Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from California be allowed to proceed for not more than 5 minutes and that time not be taken out of the hour previously agreed to, delaying the 1-hour debate just a few minutes, and the vote would occur at 10:40 instead of 10:30.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Today the Senate will resume debate on the motion to proceed to the intelligence authorization bill with the cloture vote occurring at 10:30 a.m. Following the vote, Senator Smith of New Hampshire will be recognized to make a motion to discharge from the Finance Committee S.J. Res. 28 regarding the trade status with Vietnam. Therefore, Senators can expect an additional vote prior to the weekly party caucus meetings. The Senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 so that the party conferences can meet and have lunch. Senator Smith will again be recognized under a privileged resolution at 2:15 to offer a second motion to discharge from the Finance Committee S.J. Res. 27 regarding trade status with China. There will be 1 hour of debate on the motion with the vote occurring at approximately 3:15 p.m. Senators may also expect further action on the intelligence authorization bill or any appropriations bills on the calendar during today's session. Intelligence Authorization Mr. President, there was debate yesterday on the intelligence authorization bill. Senator Shelby, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Senator Kerrey, the ranking member, spoke on the importance of intelligence authorization. They have been doing good work together in a bipartisan way, as they should on matters of intelligence. This is a very important bill, one we should move forward as expeditiously as we can. Of course, the issue that is still being debated in connection with this intelligence authorization bill is, how do we deal with reorganizing the Department of Energy so we can stop the leaks that have been occurring at our labs. There was a report in the papers just this morning that while some progress has been made in some areas, the necessary actions to stop these leaks and make sure they don't happen in the future haven't even begun. Senator Domenici, Senator Kyl, and Senator Murkowski have done real good work in this area. This should be a bipartisan solution where we get the focus at the Department of Energy rearranged in such a way that there is direct reporting so we have a quasi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy. I hope we can still find a way to get this done because the American people understand that real damage has already been done. We should make sure, at the minimum, that it will not continue in the future. I thank my colleagues for their attention. I yield the floor. Mrs. BOXER addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I apologize.

Mr. LOTT. That is my intent. I modify my UC request to delete the amendments by Senators Torricelli and Graham and add one by Senator Bryan regarding DOE labs.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we cleared the campaign finance consent on both sides of the aisle. As far as I know, 99 Senators are prepared to agree with that. One Senator, the Senator from Michigan, came in at the last minute and objected. I will make the commitment that I will live up to this unanimous consent agreement we have entered into to call it up on no later than Tuesday, October 12, 1999. I hope we will get the entire agreement worked out. But in the meantime, we plan on going forward October 12, either way.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I yield such time as he may consume to the chairman of the committee. I see Senator Landrieu here, and I know she will want to speak.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. The intent is to have amendments and that they be voted on, on this bill. My purpose in trying to get this worked out is so we can go ahead and complete our appropriations bills process but also recognizing the Senator's desire to have this issue considered, finding a time which was most satisfactory to all involved on both sides of the aisle to have it considered. And it is our intent to have ample time for debate and for amendments to be offered and voted on.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe we have worked out some consent agreements now that will allow the Senate to go forward in a constructive way. One has to do with the campaign finance reform issue, and the other one has to do with how we will handle the intelligence authorization bill this afternoon. I see Senator McCain here. I know Senator Feingold is here.

Mr. LOTT. You are not. I am sure you would prefer to have this matter concluded in the first session.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we have a second unanimous consent request that I think has been agreed to with regard to the intelligence authorization bill, so the Senate can go forward. First of all, in view of the request that was made and the potential objection that I assume there will not be, I will withdraw that unanimous consent request at this time and then I will propound this request. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to H.R. 1555. I further ask consent that following the offering of the amendment by Senator Kyl as provided for in the consent agreement on May 27, there be up to nine relevant second-degree amendments in order for each leader, or their designees, and an additional amendment to be offered by the managers to include agreed-upon amendments. I further ask consent that the listed first-degree amendments noted below also be relevant and subject to relevant second-degree amendments: Senator Torricelli, with regard to funding disclosure; Senator Moynihan, regarding declassification; Senator Graham of Florida, relevant amendment; Senator Feinstein, regarding the drug czar; Senator Smith of New Hampshire regarding intelligence listing; again, Senator Smith of New Hampshire, regarding intelligence declassification. I further ask consent that following the disposition of the amendments, the bill be advanced to third reading and passage occur, all without any intervening action or debate, and no motions to commit or recommit be in order.

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from California be allowed to proceed while we are awaiting final confirmation on the unanimous consent request. She indicated very graciously that the minute we get ready to go on that she will yield the floor. With that understanding, I ask that she be allowed to proceed.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today I honor a Mississippian who made numerous contributions to Alcorn State University, to countless young student athletes and to the community. Coach Davey L. Whitney, Head Coach of the Men's Basketball team at Alcorn State University, has served as a leader at this educational institution, a professor of championship athletics and a mentor for many of his players. Nearly 30 years ago, Coach Whitney first arrived on the Lorman, Mississippi, campus. From the beginning, Davey's tenure at Alcorn was destined for greatness. Within ten years, the Alcorn State Men's Basketball team went from little notoriety to groundbreaking achievement. His list of accomplishments is exemplary. His determination is heroic. He was the first coach to lead an historically black college team to wins in both NCAA and NIT tournaments. His teams also won nine Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. In 1979, Alcorn accomplished something that no previous historically black college had done--winning a National Invitational Tournament game--when they defeated Mississippi State University. Coach Whitney has been a mentor to many young men. Many of his players have become successful businessmen. Several of his players even had successful professional athletic careers in the National Basketball Association. Larry Smith, who was drafted by the Golden State Warriors, is now an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. He is reproducing Coach Whitney's approach of discipline coupled with a warm personal devotion for the players. Coach Whitney's career has not been one without trials. In 1989 he was fired after losing three successive seasons. Still Coach Whitney stayed involved in basketball by coaching in the Continental Basketball Association and the United States Basketball League. Coach Whitney also remained close to Alcorn State for the next eight years, while the Braves struggled and in 1997 Alcorn asked him to return. After much thought, Coach Whitney returned to the Alcorn State University Family as head coach. Within two years, he took the struggling Braves to the 1999 Southwestern Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship where they not only won, they triumphed. This tournament championship earned the Braves a berth in the NCAA Tournament. This marked the first time since the 1986 season that the Braves have won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title. This was also the first time since 1984 that the Braves have won the tournament title and appeared in the NCAA tournament. Coach Whitney's 442 wins in 28 years--with 10 regular season titles, four consecutive titles between 1978-82, twelve post season tourneys and five NAIA district titles--earned him nine Southwestern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors. It is a fitting tribute to Coach Whitney's accomplishments that he coaches in the complex named after him. Various groups have recognized Coach Whitney for his renowned success. USA Today's Reporter Jack Carey wrote, ``At Alcorn State Coach Davey Whitney is proving not only that you can go home again, but you also can be darned successful once you get there.'' Whitney is surely a man worthy of recognition. Coach Whitney is not only a successful coach but an accomplished family man. He and his wife of more than 40 years have reared a fine family of four daughters and one son, all of whom attended Alcorn State University. He is a member of the National Association of Coaches, the Mississippi Association of Coaches, the National Black Association of Coaches, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., just to name a few. Mr. President, it is a great honor to pay tribute to Coach Davey L. Whitney for his athletic accomplishments and his dedication to the students of Alcorn State University. His efforts are both uplifting and encouraging. I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing Davey Whitney many more years of success.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now turn to H.R. 1555, the intelligence authorization bill, and under the provisions of the agreement of May 27, 1999, following the reporting of the bill by the clerk, I would send an amendment to the desk regarding national security at the DOE.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am surprised by this objection by our Democratic colleagues. This issue concerns two very important matters: one, the intelligence authorization for the year, and also the very important Department of Energy reforms as a result of the Chinese espionage that has occurred during the last several years within the Department of Energy. Needless to say, this issue needs to be debated in the Senate. I am truly sorry our Democratic colleagues do not want to debate it at this time. I have urged the President, the National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, and the Secretary of Energy to engage this issue. The headline should read: Senate resolves how in the future the Department of Energy will handle these matters to stop the leaks of very important nuclear weapons information from our labs. That should be the headline, that we are working together to resolve this problem, instead of the situation where the Secretary of the Department of Energy is still trying to have a diffused system of reporting. There should be only one person who is reported to on the matters of national security at our nuclear labs, and that is the Secretary of Energy, and it should go straight to him and from him to the President of the United States. Surely we can work this out. Having said that, I now move to proceed to H.R.----

Mr. LOTT. I will be glad to yield.

Mr. LOTT. I am glad to hear that.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be 1 hour for debate, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, to be equally divided, of course, in the usual fashion between Senator Domenici and Senator Daschle, or their designees, and that the cloture vote occur at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 20, and the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. LOTT. But having said that, I now move to proceed to H.R. 1555, and I have sent a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I will wrap up by using leader time.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I yield myself such time as I might need for leader time. I know Members expect to vote at 10:30. I will try to be brief. I am compelled to make a couple of points. First of all, our Republican budget plan reduced the national debt by $1.9 trillion. That is the most significant and the only real contribution of reducing the debt in our lifetime. The point I want to make is, the American people overwhelmingly support the idea of the Social Security lockbox. After resistance, the President even adopted that exact word, that he supported a Social Security lockbox. I don't know what the numbers are but in the high seventies, 80 percent of the American people think this is something we should do: Take all of the Social Security taxes, the FICA tax, and set them aside for what they were intended--Social Security, and only Social Security, a lockbox. OK, so we advocated that--Senators Domenici, Abraham, Santorum, and others. And finally the President apparently checked the polls and said: Oh, yeah, me, too; I want a lockbox. Then the House voted for a lockbox--not as tight as this one, not as good as this one--with a vote of 415-12. Even the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly without a lot of shenanigans, playing around, distractions, and a dozen amendments. They voted for the lockbox. Apparently they got serious. Now, here comes the point: We go down in our bipartisan meeting to the White House on Monday to meet with the President. I am hopeful. I am optimistic. In fact, I come out and say: Yes, maybe we can have a lockbox; work together on Medicare reform; we can get some tax relief. Let me tell Members what happened. We go in there. The first subject I brought up was the Social Security lockbox. The President said: We need to do that. I'm with you. We can do that. Senator Daschle said: Yeah, we ought to do that. What happened? I go out and say: We are going to get this done. The President hasn't lifted a pinkie since--nothing. All he has done is run around and whine and threaten that he is going to veto a legitimate Patients' Bill of Rights bill, the health care needs of the people of this country. That is all he has done all week--maybe a fundraiser or two, but he has done nothing to help us get a Social Security lockbox. So I invite, in fact I challenge, the President: Talk to the Democrats in the Senate, Mr. President. They are the only obstacle to setting aside Social Security in a lockbox for Social Security. That is what I have to deal with all the time. I get a lot of soft soap: Oh, yes, we will work together; we will get it done. And then nothing. If the President wants a Social Security lockbox, make one call, Mr. President, one call. Call Senator Daschle and say: Get it done. And we will get it done next Monday. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.