Arlen Specter

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. I yield 5 minutes requested by the distinguished Senator from Missouri.

Mr. SPECTER. I yield 5 minutes 36 seconds to the distinguished Senator from Washington so he can conclude the debate in support of his amendment.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Frist.

Mr. SPECTER. I move to table the amendment by the Senator from Washington, Mrs. Murray, and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I think we have had a very solid, constructive debate this afternoon. The Murray amendment seeks to deal with class size, which I believe is a very laudable and praiseworthy objective. A difficulty I have with the amendment of the Senator from Washington is that it adds some $200 million to the bill, which is already, in my judgment, at the maximum level. It now calls for $91.7 billion; $16 billion is forward funded. Last year $8 billion had been forward funded. This bill has been crafted by the subcommittee, then accepted by the full committee, after 17 hearings, after having more than 2,000 requests from Members, more than 1,000 letters, 1,000 inputs from the citizenry. Our subcommittee, a group of experts on staff, sat down and crafted this bill which was then approved by Senator Harkin, the ranking Democrat, and myself. We have some 300 items which we have weighed and evaluated. We have allocated $1.2 billion to the generalized subject of teacher initiative, which is perhaps the same as class size. When I say perhaps the same as class size, I say that because the determination of precisely how that money is to be used is up to the authorizing committee. For those watching on C-SPAN II, if anyone, a word of explanation might be in order; that is, we appropriate. We put up the money. But we have another committee, headed by Senator Jeffords, which decides authorization, as to how the money is to be spent. That is the way we do business in the Senate. Last year, in order to move through the process--and occasionally we do legislate on an appropriations bill--we did legislate, for 1 year, on class size. The amendment offered by the Senator from Washington was subject to challenge under rule XVI and could have been defeated because it is legislation. We decided not to do that in order to give this issue a thorough airing on the merits. Frankly, I would like to add $200 billion--million--maybe Freud would say I would like to add $200 billion. I am not sure. But we have a couple of problems. One problem is we have to pass this bill. On my side of the aisle, we are at the breaking point. I may be wrong about that, we may be beyond the breaking point. I am lobbying my colleagues in the Cloakroom that $91.7 billion ought to get their affirmative vote. They raised questions about the size of the amount. Then we have to go to conference and we have to produce a bill which will be accepted by our House colleagues, who have a little different view. They want to spend substantially less money. I am aware the object, the end process is to get the bill signed. Under our Constitution, it is not enough for the Senate to vote, for the House to vote, for the conference committee to vote. It has to be submitted to the President. He has to agree with it. We are very close to the President's figure. He asked for $1.4 billion for class size, and I am not saying in the end we might not be there on a compromise, at the very end of the process, if we make some other adjustments. But there is a limit as to how much I can get my Republican colleagues to vote for. One of my colleagues just entered, came to the floor, and said, ``That's right.'' I have been lobbying him very hard in the Cloakroom. We have to get 51 votes for this bill; that is not easy to do, at $91.7 billion. So as we look at the overall structure, and we have 300 programs--the Senator from Washington did not make a suggestion as to where she would like to cut $200 million. We have a structure that is not subject to the Budget Act because it is advanced funding. I believe our bill, at $91.7 billion, is within the caps, and I am confident it does not touch Social Security. But that is a complicated subject because some of the money has been borrowed from defense. There are a lot of factors at play here. Senator Domenici and Senator Stevens and I and others have been working to be sure we are within the caps and we do not cut Social Security. I have been told if we spend $200 million more on the amendment of the Senator from Washington, we may invade Social Security--that we will invade Social Security. I am not prepared to make that argument because I do not know whether it is true or not. But I do know every time we add money, we come very close to that and there is, not a consensus--there is unanimity not to touch Social Security, not to do that, and to allow room for Medicare. In the debate earlier, I heard the Senator from Connecticut talk about adding $2 billion to another program that I like very much, but I am not prepared to spend $2 billion more on this bill and eliminate any chance at all I can get 51 votes on this side of the aisle. So it was with great reluctance that I am constrained--and I voted against very little, in the 19 years I have been here, against increased education funding. If somebody wants to spend more money on education, almost always I have said yes. The authorizers may come back and may do exactly what the Senator from Washington wants, put it on class size. That is a laudable, praiseworthy objective. But there are other objectives as well. That has to be decided by our authorizing committee, under our rules. So it is with reluctance that I vote against the Senator from Washington because I do not like to vote against money for education. But we have not just been fair; we have been very generous. This bill is an increase of $2.3 billion over last year. It is more than $500 million more than the President wanted. We have worked hard to craft this, among 300 programs. Agreeing to the amendment offered by Senator Gorton does not rule out class size on two grounds: One is, it could be class size if the local districts say so, or it could be class size if the authorizers say so. So Senator Gorton's amendment is not inconsistent with the objectives of the Senator from Washington. Chairing this subcommittee has been fascinating, and trying to put all the pieces together is really a challenge. Voting against education is something I do not like to do, to be misconstrued in a 30-second commercial, but I think the interests of American children and public education, of which I am a product, are best served by keeping the bill as it is. I yield the floor.

Mr. SPECTER. I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Vermont, Mr. Jeffords.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from New Mexico.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I will yield him that time. That is the way we do it, as opposed to unanimous consent.

Mr. SPECTER. I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins.

Mr. SPECTER. We should alternate to the other side of the aisle. Then we have Senator Jeffords after that.

Mr. SPECTER. I yield the Senator 2 minutes.

Mr. SPECTER. I withdraw the motion and will renew it at the appropriate time. Vote On Amendment No. 1805

Mr. SPECTER. I thank my colleague.

Mr. SPECTER. Will the distinguished Senator from Arkansas yield for a unanimous consent request?

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. For the information of all Senators, the Senate will reconvene at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow and immediately begin 30 minutes of debate on the Boxer amendment regarding afterschool programs and the Gregg second-degree amendment to the Boxer amendment. At the expiration of that debate, the Senate will proceed to two back-to-back votes at approximately 10 a.m. Further amendments are expected to be offered during tomorrow's session of the Senate. Therefore, Senators may expect votes throughout the day and into the evening. The Senate may also consider any conference reports available for action.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. 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. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 30. I further ask consent that immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of the pending Gregg amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 232, 237, 240, 241, 242, 243, and nominations in the Army on the Secretary's desk. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. I ask unanimous consent that this resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 289, S. Res. 189.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SPECTER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee substitute be agreed to.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, today is the 100th birthday of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Yesterday, the Senate approved H.J. Res. 34, a resolution which commemorates that auspicious event. I wish to mark the occasion further by offering my congratulations to the members and families of that fine organization. In my 19 years as a United States Senator I have been able to count on the VFW to convey the concerns of veterans in a fair and insightful manner. Especially during my tenure as Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I have always been able to rely on the VFW to assist me in ascertaining the quality of health care and benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Without the VFW's 2,000,000 strong membership, it would be extremely difficult for the Committee-- or the Congress--to operate in the best interest of America's veterans. Earlier this year, I had the honor of being named the recipient of the VFW Congressional Award. At the award reception, I was struck by the history of the VFW. From the trenches of Verdun to the deserts of Iraq, VFW members have taken their place in America's history, serving to preserve ``one Nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.'' The service of VFW members, however, has never been limited to wartime service--as vital as that has been. VFW members also play indispensable roles within their communities--as volunteers in VA hospitals and advocates for veteran claimants and through numerous civic and youth projects in every State and locality. Indeed, America counts VFW members among its model citizens. For 100 years as honorable citizens and soldiers, the VFW deserves America's gratitude for a job well done. We salute you.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 29, for purposes of conducting a Water & Power Subcommittee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. The purpose of this oversight hearing is to conduct oversight on the practices of the Bureau of Reclamation regarding operations and maintenance costs and contract renewals.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 29, 1999, at 9:30 a.m., on the Motor Carrier Safety Act.