Richard Shelby

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet on Thursday, October 23 at 9:30 a.m. to consider S. 994, the Chemical Security Act of 2003, and S. 1757, the John F. Kennedy Center Act. The business meeting will be held in SD 406.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine be authorized to meet on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. Railroad Shipper Issues and S. 919, Railroad Competition Act of 2003.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed hearing.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, October 23, 2003, on pending Committee business off the floor in the President's room, immediately after the first vote of the day.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 10:30 a.m., in executive session to discuss pending military nominations.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 9:30 a.m. in Dirksen Room 226. Agenda: I. Nominations: Henry W. Saad to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit; Dora L. Irazarry to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York; Dale S. Fischer to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California; Gary L. Sharpe to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York; and William K. Sessions III to be a Member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. II. Bills: S. 1545, Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2003 (the DREAM Act) [Hatch, Durbin, Craig, DeWine, Feingold, Feinstein, Grassley, Kennedy, Leahy, Schumer]; S. 1720, A bill to provide for Federal court proceedings in Plano, Texas [Cornyn]; S. 1743, Private Security Officer Employment Authorization Act of 2003 [Levin, Schumer]; S. 1194, Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003 [DeWine, Durbin, Grassley, Hatch, Leahy]; S. Res. 239, Designating November 7, 2003, as ``National Native American Veterans Day'' to honor the service of Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces and the contribution of Native Americans to the defense of the United States [Campbell]; and S. Res. 240, A resolution designating November 2003 as ``National American Indian Heritage Month'' [Campbell, Hatch].

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 23, 2003, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing on Proposals for Improving the Regulation of the Housing GSEs. The Committee will also vote on the nominations of the Hon. Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., of Massachusetts, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the Hon. Ben. S. Bernanke, of New Jersey, to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and the Hon. Paul S. Atkins, of Virginia, to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. SHELBY

Mr. SHELBY. We will try to get in touch with him shortly.

Mr. SHELBY. I do not know where Senator McConnell is, but I want to clear this with him before we set this amendment aside and move to that.

Mr. SHELBY. I still reserve my right to object, and I would object until we clear this with Senator McConnell that he is ready to proceed.

Mr. SHELBY. I do.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate insist on its amendments, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees at a ratio of 9 to 8, which is the subcommittee plus Stevens and Inouye.

Mr. SHELBY. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. amendment no. 1946

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I have another amendment I send to the desk on behalf of the Senator from Georgia, Mr. Chambliss. It has been cleared.

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

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment on behalf of the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Specter. It has been cleared.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw amendment No. 1946 that was previously set aside on behalf of the Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Akaka.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set that amendment aside.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment on behalf of Senator Grassley.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I now offer a package of amendments that have been cleared on both sides, and I ask unanimous consent that they be considered and agreed to en bloc.

Mr. SHELBY. I urge adoption of the amendment.

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

Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, I rise in support of the Thomas amendment. I believe competitive sourcing is an important process for the Federal Government. I believe it will help to improve the overall performance and efficiency of certain activities carried out by the Federal Government. Allowing these competitions to move forward is important to improve the value of service provided by the Federal Government to all Americans. Whether the contract is won by the incumbent Federal workers or private sector bidders, the Federal Government wins by encouraging greater efficiency and a more focused workforce. That improves service. I believe we must be careful to clarify that competitive sourcing, as proposed, doesn't apply to those activities considered inherently governmental. Those jobs will be reserved solely for the Federal workforce, and no one is proposing otherwise. Our goal is clear. What we are trying to do is make the Federal workforce more efficient and competitive. At some point, the Federal Government is going to have to demand that it get a greater return on its investment. I believe that allowing public-private competitive sourcing is a step in that direction. At the proper time, I will urge adoption of the Thomas amendment.

Mr. SHELBY. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Thomas be recognized to offer a first-degree amendment on the issue of competitive sourcing; I further ask consent that there be 40 minutes of total debate equally divided in the usual form relative to both the Thomas and Mikulski amendments; I further ask consent that following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Thomas amendment, to be followed by a vote in relation to the Mikulski amendment, with no amendments in order to the amendments prior to the vote and 2 minutes equally divided prior to the second vote.