Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. That will be accepted. The objection that has been lodged will be withdrawn and the agreement was, the understanding was, when that is withdrawn, the Senator had another amendment that he would withhold. Your amendment will be in the bill when it is passed.

Mr. LOTT. We amend the request, then, to 2 o'clock.

Mr. LOTT. Then Senator McConnell will need 30 minutes. So you are talking about 30 minutes on each side--30 minutes equally divided or 30 minutes total?

Mr. LOTT. It would be 30 minutes equally divided on the McConnell amendment and 30 minutes on the Glenn amendment. I remind our colleagues, it is a quarter till 7. I can't think of any profound statement that can be made that will take 30 minutes that will affect one iota the vote or its outcome. If the Senators will be willing to yield some of that time, that will be very helpful.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3362, as amended

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I remind all Senators that we will be recessing from 11:55 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. so that the Senate may proceed as a body to the Rotunda to pay our proper respects to the two fallen U.S. Capitol policemen and their families. The Senate will recess again today from 2:45 p.m. until 3:45 p.m. so Members may attend the memorial service for these two heroes. With regard to the Senate's schedule this morning, the Senate will resume consideration of the credit union bill, with 15 minutes for debate remaining on the Shelby amendment regarding small business exemptions. At approximately 10 a.m; the Senate will proceed to vote on, or in relation to, the Shelby amendment. Following that vote, it is the hope that the Senate will move quickly to final passage of the credit union legislation. For the remainder of today's session, the Senate may begin consideration of the Treasury appropriations bill, health care legislation, or other appropriations bills or conference reports as available and after consultation with the leadership on both sides of the aisle. Therefore, Members should expect votes throughout today's session and into the evening as the Senate attempts to complete its work prior to the August recess. I want to emphasize something here, too. The plan has been we would spend Friday afternoon on the credit union bill, and we would have votes Monday afternoon late, and this morning we would vote on the Shelby amendment and go to passage. I understand the managers are not sure they are ready to do that, or other people are showing up with amendments. I discourage amendments. Senators had an opportunity Monday afternoon and Friday afternoon to offer amendments, and to show up now and say, ``Oh, by the way, I have another amendment,'' I think, is not helpful in trying to get done what we agreed to and move our schedule along. Let's have the final debate on the Shelby amendment and let's vote and move to passage of this legislation, and then go to an appropriations bill. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, will the Senator yield? Mr. President, I believe that vote was 59--what was the vote?

Mr. LOTT. If we could avoid a vote and go on to final passage, I wish we could do that. Mr. President, I ask that we pass the Gramm amendment on a voice vote.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to express my sincere appreciation to Senator Warner for his unique and untiring dedication to increasing recycling in America. Each of us has heard from our constituents about the importance of recycling and how current law is hindering efforts to improve the environment through a viable recycling industry. Through his dedicated efforts, Senator Warner has made sure that recycling equity has not been overlooked as the Senate addresses the many conflicting and contentious environmental issues our Nation faces. In the 103d, 104th and 105th Congresses, Senator Warner forced the debate over Superfund to recognize how recycling benefits America's environment and economy. I look forward to working with the senior Senator from Virginia and my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address the issue of recycling equity before the end of this Congress. I hope my colleagues will join me in expressing appreciation to Senator John Warner for his leadership on this matter. He deserves our gratitude for his understanding, dedication and commitment to the cause of recycling equity.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I do want to say to the managers that I don't think we should have a lengthy debate this afternoon on this subject. It is one that I could see us spending hours or days on, because there is plenty to talk about. But we need to continue to make an effort to move our appropriations bills. I know the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Treasury and Postal Service, the Senator from Colorado, would like to do that. He and the ranking member from Wisconsin are working hard. But I want to give a few remarks briefly in support of this amendment. I have stayed away from doing that on amendments on appropriations bills because I have been discouraging amendments all along the line. But this is one I feel strongly about. It is also very hard for me to rise in support of an amendment of this nature when the chairman of the Finance Committee is expressing his reservations. But it is totally understandable. He wants to make sure that when we do it, we do it right, and that we develop another tax system that we have thought about. He is doing what you would expect a cautious chairman to do. He takes a back seat to none of us when it comes to finding ways to make the Tax Code fairer and giving tax relief to the American people. Having said that, I think we ought to do it. There is plenty of time here to think about what the alternative is going to be. Four and a half years--how long does it take? I will tell you how long it will take--forever, unless we make up our minds on behalf of the American people. With their support, we are going to make this happen. We are going to do it. Others have pointed out what we are talking about. Here it is, Mr. President. This is the Internal Revenue Code. The copy I have here is about 7,000 pages long in very small type. Frankly, that is absurd. This Tax Code contains the accumulation of 85 years of special interest provisions--your special interest, my special interest, somebody else's special interest, but it has become a hodgepodge. It is not understandable. It makes no sense. It is not simple. It is not fair. It is hopeless. We ought to start over and try to get it right and make it fairer and simpler. It has become, quite frankly, a three-headed monster, and we have to cut off all three heads. We are working on two of those. One, you cut off the head of unfairness and try to provide some of the tax relief that really is needed by allowing families with children to keep more of their money, as we did last year; by moving to eliminate the death tax, as we started on last year; by hopefully getting started seriously phasing out as soon as possible the marriage penalty tax this year. We are doing some things that make it fairer and even a little simpler, and we will continue to do that. We should do some more of it this year and some more the next year. We should do some of it every year. The second head is intimidation--the culture, the problems at IRS that we saw that have developed over the years since the last time we reformed the IRS Code way back in 1952. Well, this year we got it done. It took us almost a year, but we did get fundamental reform and restructuring done. That was the second head that we were able to chop off and deal with. But the third one is to terminate this Tax Code, do it in a responsible way. It won't terminate until December 31, 2002. Plenty of time to decide. When I go to my own State and I ask people: What do you think about the Tax Code? They react negatively. And I say: How many of you think we should eliminate it? Every hand, every hand goes up. Then you start saying, OK, what are we going to replace it with? We have got time to go to the people in Wisconsin and Colorado and ask their opinion. Let's think this thing through. Let's do it right. But let's make it clear, let's make it undeniably clear we are going to do it. This is the way to do it. Some people say, well, gee, unless you have a plan in place, you shouldn't do this. Well, in Michigan, the great State of Michigan, a big State, they eliminated the property tax without a replacement because they knew that the deadline would force their legislature to act on a replacement. And they did. Wisconsin--Wisconsin--created a deadline for abolishing its welfare system, and it drove the reforms that have worked in that State probably better than any other State, at least from what I understand. This will guarantee that we get it done. I think we should pass the termination date, and I think we should make ourselves live by that date. We should move toward making decisions, and we should fundamentally reform our Tax Code. It is overdue. It is the third head of this monster that must be removed so that the American people can be free, free of the oppression that we have developed over these 85 years in this Tax Code. I yield the floor, Mr. President. Mr. SESSIONS addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for testimony in a criminal trespass action pending in the Court of General Sessions for Sullivan County, Tennessee. The case involves an incident at Senator Fred Thompson's Blountville office in which an individual refused to leave the premises and was arrested by public safety personnel for trespassing. The State is seeking testimony from the Senator's caseworker who has knowledge of these events. This resolution would authorize the caseworker to testify, except where a privilege should be asserted, with representation by the Senate Legal Counsel.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today I want to advise my colleagues on the implementation of the one-call notification (``call-before-you-dig'') law. This legislation, which was enacted into law as part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), has taken almost three Congresses to complete. However, this Congress was able to accomplish the goal, thanks to bipartisan support and lots of cooperation among the affected entities: pipeline, telecommunications, cable and electric utility companies, state one-call systems and numerous others of good will. Last week the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety announced a public meeting will be held on August 25-26. The purpose of this meeting is to begin organizing a process to collect information on the suggested ``best practices'' in one-call notification. All affected parties--underground facility operators, excavation contractors, railroads, one-call centers, states and municipalities--should participate in this meeting which will be a joint government-industry effort to bring together the best information on one-call notification practices, techniques, technologies and enforcement processes. Information on these best practices would then be shared among the various state one-call programs, in order to improve performance. The ink is barely dry on the law, and already implementation rulemaking has begun. This is great because this is all about the public's safety. This is enlightened federalism: the federal government working together with the states and the private sector to mutually decide how to protect our nation's vital underground infrastructure. The federal government does not dictate to state and local governments, nor does it try to fit private companies into some prescriptive regulatory scheme. That never works. Results come by working together. I congratulate the Senate Appropriations Committee for including a modest but sufficient amount of support for implementing the one-call bill in the FY 1999 Transportation Appropriations bill. I hope the House appropriators will follow this lead and an agreement can be reached in conference for funding to be available in the coming fiscal year. The one-call bill, which was enacted into law, provides that general revenues are to be used to improve our one-call systems. Realizing there is such a long list of beneficiaries from better one-call notification, this is only fair. I expect the appropriations process to reflect this principle of fairness and to fund this program from general revenues. We have all seen the tragedies and near tragedies that can occur when accidents happen at underground facilities. These accidents are preventable, and this law provides the surest way to present these accidents. I urge all affected parties to join in participating in the August 25-26 meeting to begin the cooperative, responsible process envisioned in the one-call law. Mr. President, I promised my good friend, former Senator Bill Bradley, when he left the Senate that his colleagues would continue the legislative effort to enact a one-call notification bill. This was accomplished this year. The terrible 1994 accident in Edison, New Jersey, showed Congress the kind of accident which must be prevented. Now a law has been enacted that can do the job. Let's continue to work together to carry it out.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank the Senators for their attention to these resolutions. I am pleased that we are going to have an appropriate memorial ceremony tomorrow to honor these two fallen policemen. They represent the very best of those that serve our country and work with us in the Senate, from our personal staffs, to the floor staff, to the officers of the Senate, to the policemen, the people throughout these Capitol buildings. They certainly did their job last week, and the country and we owe them a personal debt of gratitude. As I said this morning when we opened the Chamber, we see them every day. And we get to know them personally. They are part of our family. And I have sensed today that every Senator and every person I have talked to has a sense of deep sympathy and sorrow for this event. We will take every precaution to make sure that the Capitol is secure, but that it remains the people's body and the people have access to it. I also have asked Senator Daschle to join me in designating a Senator on both sides to make sure that in fact, the officers' families are appropriately cared for so that we can take a look at what benefits they are entitled to and what happens with their memorial fund. We will make a decision and we will report to the rest of the Senate about how to proceed in that area if there is a need for it. I yield the floor. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate receives H. Con. Res. 310 and 311, the resolutions be deemed agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, we had considered doing the memorial resolution between these votes, but we decided, after discussion with Senator Daschle, the most appropriate thing would be to go to this next vote and then have the memorial resolution read. I would like to ask Senators to remain in the Chamber and take their seats so that we can hear this memorial resolution. It is not that long, but it is very appropriate. I think the Senators will like to hear it. Perhaps at that point Senator Daschle, who was not able to speak this morning, will want to make a statement, and others, and then we will go on to other issues. I also want to remind Senators that at 11:50 tomorrow morning, Senators are asked to assemble in the Chamber. We will recess at that time to go en bloc to the Rotunda to pass through and around the coffins of the officers that will be there in the Rotunda. We will be back then at about 12:15, and we will go forward with legislative business. Then again tomorrow afternoon, at approximately 2:30, we will go for the memorial services beginning at 3 o'clock with the President and the Vice President in the Rotunda. I just wanted Senators to be aware of that. So we will have the resolution read. We would like to ask you to stay, if you can, immediately following this vote. This next vote will be the last recorded vote tonight, although we may try to move to an appropriations bill. This will be the last vote tonight. The next vote will be in the morning at 10 o'clock on the Shelby amendment, followed by final passage on the credit union issue. I yield the floor. Mr. BYRD addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. 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, the Senate later on today will adopt an appropriate resolution. It will be a joint resolution, House and Senate. We will confer with the leaders of both bodies on both sides of the aisle as to the appropriate time to have that vote, and we are reviewing the language at this time. In addition to that, we will resume consideration later on today of the credit union bill which was debated last Friday. I understand that Senator Hagel will be present later on to offer his amendment regarding credit union loans. Senator Shelby is tentatively scheduled to offer his amendment at about 3:30. By previous consent, a rollcall vote with respect to the Gramm amendment will occur at approximately 5:30, or shortly thereafter, but not later than 5:45. It is also hoped that we will vote in relation to the Hagel amendment immediately following that vote, and therefore two stacked votes are expected at around 5:30 this afternoon, with the possibility of one other. After the Senate completes consideration of the credit union bill, it will move to available appropriations bills. We have three or four that could be available this week. Health care legislation is on the agenda for the week, plus any conference reports that become available and any legislative or executive items, and we do expect, because of the cooperation we received on appropriations bills, we will be able to move a number of Executive Calendar nominations this week. This is the final week prior to our August recess period, when we will have an opportunity to go to our respective States, so I know our days and nights will be quite busy. It is necessary we do that to complete our work. I thank all Senators in advance for their cooperation. I yield the floor. Mr. THURMOND addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, what happened in the Capitol last Friday afternoon was a tragedy for our Nation. But for all of us here it was something more. It was a death in the family. We work here every day together, as Senators and as officers of the Senate, staff members, pages, policemen. We see them, and we pass them, over and over again. We talk to them. Some of them we get to know quite well. I have had the occasion myself to develop a very personal relationship with the man that was my security detail when I was the whip in the House, a man named George Awkward. He did for me what John Gibson did for Tom DeLay as the whip in the House. We got to be very personal friends. He had pizza at night, when we would get home late, with my wife and with me and my children. So I know how much these men and women put their lives on the line, and how much they mean to us on an individual basis, but also how far too often we walk past them; we take them for granted; we don't realize that they really are there for a very important purpose--protection of our constituents and of all of us and of this magnificent building in which we serve. Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut were members of our congressional family. They died defending us. They died defending this Capitol building, this temple of law, where armed violence is a sacrilege against our democratic institutions. So much has been said in their praise, and yet we need to say more. So much has been offered in their honor, but we still look for ways to express our admiration, our gratitude, and most of all, our sorrow. We search for words to comfort their families, and it is not easy to find them. Some losses stay with us forever. But far more important than our words and our condolences is the assurance of Scripture, that our Chaplain just gave--that ``greater love than this has no man, than that he lay down his life for his frinds.'' That is what the speaker of those words did, almost 2,000 years ago, and that is what officers Chestnut and Gibson did 3 days ago. In fact, it is what they were ready to do every day of their career, every day when they left their homes and loved ones knowing that they could face a deadly peril in their daily routine. We do not think often enough of the quiet bravery it takes for officers like those two--the men and women who come to work, here at the Capitol and in communities throughout the country, knowing that this might be the day they encounter mortal danger in the course of their duties. In my own area of the country--the gulf coast of Mississippi--we recently lost a policeman in the line of duty in Long Beach, MS, and it made an indelible mark on that community and on our whole region. Senators have already been informed that Officers Chestnut and Gibson will lie in state tomorrow in the great Rotunda of the Capitol. This is an extraordinary honor that we are paying to them. In the past only Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and generals like Pershing and MacArthur, former Senator Pepper, have lain in repose in the Rotunda. But I think it is appropriate that these two men, who gave their lives just down one flight of stairs defending that room always packed with constituents, would have this moment to be honored the way they deserve in that room. There will be times throughout the day for Members and staff and the general public to pay their respects to these two men to say a prayer, to consider how much we owe these fallen colleagues and their families and all those like them throughout the country. It is important to note that the public will be welcome in the Capitol during that time, and welcome to join us in our solemn tribute in the Rotunda, with the exception of only one hour in the afternoon where there will be a private opportunity for Members of Congress to observe and to pay our respects to these men. It is most fitting that the public, our constituents from all over the country and all over the world, should be there with us, as they will be, for Officers Chestnut and Gibson and their colleagues were defending them, too. I can understand the wish in some quarters to make the Capitol absolutely impregnable, or even to close it to the general public so that nothing like this could ever happen again. We will, of course, examine closely all of our security procedures again as we continue to do almost daily to see whether anything can be done to improve it. But we have to keep in mind that this Capitol is, more than any other edifice in the country, and certainly I believe in the world, the people's house. When I walk out of my majority leader's office and take three steps, I am standing with constituents from all across America. They are there every day. Sometimes they seem surprised that they would see Senators and Congressman walking amongst them. But that is the way it should be. This building is accessible and it amazes our visitors, domestic and foreign, many of whom have had chance encounters with Members of Congress, the President's Cabinet, in the halls, in the dining rooms, in the elevators. The reason the Capitol is so open is that our society is so open. We pride ourselves on that fact. The people's access to their Capitol is the physical manifestation of democracy. It represents something rare and precious, something all Americans take for granted. It represents the bond between those in high office and those who put them there. It represents, in short, our freedom. For that freedom, throughout our history, men and women have been willing to stand guard, to fight if necessary, and to die on many fields in many places in the world. They have done all that to protect their homes, to shield their loved ones, and to preserve their Nation. Some of those brave individuals are memorialized in the Capitol itself in statues of bronze and marble. They stand among us, mute but strangely eloquent about the price of liberty. Tomorrow, amid those grand statues of heroes past, we will honor two of our own to whom heroism was simply duty. For those two, for Officers Jacob Chestnut, affectionately known as J.J., and John Gibson, this open Capitol, with wide-eyed kids learning the Nation's history, with strangers from abroad awed by its grandeur, with Americans of all creeds and races and religions celebrating their common faith in God, and in one another, this Capitol itself will be their enduring monument.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I want to extend our appreciation to the Chaplain for his prayer for these two fine Capitol policemen and friends that we have lost. I would like to ask that we take another moment of silence to remember them, and to say our personal word of prayer for their family and friends. (Moment of silence)

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, on behalf of myself, the Democratic leader, and the entire Senate membership, I send a Senate concurrent resolution to the desk regarding the fallen U.S. Capitol policemen. And I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, and ask that the clerk read the resolution in its entirety.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send a second concurrent resolution to the desk regarding the use of the Rotunda in memory of Detective Gibson and Private First Class Chestnut and ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.