Samuel Nunn

Mr. NUNN

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Mr. Levin and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. NUNN. I believe this amendment has been cleared on the other side, and I urge its adoption.

Mr. NUNN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4403 (Purpose: To authorize the construction of a fuel farm, phase I, at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska)

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, this amendment has been cleared. I urge its adoption.

Mr. NUNN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, this amendment has been cleared, and I urge its adoption.

Mr. NUNN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4407 (Purpose: To specify certain matters to be considered by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the next assessment of the current missions, responsibilities, and force structure of the unified combatant commands)

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Mr. Levin and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. NUNN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. NUNN. We have a list of the amendments. We have swapped that list on both sides. I have just gone over each amendment that looks like it might have a rollcall vote with the people on our side. I have gotten every single person on this list to agree to a relatively short-time agreement. There appears to be several of these amendments that we can work out. So I think we are making very substantial progress, if we get the UC's.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. NUNN. Madam President, first, I thank my friend from Arizona for working diligently on this amendment. It is a good second-degree amendment. I will urge its approval. I ask unanimous consent that the authors of the first-degree amendment, as listed, be incorporated as cosponsors of the second- degree amendment and, in addition, that Senator Levin, the Senator from Michigan, be added as a cosponsor of the second-degree amendment.

Mr. NUNN. This is probably one of the most important subject matters that we have had on this defense bill this year or, frankly, any other year. When you enlarge an alliance that has been as successful as the NATO alliance, there are serious questions that need to be asked, both by the existing NATO members and by the new prospective members. This amendment is an amendment that asks the important questions. The original amendment, the underlying Nunn amendment, cosponsored by my friend from Texas, Senator Hutchison, Senator Bradley, Senator Kassebaum, and Senator Cohen, asked a number of questions. This amendment is a simplified version of the original amendment. This amendment, the second degree, carries out the original intent of asking the tough questions so that the President will focus on those and so that the Congress will focus on those and so the American people will focus on those. This second-degree amendment asks additional questions that makes sure that this is a balanced report, which has been the overall intent from the beginning. But I think the second- degree amendment fairly reflects that balance in asking for both the costs and the benefits of the expansion. That has been the original intent. I think this is a good amendment. Madam President, I urge that the second-degree amendment be adopted. I do not think we will need a rollcall vote on that. But, once adopted, I would like a rollcall vote on the underlying amendment because it is a very important amendment. I will defer to the chairman of the committee as to when we have that rollcall vote, so it will be most conducive to the conducting of our business. But I suggest that we accept a voice vote on the second degree and then have a rollcall vote on the Nunn amendment, as amended.

Mr NUNN

Mr NUNN. I ask for the yeas and nays on the underlying amendment.

Mr. NUNN

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I would ask the Senator from Arizona if he would confirm my understanding that the term ``European Partnership for Peace Nations'' includes the nations of Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I would like to identify myself with the remarks of Senator Glenn on the previously adopted amendment. I know it is a noble cause. But I think this is a bad precedent, and I think we need to carefully consider what we do in this kind of case. There are thousands of other organizations out there that would like exactly the same treatment. I voted on that on the voice vote, and I identify my remarks with those of the Senator from Ohio. I thank the Chair.

Mr. NUNN

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, this amendment has been worked on carefully by both sides of the aisle. It calls attention of the Congress and the American people to the Air Force proposal for a Minuteman-based national defense system. It states this is an important national missile defense option worthy of serious consideration. I certainly concur in that. Then it calls for a report. I urged adoption of the amendment. I think the Senator should be commended for bringing this to our attention and bringing it to the attention of the American people. I think this is an option that deserves serious consideration. I urge the amendment be adopted.

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I support the Senator on this. I believe we voted on this in committee. It was a very close vote, as I recall. There is a divided committee on this one. Both in the case of the Air Force, where the number of F-16's exceeds the Air Force request, not only their request but their informal guidance, and in the case of the helicopters, where this exceeds the Army request, I think there is serious doubt that this is the highest priority for our funding. This probably comes under the category ``nice to have but not essential.'' I join the Senator in this. I am sure I will be supporting his amendment on the appropriations bill when it comes up.

Mr. NUNN

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

Mr. NUNN

Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, this amendment has been cleared with the Judiciary Committee. It is not in our jurisdiction, but it has been approved by both Senator Hatch and Senator Biden. So I urge support of the amendment.

Mr. NUNN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 4429 (Purpose: To clarify that the exemption from the Qualified Thrift Lender applies to any savings institutions that serve primarily military personnel)