Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 12 noon on Monday, March 23, and, immediately following the prayer, the routine requests through the morning hour be granted.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open until 2 p.m. today for the introduction of bills and statements.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I want to express my appreciation to Chairman Hatch and members of the Judiciary Committee for expediting this legislation, because the time was running out and we wanted to get this in effect before this April 6 date. On behalf of all of us of Scottish descent, we appreciate this recognition of Tartan Day.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 328 S. Res. 155.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on March 20, 1998, by the President of the United States: Treaty with Saint Kitts and Nevis on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Treaty Document 105-37. I further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 329, S. Res. 198.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution appear at this point in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Now, that will be the last vote of the night, then. There will not be recorded votes tomorrow, although the Senate will be in session for debate on the NATO enlargement and, hopefully, on an amendment, with a vote on that amendment scheduled for probably 5:30, around 5:30 on Monday. The reason we did this, there is a serious effort underway, on a bipartisan basis, of those who support this legislation to work with the leaders on both sides of the aisle to get a process where we can have a fair consideration of this bill and amendments that are important to the Members, and get to a conclusion on the whole process by late Wednesday afternoon. I think that is fair. I think that Members on both sides would like to do it. But I do think, as is the tradition in the Senate, the leaders on both sides need to work with their Members to develop a process that they can be comfortable with. I think I have shown a willingness to do that, and I believe Senator Daschle is going to be working on that with me and the bipartisan supporters of this legislation. Thank you for your effort. I will see some of you tomorrow and the rest of you Monday afternoon. I yield the floor. Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, in keeping with trying to start the vote on time at 5:15, I will also be brief. I want to emphasize that this is the sixth day that we have had this legislation before us. We have had opportunities to try to come to some agreement. I have offered to agree that there would be a substitute offered by the minority. Then I suggested that there be a substitute and a couple of amendments on both sides. Then there was an indication that, well, if we could get other amendments that are relevant to education, maybe that would be a good idea. So I suggested that we go with the 14 education and tax-related amendments that were actually filed, 9 of which were minority amendments, and 5 would be offered by the majority. The indications are that that is not acceptable. The leader indicated it didn't include the substitute. We would be flexible in doing that. What I am interested in doing is finding a way to get us to a conclusion on the very important issue of education, and there is support on both sides. We have had a cloture on the motion to proceed. Now we are going to have two votes on cloture on the bill itself. There is a question of how long we can continue this. We have other business we need to do. So I urge my colleagues, if those of you that are with us on a bipartisan basis really want the Coverdell savings account for children in America, if you want prepaid tuition to be available with the tax benefits, if you want employer education benefits to be available to your college students, this is the opportunity. So I understand that the minority leader wants his Members to stick with him. But this is an important issue. We need to get to the substance. Then, even when we get through the cloture vote, when we get cloture, we could still work out an agreement for some other amendments that would not be in order postcloture, unless we agreed to. But, as I told Senator Daschle a couple of days ago, I am interested in getting this bill done. I am willing to be flexible to agree to some amendments on education. I do not want to run far afield. I don't think we ought to be shifting amendments, or health amendments, or things that are not related to education and taxes in this bill. There will be other opportunities. This is not the last day. We have a budget resolution coming up. We have a supplemental coming up. So I will be glad to work with Senator Daschle, and will continue to work with him on that. I urge colleagues, if you support savings accounts and these other issues, the time is now, vote for cloture. I yield the floor. Cloture Motion

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, after conversation with the Democratic leader, I now ask unanimous consent that the next cloture vote be postponed to occur Tuesday, March 24, at a time to be determined and announced at a later date.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could respond to a couple things that the Senator from Delaware just said.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, there is a clear, strong majority in the Senate who want to pass the Coverdell-Torricelli education savings account bill. It is bipartisan; I want to emphasize that. I believe every Republican is going to be for ending the debate. They are not dragging this out and having a full-fledged filibuster. I think there are several Democrats who agree we should get to the substance, too, and I hope we are going to have a broad--and I believe we will--a majority will vote for this legislation when we get to final passage. And there is a reason for that. The legislation would benefit some 14 million families who could use the education savings accounts. I have said it before and I emphasize it again, I think one of the problems with elementary and secondary education in America today is there is no opportunity for financial assistance, no way to save your own money to help your children a little bit. It does not have to be $2,000 a year; it could be $200 a year or less. But that money then could be accumulated and get the tax benefits and then used to buy uniforms or books or computers or to choose another school. So I think this is a major step in the right direction in dealing with the problems of elementary and secondary education in America. This bill would help 1 million students with tax relief on their State prepaid-tuition plans. This is a good idea. We ought to allow people to be able to pay in advance for the impact of tuition when they go to college. This is something that is being advocated very aggressively by a number of Democrats as well as Republicans. This bill would benefit a million workers, including 250 graduate students, whose employers would be better able to provide education assistance for them. Shouldn't we encourage that? Shouldn't we encourage employers to help their good workers who want to better themselves to advance their education? Of course we should, and this would do that in the best possible way. Now, Mr. President, this day is day 6 of the delay and obstruction against getting this education reform. Is it all we need to do? No. Is it a major step in the right direction? You betcha. We ought to do this. And we should not keep delaying it and dragging it out. For 6 days some Members of this body have taken turns standing in the schoolhouse door barring the way to a quality education for children who, quite often, need it the most. I want to thank all the Senators who have been involved on both sides of the aisle who have been willing to put aside partisan considerations and do what is right for American families. It would also benefit hard-pressed localities that could build new public schools with the bill's $3 billion in tax-exempt private activity bonds. This is in there because of the continued efforts of Senator Graham of Florida, Senator Feinstein who worked on it, and Senator Coverdell who was for this. Some of us have some reservations about this. I am one of them. But if you think about it, if Disney World would like to help build another school in the Orlando area and this would help that happen, because in the public schools it might not happen, should we allow that opportunity through the taxing of bond activity? Maybe so. That is in this bill. In short, this is one of the most important pieces of consumer rights legislation that the Senate has considered since the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration, I believe. And it is being blocked systematically and cynically by those who do not want, apparently, middle-income or low-income families to have the same choice in education that is available to all wealthy families. My family did not have that option, couldn't afford it. I went to public schools all the way--proud of it. I think they did a good job. But I don't believe my kids got as good a public education as I did, and they went to public schools all the way, too. But I still think we should have other choices. I think it is ironic--no; maybe it is tragic that in the midst of this filibuster, of this delay, the administration is today boasting of its record on school violence, that we have safer schools. I do not know where they have been. The schools are the most dangerous in America today than they have ever been in history, probably. I mean, I used to worry about chewing gum in school. Now kids bring guns to school and shoot their classmates. You have to go through a metal detector to get into schools. Where are these programs that have been helping with that? I don't see them. But it is a curious gesture, to me, to wring your hands about the violence in classrooms while you block the exits so that children cannot escape from unsafe drug-ridden schools. That is what this would help do. I think it is just pretense, really, to deplore violence on the playground and in the school corridors while you force those endangered boys and girls to stay right where they are. And that is the fact of the opposition that we see to the Coverdell-Torricelli bill, because we are trying to give them some options. We are telling our children, oh, yeah, we want more classrooms and whatnot, but they have to stay in the back of the education bus and they have to stay in these dangerous schools. So if the classrooms are smaller, smaller classes, but still dangerous and infected with drugs, you are not getting a good quality education, and because the teacher can't pass a test himself. I do not think we have done what we need to do. Do we trust the parents or not? That is one of the questions here. I do not trust a Federal bureaucrat in Washington to make the right decision for the children in my hometown schools. I trust the parents and the teachers and the administrators at the local level to make the right decision for their children. So I think that this is something that we should bring to a conclusion. We need to find a way to get this bill considered, amendments to be offered. So I say here today--and we have just sent notification to the Democratic leader--that we wish to make a full effort once again to find a way to bring it to a conclusion so we can consider education and education needs and education amendments. I have another proposal. Keep in mind, last week I proposed that the Democrats should have a substitute bill, or could have, if they want to do it, and put anything they want to in it, debate it as long as they want to, and have a vote; and then we would go to the Coverdell- Torricelli bill. Well, for good reasons, I presume, we could not get an agreement on a substitute. So then we said, well, what about if we have a couple of amendments on each side that are education related, and we have time to debate the amendments offered by Democrats, time to offer the two amendments offered by Republicans? That did not work and, once again, partially because there were more than two on each side; there were a number of them. Well, I have a new proposal. I have a way to bring us to a conclusion that I believe everybody would feel is fair and we could get a good debate on education. I understand that there are some 14 amendments that have been filed that relate to education--education. Five of them are Republican; nine of them are Democrat. Now, there are some others that have been filed that do not relate to education--clearly do not relate to education. So I propose here this afternoon that we say, OK, we are going to have agreement that those 14 education amendments that have been filed can be offered, debated for an hour each, and voted on--five Republican, nine Democrat--but they have to be the education amendments; and then we go on to final passage based on whatever the condition of the package is at that point. Now, if we have to go to cloture--and when we get cloture --we still could have 30 hours of debate after that, and amendments would be offered or could be offered. We probably would take at least 14 or 15 hours or more post-cloture. So I would like to--I am not asking for an answer now, but I am suggesting it to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and for the children of America, that maybe this is a way to make sure that Senators are able to offer amendments to education in addition to what is in this bill, and also to be able to offer ones that might not be germane post-cloture. This is a way to get it done. And we could set up a process of when we would begin on those amendments. We would have the 14 hours of debate, the votes would occur, and we could bring this to a conclusion, and I believe that instead of having a talkathon, we would have an A+ bill, a bill with input from Members on both sides of the aisle, a bill that would help education in America. And I think the American people would say we have not just been talking about what we are going to do, but they would then see the truth, that we really do want to be a positive force in improving education in America and we found a way to do it. And it would add this additional benefit. It would allow us to bring it to a conclusion within a foreseeable period of time. It would allow us then to focus on having debates only on NATO enlargement, and get that to a focused debate and a focused conclusion, and then to go perhaps--even next week, if we could get all this lined up--to a vote on one or both of the supplemental appropriations bills. Now, that would be a week and a half of production that would stagger the minds of men, particularly when it comes to education. But we would have done education, we would have done NATO enlargement, and we would have done supplemental bills that will affect the defense of our country because of the funds for Bosnia and the Persian Gulf, for IMF, and for disasters. We could do all that in 1 week. I think it would be a monumental accomplishment. And I invite the Democratic leader to respond and to think about this offer, because I think it is a fair one that a lot of Senators would feel good about. With that, I would be glad to yield since I see Senator Daschle is here.

Mr. LOTT. I am sure we will work on that together.

Mr. LOTT. The timeframe is--you know, we do not have to lock into that. I just thought, since you are talking about 14 amendments here, that an hour probably would be enough. If we needed more on some of them, less on some others, we could work through that. But part of the reason why I was having hopes that we could, after about 20 hours or so, finish this up and then get to a focused-on debate on only NATO enlargement and get to a vote on that--that was part of the thinking. But the time could be flexible. Generally speaking, I think some of these amendments probably could be debated for less than an hour maybe. So you understand I will not ask this now, just so you can think about it, between now and when we get to the cloture vote I could ask consent notwithstanding rule XXII, regardless of the outcome of the 5:15 votes, the following amendments be in order postcloture. One of the reasons that is also important, because some amendments might still be in order postcloture that would not be on this list, and that we would work on how much time we have on each amendment, and that there would be nine education-related amendments offered by the minority side, filed amendments 2020, 2026 through 2028, 2031 through 2033, 2040 and 2041; and five education-related amendments offered by the majority side, 2021, 2022, 2024 through 2025, and 2035. That is a suggestion of a UC we could ask for, or if we could work out some other unanimous consent agreement on education-related amendments. I know the Senator was talking about maybe having a crime bill. I know when he is having a crime bill he would rather not have to deal with a fisheries' amendment. I understand the minority wants to make sure they are not precluded from offering amendments important to them. I think he also understands the majority has some rights and desires not to have to vote on amendments across the board, from one end of the spectrum to the other, when we are trying to get an education bill completed that is very important to education in America and children in America, so we could then get to a very important national policy issue, NATO enlargement, that I had the President call about just last night. I am looking for a way to be fair so we can consider education amendments and identify a way to bring it to an end.

Mr. LOTT. I am happy to yield to the Senator.

Mr. LOTT. I thought he agreed we would have that issue on the United Nations arrears, State Department reauthorization, instead of having it on the emergency bill or the IMF; wasn't that the discussion?

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Senator from Virginia for his comment and his thoughts on this important issue. I know he has a lot of reservations. That has a real impact here with his knowledge in the defense area, and we are going to be listening to his remarks. There have been good speeches on both sides. Senator Smith from Oregon gave a magnificent speech this afternoon, I thought one of the best I have heard this year. I think it is working, and we will have a focused debate when we get toward the end of the final debate. Mr. President, as in morning business, I would like to take this moment also to talk a little bit about the other issue that is pending before the Senate at this time.

Mr. LOTT. Yes, I will yield.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me observe, first, that I have had the opportunity off and on during the day to listen to some of the debate on the NATO enlargement issue. I have to say there have been some excellent speeches and some very thoughtful observations about the importance of this legislation and what we should do. I am glad we have gone ahead and taken it up. It has given Members notice that we are moving toward a period where we will have the final debate on amendments and a vote on this issue. But I have been very impressed with the quality of the speeches that I have heard today. We will continue on until, I think it is quarter till 5, this afternoon on NATO enlargement. We will continue to have debate on NATO enlargement until we get something worked out on the Coverdell education savings account legislation and conclude that, and then we will go to the final round of debate and amendments on NATO enlargement. The way we are doing the debate, the dual track of both the education issue and NATO enlargement, is not intended at all to diminish either. It is intended to raise up both of them and the awareness and consciousness of the American people and give Senators an opportunity to make their positions known on both these issues. We will do them in a way where we will get a focus on the issue and have a good debate in the final analysis.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I want to remind all Members that first-degree amendments to H.R. 2646 must be filed by 1 p.m. on Thursday, and second-degree amendments must be filed by 4:45 tomorrow--it's now 4:15--under the most recent agreement. Second-degree amendments must be filed by 4:15. In addition, the Senate may consider other legislative or Executive Calendar business cleared for Senate action. We do have some Executive Calendar items I hope we can take up before the end of the week. So Members can anticipate rollcall votes throughout Thursday's session with the ones that I have already mentioned scheduled for sure to occur at, I believe, 5:15 now.

Mr. LOTT. So then tomorrow the Senate will be in the morning business period from 9:30 until 11:30. Under the previous consent, then at 11:30 we will go back to the NATO expansion treaty. All Senators with amendments to the treaty are encouraged to contact the managers of the treaty with their amendments in hopes of making considerable progress on the treaty during Thursday's session. I want to emphasize the bulk of the day tomorrow, from 11:30 until 5:15, that entire time, will be devoted to discussion or debate on the NATO enlargement issue. We hope that amendments can be offered. We want to give the Senate ample time to think about this issue and debate it, have amendments and to have votes. We are double-tracking it now, while we await the cloture votes on the education bill, but that is quite often done. It is in no way intended to diminish the importance of NATO enlargement. It is, in fact, intended to begin the process for Senators and the American people in every way possible to think about this issue, make sure we are doing the right thing. And I think it is the right thing to have the NATO enlargement. Then, when we complete the education bill, whenever that comes, we will meet with interested and involved Senators on both sides, see how much more time is needed, what other amendments are pending, and then we would stay on it until it is completed. I hope we could get that done by a reasonable time next week, hopefully Wednesday or Thursday. But it is a very important issue and we will continue working on it until we are convinced that Senators are satisfied they have had their say. Then we would go to the recorded vote. Also, under the previous consent, then, at 5:15 the Senate would debate H.R. 2646, the Coverdell education bill, for 30 minutes prior to the previously scheduled 5:45 cloture vote on the bill. We may actually move that time a little bit so that we can have an earlier vote. As a matter of fact, Madam President, I will change my earlier unanimous consent request and ask consent that the cloture votes previously ordered on H.R. 2646 now occur at 5:15 p.m. and the debate time earlier agreed to actually occur now at 4:45.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Conrad. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements on this resolution appear in the Record at this point.

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H. Con. Res. 238, which was received from the House.