Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the consideration of Calendar 89, H.R. 1747.

Mr. LOTT. I want to express my appreciation to Senator Domenici for his cooperation in making the adoption of this legislation, which has been pending for quite some time, possible tonight. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill appear at this point in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar 258, S. 1079.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the committee substitute be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read three times, passed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and the amendment to the title be agreed to; that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record at the appropriate place as if read.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. 1417 introduced earlier today by Senator Domenici.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the bill be deemed read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill appear at this point in the Record

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the civil case of First American Corporation, et al. versus Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, et al., pending in the District Court for the District of Columbia, presents claims arising out of the former business relationships between First American Bank and the Bank of Credit and Commerce, International, known as BCCI. BCCI's business dealings were the subject of extensive hearings by the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, of the Committee on Foreign Relations, between 1988 and 1992. Senator John Kerry, who chaired that subcommittee, and former Senator Hank Brown, who was the ranking member, prepared a lengthy report documenting their findings. The Foreign Relations Committee has received a request for a former counsel to the subcommittee, Jack Blum, to testify in this civil action about responses that the Subcommittee received to its requests for information in the course of its investigation. The Committee believes that it is appropriate to authorize the testimony requested on this subject. This resolution would accordingly authorize Mr. Blum to testify about this subject, but the resolution authorizes no other testimony by any Member or employee. The committee has also received a request for committee records in connection with this case. In keeping with prior Senate practice, this resolution will not authorize the wholesale production of committee records, but authorizes the chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee to produce, on a case-by-case basis, copies of selective committee records from this subcommittee investigation, where a strong basis for the request has been shown and the Senate's privileges permit. Finally, the resolution authorizes the Senate legal counsel to provide representation in connection with the requests for testimony and documents in this proceeding.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be 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. If I could respond to the question, I know Pennsylvania is very supportive of Amtrak and would like this proposal to move forward as quickly as possible so I hope that we wouldn't have to have a recorded vote.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today the Senate acted in a fully bipartisan manner to adopt meaningful and genuine legal, labor, and management reforms for America's national passenger railroad. It offers legislative solutions that could begin to restore the fiscal health of this failing railroad. American taxpayers have already invested over $20 million in this railroad. Let me be clear: the Senate is sending a bipartisan message to this railroad--the management and the workers must fundamentally change both their culture and operating methods. Amtrak cannot continue getting subsidies. The legislation adopted today is an amendment to the bill reported by the Commerce Committee earlier this year. It is the bill sponsored by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The amendment was a joint effort of several members of the Commerce Committee on both sides of the aisle. I want to personally commend the Senate's Commerce Committee for their leadership on this important transportation issue. I'm sure the nearly 2 million Americans who ride the commuter rail system every day want to also thank them. I also want to recognize the work of a number of dedicated staffers who have invested many hours, evenings and weekends to get the legislative language right. The work was intense, emotional and personal, but everyone maintained their professional manner and got the job done. The staff responsible for the details are: Ann Begeman, Clyde Hart, Amy Henderson, James Drewry, Lloyd Ator, and Penny Compton. Let me just take one moment and clarify one important issue within this reform bill. The current industry practice between Amtrak and other rail carriers is to allocate financial responsibility for claims. This makes sense and in fact many such contractual agreements exist today. The language in section 28103(b) of the bill is intended to confirm that such contractual agreements are consistent with Federal law and public policy. One should not construe this section as modifying such agreements. Today, the Senate has taken action to ensure America's passenger rail service will not be interrupted. And, the Senate also mandated reforms to assure a prosperous passenger railroad. Mr. President, this reauthorization reform for Amtrak is long overdue, but it is on the right track.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could respond, I believe we have it cleared and that this could be moved by voice vote.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 179, S. 738.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendment be withdrawn, and I understand Senator Hutchison has a substitute amendment at the desk, and I would ask for its consideration.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I don't know if we should at this time get consent in that we would have that time. I think they will have it and maybe more if they would like to have it, and we should not and will not complete the discussion on it until the Senators have been involved in working out this compromise are in the Chamber. I would like to say if I could at this point, I thank the chairman of the committee of jurisdiction, Senator McCain, for his persistence on this matter, and Senator Hutchison, who is chairman of the subcommittee, for her efforts in bringing about this compromise. Senator Kerry from the committee as well as Senator Breaux have worked very hard in developing this compromise. I have been involved in this effort now for 3 years, having served as chairman of the subcommittee in the previous Congress. I think it is very important that we get fundamental reform of Amtrak so that Amtrak at least will have a chance to be able to provide good service and do it without depending on continuing subsidies from the Federal Government forever. They should be able to turn a profit, and I think this legislation will make that possible. They should be able to contract outwork. They should be able to advertise. There are so many basic private sector things that they could do and should have been doing before now that would allow them to actually make a profit so that we can keep a national rail passenger system. We need a passenger system that serves all the country, not just the eastern seaboard, and this is a major step in that direction. I want to emphasize, though, too, this is required in order to get the $2.3 billion that was fenced in the budget agreement for capital improvements. And those funds are only for capital improvements, not for operating subsidies, makeup of shortfalls in the past or salaries. That is not included in this legislation. I think we have a good bill. After trying to move it for 2 years, I am delighted that the work of a lot of Senators including the Senators here now in the Chamber and others that will be here momentarily will make this possible. I don't want to delay it any longer for fear somebody might have a good idea of one word that might be added.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I do want to add, and Senator Daschle will want to add, the fact that the ranking member on the committee, Senator Hollings, also has been involved in this for quite some time, and he has been helpful in bringing it to this conclusion.

Mr. LOTT. I believe the Chair did not hear objection. There was not an objection from the Democratic leader on that unanimous consent request to proceed.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank all Senators for their cooperation on this matter. I particularly want to thank Senator Inhofe for agreeing to do this. He came to the floor and offered his amendment. And it was accepted on a voice vote. Senators were aware of what was being discussed. But in a desire to be totally fair and making sure the proper notification was given, and to have opposition on the floor when action of that nature is taken, Senator Inhofe has been willing to agree to vitiate that action at this time. I thank him for his cooperation. This is a very important issue which will be debated in the Senate and which should be considered by the Senate. It is an issue that has support and opposition on both sides of the aisle. Senator Inhofe certainly is very committed to having this subject considered by the Senate either later on this year or next year. Again, I reiterate my thanks to him.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the action on the Inhofe amendment, No. 1602, which was agreed to on S. 1269, be vitiated, and that the amendment be restored to the status quo when the Senate resumes the bill.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Senator for being willing to yield. I think the Senators would like to hear a little bit more about what the schedule would be, and now is a good time to do it. I ask unanimous consent once we have completed this discussion, Senator Leahy be recognized for 5 minutes to speak as he sees fit.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent there now be a period of morning business until 3:30, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, before we move to the Amtrak legislation, I want to say for the information of all Senators--and I will have more to say about this when we have a recorded vote at 2:15. I think at that time we should take the time to talk about the schedule for the remainder of the day and perhaps Saturday and Sunday. It is our intent to stay and continue working. I don't see the necessity for us to be late tonight. But we will be back in on Saturday, and again on Sunday. We hope that we will have appropriations conference reports, possibly the first one being the Labor-HHS appropriations conference report, perhaps even later on today or tomorrow, and the Commerce-State-Justice conference report we hope to have by tomorrow, and, if not then, on Sunday. We will continue to work on other issues, some of which may require votes, even on the Executive Calendar. And then when the House votes, of course, we would then proceed to act on fast track after the House has acted. Whether that is Saturday or Sunday now is not clear. But the House has postponed their action on fast track today. So that will not be taken up until Saturday or Sunday. So we could be voting on fast track--perhaps on final passage--later on this weekend. But, in the meantime, of course, when we complete these intervening actions, we will go back to fast track as it is now pending before the Senate, and amendments will be in order, and other amendments I am sure will be offered. We will consult with the interested parties about how to proceed on those amendments and what time votes would occur. But, again, I think that during the remainder of the day it is very likely that we will have a minimum of two votes, and maybe even three or four.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that at 2:15 today the Senate immediately proceed to executive session and a vote on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 255, Christina A. Snyder to be U.S. district judge for the Central District of California. I further ask unanimous consent that following that vote the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements relating to the nomination appear at that point in the Record, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, it is my understanding that the Senate now is in a position to consider the Amtrak reform bill. The bill would then be agreed to after brief debate. The Senate would then conduct a rollcall vote on the nomination of Judge Christina Snyder. Following the confirmation vote, it is my hope that the District of Columbia appropriations bill will be ready to be considered. Therefore, votes will occur with the first vote occurring at approximately 2:15 today. I thank all Senators who have been involved in these other two bills, and we will update them further with information as to when votes may occur. It is possible that another vote will occur this afternoon. But it depends on action in the other body with regard to the appropriations conference reports. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I now ask for its second reading and object to my own request on behalf of the other side of the aisle.