Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 5 minutes until the hour of 6:30 p.m.

Mr. LOTT

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. We tried to get the vote on the paycheck equity amendment, and cloture was defeated twice on that. The situation may be different 3 or 4 months from now. I think the atmosphere is charged now in a way that makes it difficult for us to define now what the process will be. By the end of February, the first of March, something that might appear impossible now we might be able to work out. We can continue to talk about how we would do that. Now, in the meantime, time marches on. The calendar is moving on. We are struggling to have committees meet that, by the way, need to meet so they can confirm Foreign Service or Ambassador nominations and judges. We are having trouble with that. We are trying to see if we can continue to move some of these people on the Executive Calendar. We have Members who are working on the highway transportation bill. Senator Chafee has been here now for a week and nothing has happened. Senator Byrd is very interested in this bill and has an amendment on which he has been working with Senator Gramm and others. Senator Baucus is very anxious to see if we can't get going forward. It is the usual process around here. Sometimes you get just completely bollixed. The only way you change that is you start moving-- you move a little here, you move a little there. Senator Daschle and I have been trying to do that a little bit this week. We made a little progress here, a little progress there. If we can get these wheels creaking and moving forward, then who knows what will happen. As long as we are hunkered down, saying, ``We've got to get this agreed to before we do that; if we don't get that, you don't get this,'' and we wind up getting nothing. I hope that is not what we will do. We can see. I hope we can get cloture on ISTEA. If we got cloture this afternoon, we would still be performing a miracle if we finish this bill by next Thursday, and if we don't get it done next week, how do we get fast track where we have been assured we are going to have extended debate on that, and maybe other games being played with that one? I think we need to move the ball forward, get cloture, get on this bill, get some of these amendments offered that are very important and very critical to various States, the entire country. There are some other issues that will be hotly debated on this bill. We will still be here, and we will still have time to have meetings and talk about what we are going to do. I think I just saw probably the greatest exchange between my two great friends of Scottish descent, McCain and McConnell, a moment ago. Who knows what great things might happen once we start moving things forward?

Mr. LOTT. I will yield to the Senator for a question.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, be authorized to hold an executive business meeting during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, 1997, at 10 a.m. in room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Government Affairs Committee Special Investigation to meet on Thursday, October 23, at 10 a.m. for a hearing on campaign financing issues.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the Finance Committee requests unanimous consent to conduct a hearing on Thursday, October 23, 1997, beginning at 10 a.m. in room 215 Dirksen.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, for purposes of conducting a full committee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The purpose of this oversight hearing is to receive testimony on the issue of peaceful nuclear cooperation with China.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, 1997 at 2 p.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, Senator Helms has a substitute amendment at the desk, and I ask for its consideration.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move now that the Senate stand in recess until 3 p.m. today.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I want to personally assure Senator Ford that this bill does not override private contracts, just as it does not override existing State programs. If expert opinions believe doubt is created than I will offer an amendment to remove this consequence.

Mr. LOTT. What I have found is that there is not one single one-call definition that applies equally to all 50 States. The various State laws on the books have certain elements in common, but there are just as many differences, and those differences often are appropriate. Montana will not need the same law as Mississippi. For that reason, the bill allows States flexibility by not mandating a single definition written in Washington.

Mr. LOTT. Again, this bill neither specifies or directs the details of a State program nor does it override existing State programs. All of the State programs of which I am aware allow for an immediate response in the event of an emergency. And this bill does not change this situation.

Mr. LOTT. Again, if States do not now require railroads to participate as operators of underground facilities, then there still is no provision in the bill that would change that status. Remember, no mandates. Most State programs do not require participation by persons whose underground facilities lie within their own property like a gas station. The bill in no way discourages States from continuing such common sense exclusions.

Mr. LOTT. The answer is an emphatic ``no.'' The legislation does not impose any federal mandate on the States to modify their existing one- call programs. The bill does not dictate the content of these programs from Washington. Period. The legislation does, however, encourage States to improve their programs, and it makes funding available for that purpose. To be eligible for the funding, the State programs must meet certain minimum standards, but even those standards are performance-based, not prescriptive. Frankly, legislation that contained a federal mandate for a one-call system was tried a few years ago, and it failed. There were endless fights over how the bill should be written precisely due to the fact that there are indeed 50 differing perceptions. Valid perceptions and experiences which match up to the many programs already in existence. This year, this mistake was avoided with this legislative approach--no mandates. And I am pleased to say that is why it enjoys broad support on both sides of the aisle. In fact, at the conclusion of my remarks, I will ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter from Secretary of Transportation Slater, dated October 16, recognizing the importance of including one-call legislation as part of the reauthorization of the ISTEA legislation.

Mr. LOTT. Senator Ford is correct. Thank you for focusing attention on this important safety aspect of the amendment. Our country increasingly depends on a reliable, safe, dependable underground infrastructure of pipelines and communications networks. To protect these facilities against damage from excavation activities, States have developed one-call programs. These programs notify facility owners of imminent excavation in the vicinity of those facilities. The owners can then mark the location of those facilities, protecting both the facilities and the excavator. My legislative goal is to augment and improve the effectiveness of these State programs.

Mr. LOTT. Again, I say to Senator Ford, the bill does not require States to change their existing programs. So it would not change the way railroads are treated under any existing State laws. I understand about 30 States laws now cover at least some railroad activities while about 10 specifically exempt railroads from coverage. The bill will not change the exemption in these States. Will not. The fact that 30 States have chosen to include railroads within their programs suggests that at least in these instances, State legislatures determined that some potential threat to underground facilities from railroad activity does exist. Again, this bill in and of itself will not require a change in how the railroad activity is treated. Will not. However, I want to reiterate that what is appropriate for one State may not be appropriate for another. To receive Federal assistance under the bill, a State must only demonstrate that its program covers those excavators whose action poses a significant risk to underground facilities. The State's decisions will not be measured and second-guessed against a national standard.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter from Secretary Slater be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now turn to House Joint Resolution 97, the continuing resolution, for debate only. Therefore, no amendments will be in order.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, our prayers today are with Mrs. Geri Meagher and her family. Geri, as most of us know, is the majority floor Doorkeeper. Hers is one of the brightest and friendliest faces greeting us on the Senate floor every day. And we miss her sunshine today. I always look back to see Geri there keeping an eye on the Senate floor and making sure that everything is working in proper order. But last night she was stricken with a brain aneurysm and today is undergoing surgery. Our prayers for her recovery and return to us go with her today. Mr. SMITH of Oregon addressed the Chair.

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 ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 269, 270, 287, 308, 309, 310, 314, 317, 321, 322, 325, and 330. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the nominations appear at this point in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate immediately return to legislative session.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send a second cloture motion to the desk to the pending bill.