William Roth

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Let me start out by thanking the distinguished Senator from New York for his leadership in this critically important matter. I can say, fairly, that nothing would have happened if it had not been for his willingness to step out early on and take measures that I think are in the best interests of this Nation and the people of this great country.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination on the executive calendar: Calendar No. 41. I further ask unanimous consent that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements relating to the nomination appear at this point in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar order No. 22, Senate Resolution 19.

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

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, following the 40 minutes of debate tomorrow morning on the Pena nomination, the Senate will temporarily set aside the nomination with the vote occurring on confirmation at 12:30, Wednesday afternoon. Following the morning debate, there will be a period of morning business in order to accommodate a number of Senators. Following the morning business period and the 12:30 vote, the Senate will begin consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 18, which is the Hollings resolution on a constitutional amendment on campaign financing. Senators can, therefore, expect additional rollcall votes throughout Wednesday's session.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the 12:30 vote on Wednesday, the Senate then begin consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 18, the Hollings resolution regarding a constitutional amendment on campaign financing.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until the hour of 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, March 12. I further ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer, the routine requests through the morning hour be granted and the Senate then proceed to executive session to consider the Pena nomination, as under the previous order. I further ask unanimous consent that following the debate on the Pena nomination, the nomination be temporarily set aside, and at 12:30 on Wednesday the Senate return to executive session and proceed to a vote on the confirmation of the nomination. I further ask unanimous consent that following the vote, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then return to legislative session. I now ask unanimous consent that following the debate on the nomination, the Senate return to legislative session and there then be a period of morning business until the hour of 12:30, with Senators to speak for up to 5 minutes each, with the following exceptions: Senator Sessions, 30 minutes; Senator Murkowski, 15 minutes; Senator Domenici, 10 minutes; Senator Dorgan 1 hour.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. I thank the Chair. (The remarks of Mr. Roth and Mr. Moynihan pertaining to the introduction of S. 425 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, today my good friend, Senator Moynihan, and I are introducing a landmark piece of legislation to create a cost-of- living board that will improve our Government's ability to index Federal programs with a more accurate measurement of inflation. Clearly, there are a number of ways to address the accurate measure of inflation with regard to our indexed Federal tax and benefit programs. In my view, this bill represents one possible way to achieve greater accuracy. It is not the only way, but I believe it is our best effort to create a mechanism to fairly compensate taxpayers and benefit recipients alike. One of the most significant issues that faces Congress this year is the accuracy of the Consumer Price Index, and I believe that Congress and the President need to seriously address the economic ramifications of an inaccurate measure of the cost of living. The five-member board created in our bill will meet throughout the year to, first, review the statistical evidence about inflation produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and others, and after careful review of all the evidence regarding inflation, the board will then produce a cost-of-living adjustment by a majority vote of the members of the commission not later than November 1 of each year. This inflation adjustment number will serve as a number for which all Federal benefit programs and tax items will be indexed for the coming year without further action by the Congress or the President. If, however, the cost-of-living board fails by a majority vote to produce a cost-of-living adjustment, then current law applies. That is to say, that the BLS-produced CPI will be used to index tax and benefit programs. Let me be clear. This cost-of-living board will not--and I emphasize not--study the accuracy of the Consumer Price Index. We have already had the Boskin commission which did just that. The report was widely praised within the Economic Community, including many highly respected economists, such as Dr. Alan Greenspan and Dr. Martin Feldstein. One of the roles in Government is to protect American families from inflation. In doing so, it is important that we are able to measure inflation as precisely as possible, and I view this board as our best hope of accurately measuring inflation. I cannot emphasize too greatly the importance of an accurate measurement of inflation. If the index is too high, it overcompensates retirees and others and undertaxes many taxpayers. If it is too low, it undercompensates retirees and overtaxes the taxpayer. What we want is fairness to all with as accurate an index as possible. I want to stress that any action we take on this issue must be broadly and deeply bipartisan. We must have the full cooperation and leadership by President Clinton. I hope the President will not miss an opportunity to consider this board as one possible option that will ``take the politics out of it'' and fulfill his goals set out in his State of the Union Address to ``do the right thing for the country.'' Clearly, this reform will not be successful without the President's leadership. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was agreed to.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Governmental Affairs Committee to meet on Wednesday, March 5, at 10 a.m. for a hearing on high-risk issues.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 5, 1997 beginning at 9:30 a.m. until business is completed, to hold a oversight hearing to review the budget and operations of the Secretary of the Senate, Sergeant at Arms, Architect of the Capitol, and the National Gallery of Art.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Airland Forces be authorized to meet on Tuesday, March 5, 1997, at 10 a.m. in open session, to receive testimony on the Defense authorization request for fiscal year 1998 and the future years Defense program.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Aviation Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on March 5, 1997, at 10 a.m. on the Gore Commission/Aviation Safety.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Personnel of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on Wednesday, March 5, 1997, at 2 p.m. in open session, to receive testimony on recruiting and retention policies within the Department of Defense and the military services in review of the Defense authorization request for fiscal year 1998 and the future years Defense program.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be allowed to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 5, 1997, at 9 a.m. in SR-328A to review the U.S. Department of Agriculture Business Plan and Reorganization Management.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, 1997 to receive testimony on Defense programs to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the Department of Defense budget request for fiscal year 1998 and the future years Defense program.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, the Finance Committee requests unanimous consent to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, March 5, 1997, beginning at 10 a.m. in room 215 Dirksen.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, once more, I strongly endorse the nomination of Ambassador Barshefsky. I urge my colleagues to vote for her. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROTH. The waiver is essential to ensure that the President is able to appoint this capable nominee to the post of USTR. I want to make just two points. First, when the Lobbying Disclosure Act was passed, Ambassador Barshefsky was serving as Deputy USTR. As such, the act expressly did not apply to her in that position. Second, the Ambassador never lobbied the U.S. Government on behalf of a foreign government or foreign political party. Under these circumstances, I strongly feel that passage of the waiver is appropriate to assure the appointment of Ambassador Barshefsky as USTR.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, before the Senate votes on Senate Joint Resolution 5, I want to reiterate the importance of passing this waiver. The waiver is essential.

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

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I yield 20 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Arizona.