mississippians were cheering a Jefferson High superhero they called ``Spiderman'' and a Jackson State Tiger known as Walter. His 3,563 yards rushing at Jackson State University was one of nine school records he set, and he scored a college career total of 66 touchdowns. At Jackson State, in 1973, he led the Nation in scoring with 160 points, and his 464 career points set an NCAA record. But Jackson State was a Division 1-AA school, and Walter did not get the same attention as players from some of the bigger, well-known colleges. Still, the Bears knew a caliber player when they saw one, and they knew about some of the other famous Mississippians who had preceded him, so they drafted him fourth in the overall draft in 1975. In his first NFL game in 1975, he rushed eight times for a total of zero yards. But that did not tell the story of what was to come. The Bears did not give up on him, and Walter Payton didn't give up on himself. He worked as hard in Chicago as he had in Mississippi. By the end of his rookie year, he had started seven games and rushed for 679 yards and seven touchdowns. The next year he had the first of what would be 10 1,000-yard seasons, rushing for 1,390 yards and 13 touchdowns. NFL coaches termed him the ``complete football player.'' Just last night, I saw Mike Ditka saying he was the best, most complete football player he had ever seen. He bested Jim Brown's longstanding rushing record of 12,312 yards in 1984. But he also was more than just a football player. He worked to help mankind. He created the Halas/Payton Foundation to assist Chicago inner-city youth in completing their education. He believed in nurturing young people through education and inspiration, and he knew that the rewards of sports came in the challenges he set for himself, what he learned about himself, and what he accomplished as part of a team. Walter Payton's light shown brighter earlier than many people his age. That is why his passing on Monday was even more difficult to take. At his induction in the NFL Football Hall of Fame in July 1993, he asked his son Jarrett to be the first son to present his father for induction into the Football Hall of Fame. His son said: ``Not only is he a great athlete, he's a role model--he's my role model.'' Drummer, NCAA champion, college Hall of Famer, Pro Football All Star, NFL Hall of Famer, ``Sweetness.'' Role model to his son and millions of other Jarretts, that is the title Walter Payton would most cherish as his legacy.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I also ask unanimous consent that all amendments to the pending trade bill must be relevant to the substitute or the issue of trade and all other provisions of rule XXII be in order.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time I am about to use come out of my leader time.

Mr. LOTT. We will work to get a time for those amendments to be filed because we do need to get a look at those amendments, even though they are relevant, just so they can be considered by the managers of the legislation. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all first-degree amendments be filed by 2 p.m. today, notwithstanding rule XXII.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all second- degree amendments must be filed at the desk by 10 a.m. today.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the Senate will resume consideration momentarily of the conference report to accompany the District of Columbia, Labor-HHS, and Education bill. By previous consent, at 10 a.m., the Senate will proceed to a vote on the conference report. That vote will be followed up by two cloture votes in relation to the Caribbean/African trade bill. Senators can expect then at least two stacked votes to begin at approximately 10 a.m. Cloture is expected to be invoked on the trade bill, and therefore the Senate will begin 30 hours of postcloture debate during today's session of the Senate. It is hoped this bill can be completed in the next day or so, certainly before the end of the week, because we do have some other very important issues we want to complete this week. We do want to take up the financial services modernization conference report, and we want to move to the bankruptcy bill that Senator Daschle and I have been trying to get an agreement on how to bring to the floor. We have had objection so far, but we are going to persist in getting this to the floor in a way that would be fair to both sides.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, when I yield the floor, the bill will be open for amendment. An amendment can be offered at this point. In my discussion with Senator Daschle, I have indicated if we can get agreement on how to proceed on the trade bill and the bankruptcy bill, on which I think he and I can agree, I will be perfectly willing to take down the tree, too. I want the Record to reflect that. I have opened this slot so an amendment is in order. Senator Daschle may want to comment on that.

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, in conclusion, I yield the floor and observe the bill is open for amendment.