Arlen Specter

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Senator from New Mexico for bringing this matter to my attention. I am familiar with the recommendation of the House Appropriations Committee to encourage a telephone-access job search initiative. I can assure my friend from New Mexico that I will give this proposal serious consideration for inclusion in the conference report accompanying the final bill.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I say to my friend from Utah that I am aware of his concerns with regard to atomic tests performed at the Nevada test site and the fallout of radioactive iodine-133. I also understand that the University of Utah has done some outstanding research in this area. I would like to ask Senator Bennett what resources would be required to complete this phase of the study?

Mr. SPECTER. Senator Bennett is correct that resources are limited. However, I would be pleased to work with Senator Bennett to try to find the resources necessary to fund this important study.

Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Senators from Vermont for bringing their concerns about the elimination of this program to me. I certainly want programs that are successful to continue. I and will work with the House during the conference to make sure that programs that are meeting the needs of high-risk youth can continue. aids drug assistance program and other program funding under the ryan white care act

Mr. SPECTER. I appreciate the Senator from Georgia's comments regarding fiscal year 1998 CDC funds. Let me assure him that the subcommittee will take his comments into careful consideration.

Mr. SPECTER. I appreciate the distinguished Senator from Georgia bringing to the attention of this Senate his interest in the valuable work of the CDC. I will ensure that the conference committee considers the Senator's interest in these important public health programs.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for this opportunity to clarify the committee's recommendation regarding the Department of Education's White House Initiative Office on tribal colleges and universities. It was, indeed, the committee's intent that the Office receive adequate support for its mission, and that administrative funds be allocated for this purpose from the Department of Education's general management funds.

Mr. SPECTER. I want to thank the Senator from Iowa for raising this issue. In appropriating an additional $500,000 over the administration's request it is indeed by intent that the NMB will use these funds to more quickly process the section 3 cases that are currently pending. There are now a few thousand unresolved cases affecting workers and employers in Pennsylvania and throughout the Nation who deserve to have these cases decided as quickly as possible.

Mr. SPECTER. Funding for the Ryan White AIDS programs was a priority for the committee this year, and I worked very hard to make sure that we provided an adequate level for the Health Resources and Services Administration service programs, as well as, I might add, for research at the National Institutes of Health. I am pleased to assure you that S. 1061 contains $1.077 billion for the Ryan White AIDS programs, which is $41 million above the administration's request, and over $80 million higher than the current year's level. That includes $469.9 million for HIV health care and support services, of which $217 million is dedicated to AIDS medications under the State AIDS drug assistance program [ADAP]. That $217 million figure for ADAP compares to $167 million in fiscal year 1997, so it is a substantial increase in an atmosphere of budget constraints.

Mr. SPECTER. The benefits of fluoridated water to our Nation's children are well known and appreciated. I will work with my colleagues on the House and Senate conference to provide the resources to implement this program more broadly.

Mr. SPECTER. The Senator is correct. The pending legislation does not change the 5 percent set-aside for the Early Head Start Program provided by current law for fiscal year 1998 and the 10 percent provided by the bill is additional funding to expand programs for children from 0-3 years of age.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, in the 7 minutes intervening, I will utilize this time to submit a resolution which I had discussed extensively yesterday calling for the United States to cease any financial aid to the Palestinian Authority and for the United States to use its best efforts to persuade all of our allies to do the same thing. I believe that that course of action is necessary to change our policy in the Mideast, because there is no peace process. There is a great deal of talk about a peace process, but the reality, the brutal fact of life is that there is no peace process. But there is a war of terrorism, a one-sided war being waged by the Palestinians against Israel. The brutal fact of life, Mr. President, is that terrorism has replaced open warfare as a way of gaining military advantage. The wars which have been fought against Israel, the open warfare, has been unsuccessful, so this practice of terrorism is being pursued. The financial aid which has come from the United States and our allies has been used to build up the Palestinian Authority in many ways, including a 30,000-person police force, armed with highly sophisticated weapons. When Prime Minister Netanyahu made the accusation, after the March 21 bombing of the Tel Aviv cafe, that Chairman Arafat had given a green light, I sought a response from the Secretary of State. In her testimony a few weeks ago before the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, Secretary of State Albright said there had not been a green light, but also there had not been a red light. Mr. President, United States law requires that the Palestinian Authority make the maximum effort to stop terrorism. The Palestinian Authority is not a guarantor, but they have an obligation to make a maximum effort to stop terrorism. And since the March 21 terrorist attack, we have seen the July 30 terrorist attack, we have seen the embrace by Chairman Arafat of the Hamas leader, the picture seen around the world, comparable to the shot heard around the world, where in no uncertain terms Chairman Arafat is saying that he condones what Hamas has done and even encourages Hamas to do more. Then, on September 4, we had the most recent terrorist attack. These three terrorist attacks in the course of the past 6 months have killed 21 Israelis and wounded 330 other Israelis. So where is the peace process? There is none. The emperor has no clothes. It is time we recognized that fact. We have had, in addition, a report from an Israeli cabinet officer, Deputy Education Minister Moshe Peled, that Chairman Arafat knew in advance of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that it was going to occur. If that is in fact true, Chairman Arafat is an accessory before the fact, and that is a form of conspiracy and, under our statutes, subject to trial in a United States court. When I saw that charge I asked the Department of Justice to investigate. And we do have information that Mr. Peled was questioned by the FBI for some 2 hours but we do not know the results of that inquiry. I have discussed with the distinguished majority leader the issue about the necessity for bringing this matter to a head to provide some leadership on foreign policy where our Senate has the standing to do so. You just heard a lengthy distinguished speech by Senator Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. The leadership has been taken by Senator Helms and others, and we have constitutional authority to act. Where the administration continues to supply funds to the Palestinian Authority, and those funds directly and indirectly go to build up the Palestinian Army, that is a practice which should be stopped. The administration had further talked about going to final settlement discussions between Israel and the Palestinians. Of course, that is a matter for the Israelis and the Palestinians to decide. But, I believe that it is an unwise policy for the United States to push that approach because the principles of the Camp David accord and the Oslo accord were to build up confidence, to have relationships which would build up and lead to final status negotiations when there was a basis for the Israelis and the Palestinians living side by side. Regrettably, that is not possible. We have repeated statements by Chairman Arafat and others of a belligerent nature spewing hatred. We have hatred being talked about in the schools. We have an atmosphere which hardly is conducive to final negotiation status. There had been talk after the Oslo accord of deferring the issue of a Palestinian State. The concern had been that there would be a Trojan horse, a secret Palestinian State inside of Israel. Well, that has not happened. It has not been secret. It has been open. You have a 30,000-person police force, military operation with sophisticated weapons. You have the chief of police who has been charged by the Israeli authorities with being involved in terrorist attacks and information from the United States. I spoke at some length about this yesterday, Mr. President. My comments are necessarily abbreviated today because there has only been a period of 7 minutes from the time I started until the 5 o'clock vote which is due to start soon. Today, I talked to our distinguished chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee about hearings on this subject, as I had discussed with Senator Lott. I believe that when Secretary of State Albright returns from the Mideast, it would be a good opportunity to hear from her about administration policy and to hear from the Attorney General and the FBI Director about what is happening with the investigation as to Chairman Arafat's possible complicity in the World Trade Center bombing. So I file the resolution, Mr. President. We are in the process of getting cosponsors.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, by way of scheduling, to inform Senators as to what we anticipate, as previously ordered, we have two more votes. We then intend to go to the amendment by the distinguished Democratic leader. And then we intend to go to an amendment by Senator Gorton. It is our hope that we will vote on those two amendments this evening, not too late. That will leave us with only two major matters remaining--the issue of testing, where we may be able to have an agreement, and the Nickles amendment. The majority leader earlier said we would like to go to final passage tomorrow morning at 9:30, if we can clear those matters and after we have these two votes, and perhaps two more votes, so that we will conclude the rollcall votes not too late. And if there is any argument on the remaining matters, we will try to vote on them tomorrow morning at 9:30 and go to final passage at that time. I thank the Chair. Amendment No. 1087

Mr. SPECTER. I am advised, Mr. President, that Senator Murray is on her way. We do not want to use up her 2 minutes. She is on her way. So I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SPECTER. Seeing the hour of 5 o'clock having arrived, I yield the floor. Amendment No. 1118

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, we are, for the information of our colleagues, in a position soon to vote on three pending amendments, and I think a fourth amendment which will be offered by the distinguished Democratic leader, Senator Daschle. And we expect to proceed soon to the amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle. And as soon as that is done, we will be proceeding to rollcall votes on four amendments. The time should not be too extensive. I just give notice to my colleagues that that will be occurring in relatively short order. Then following the votes we will proceed to debate on the Gorton amendment, and that will leave then two principal outstanding issues-- the issue of school testing, where the parties have been negotiating and may be in a position to give us a final answer soon whether they could come to agreement or whether we will have to move ahead with Senate debate on that, and the issue with respect to the pending Nickles amendment. We will see what will happen on that, if we are in a position to move ahead there. I am not sure exactly what will occur there. Mr. President, I have just been advised that Senator Daschle is engaged in a meeting that he cannot leave at the moment. So we will have to defer action on his amendment. On behalf of the leader, I have been asked by staff, at the request of the majority leader, to propound this unanimous consent request. I ask unanimous consent that at the hour of 5 o'clock today, the Senate proceed to a vote on or in relation to the Murray amendment, No. 1118; to be followed by a vote on or in relation to the Wellstone amendment, No. 1087; to be followed by a vote on the Coverdell amendment, No. 1098. And I further ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to each vote. I ask, finally, unanimous consent that no amendments be in order to any of the previous amendments prior to the vote, and that the first vote be with the customary 20 minutes, and that each additional vote be--the first vote be 15 minutes, but we have the automatic extension of 5 minutes, and each subsequent vote be limited to 10 minutes, with the extension of 5 minutes, so they can expedite the vote process.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, if I might have the attention of all Senators to discuss sequencing. It might be possible, realistically, to finish the bill this evening. The next amendment, following the vote, will be the Murray amendment, where there is 1 hour equally divided. But it is my anticipation that Senator Murray will use her 30 minutes, but there will not be a reply. The next amendment will be the Wellstone amendment, 40 minutes equally divided. Here again, I think that will be disposed of in less than 40 minutes. Then we have the Daschle amendment, which is 20 minutes equally divided, and then the Coverdell amendment, 10 minutes equally divided. It is the manager's intention to have votes on these four amendments later this afternoon, but it is impossible to say when because of the impossibility of determining the amount of time. But the votes will occur as soon as the arguments are finished on those four amendments. We will then go to the Gorton amendment, where we don't have a time agreement. But the Senator from Washington says he may be able to enter into one shortly after that discussion starts. That would leave us with only two amendments outstanding on school testing, where the parties are reasonably close to an agreement on the Teamsters issue, which we will, I think, be able to resolve. But that is yet uncertain. That will be the sequence.

Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Chair. Mr. President, between the second and third votes, as a matter of management, it would be appreciated if the following Senators could be on the floor so we can sequence the balance of the amendments. We are fairly close to seeing light at the end of the tunnel. So if the following Senators would be good enough to stay on the floor for a brief scheduling discussion at that time it would be appreciated by the managers: Senator Murray, Senator Wellstone, Senator Daschle, and Senator Coverdell. If those Senators would be on the floor, it would be appreciated.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the yeas and nays be vitiated.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry. Are the yeas and nays ordered on the Wellstone amendment?

Mr. SPECTER

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

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside and that the Senate turn to the consideration of amendment No. 1111 to Senate bill 1061. Amendment No. 1123 to Amendment No. 1111 (Purpose: To assure the Medicare Commission examines the role of medical research and long-term care in the future of Medicare)

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, it is my privilege today to ask that the Senate approve legislation to confer the status of honorary veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces to Leslie Townes (Bob) Hope. This resolution, House Joint Resolution 75, which was unanimously approved by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs on June 12, 1997, is identical to a companion resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 36, which I, as chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, was honored to introduce on July 28, 1997. I am pleased to say that the ranking member of the committee, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, and 47 other Members of the Senate joined me as cosponsors of this resolution when I introduced it. Mr. President, the Members of this body, and the American people as a whole, are acutely aware of the contributions Bob Hope has made to the Nation. His service to country--and; most particularly, to its soldiers, sailor, marines, and airmen over a period exceeding 50 years--are legion. If any person in this country merits such an unprecedented honor--and Mr. President, it is my understanding that no person has ever before been conferred the status of honorary veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces--surely, it is Bob Hope. As I have stated, Bob Hope's contributions to this Nation are well known to all of our citizens. Less well known is the fact that Bob Hope is a naturalized American, having emigrated from his native England when he was just a boy. I am the son of a naturalized American--an immigrant who walked across Europe with barely a ruble in his pocket so that he could make his way to this country. So I know first hand that person of humble origins can scale the heights of this country. Few, though, have scaled the heights that Bob Hope has scaled. When I say Bob Hope has scaled the heights, I am not referring to his success as an actor, a comedian, or businessman--though his success in all three areas has been considerable. When I say Bob Hope as scaled heights, I am thinking of his place in the hearts of his adopted countrymen. Who in this country is more beloved by a broader spectrum of his fellow citizens than Bob Hope--people of all ages, races, religions, and beliefs? Perhaps none more than Bob Hope. For the past 50 years, this country's fighting men and women could count on Bob Hope to lift their spirits and moral when they faced the prospect of making the ultimate sacrifice. In World War II, in Korea, in Vietnam and, most recently, in the Persian Gulf, Bob Hope and his troupe were there to remind our fighting men and women that they were not forgotten, that their suffering was appreciated. Bob Hope was always with the troops-- especially during the holidays--enduring hardship, and often significant physical danger, so that he might encourage those facing greater hardship and danger. Three generations of veterans will never forget how much he cared. Those three generations of veterans wonder how they might properly recognize Bob Hope. He is already a recipient of the Nation's highest civilian decorations, the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Carter hosted a White House reception in honor of his 75th Birthday. President Clinton bestowed upon him the Medal of the Arts. He has received more than 50 honorary doctorates, and innumerable awards from civic, social, and veterans organizations. But Bob Hope cannot say that he is a veteran--in my mind, one of the most honorable appellations one can carry. This legislation will remedy that. I ask that all of my colleagues join me in approving legislation designating Bob Hope an honorary veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. And I thank the former Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and the current president of the USO, Gen. Carl Mundy, for spearheading this effort.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I rise today to join with my colleague from Wisconsin, Senator Feingold, in submitting a sense of the Senate resolution calling for the Secretary of Agriculture to immediately establish a temporary emergency minimum milk price that is equitable to all producers nationwide, and that provides price relief to economically distressed milk producers. We are joined by Senators Kohl, Moynihan, Breaux, and Landrieu. I have been working with my colleagues in the Senate over the past year in order to provide a more equitable price for our Nation's milk producers. Last year, dairy prices set an all-time high, with an average price of $13.38 per hundredweight. The price reached its peak in September at $15.37 per hundredweight, but the market experienced its largest drop in history during November, falling to $11.61 per hundredweight, which represents a 26 percent decline. During this same period, the cost of the dairy production reached a record high due to a 30-50 percent increase in grain costs. This record drop in prices has placed a tremendous strain on our Nation's dairy farmers, who have been forced to sell their milk for a price below the cost of production for much of the past year. In an attempt to provide some relief, and to ensure that thousands of small dairy producers were not forced out of business entirely, I joined with 19 of my Senate and House colleagues on November 22, 1996, in writing to Agriculture Secretary Glickman, urging him to take action to help raise dairy prices. Secretary Glickman responded on January 7, 1997, by announcing several short-term actions to stabilize milk prices. While these actions did have a small positive effect in increasing dairy prices, they did not provide adequate relief to our nation's dairy farmers. In order to hear the problems that dairy farmers are facing first hand, I ask Secretary Glickman to accompany me to northeastern Pennsylvania, which he did on February 10. We met a crowd of approximately 750 angry farmers who complained about the precipitous drop in the price of milk. During the course of my analysis of the pricing problem, I found that the price of milk depends on a number of factors, one of which is the price of cheese. For every 10 cents the price of cheese is raised, the price of milk would be raised by $1 per hundredweight. I further learned that the price of cheese was determined by the National Cheese Exchange in Green Bay, WI. According to a report created by the University of Wisconsin, there was an issue as to whether the price of cheese established by the Green Bay exchange was accurate or not. The authors of the report used a term as tough as manipulation. Whether that is so or not, there was a real question as to whether that price was accurate. Therefore, 3 days after the hearing in northeastern Pennsylvania, I introduced a sense-of-the-Senate resolution with Senators Santorum, Feingold, Kohl, Jeffords, Leahy, Wellstone, Snowe, Collins, and Grams. The resolution, which passed by a vote of 83-15, stated that the Secretary of Agriculture should consider acting immediately to replace the National Cheese Exchange as a factor to be considered in setting the basic formula price for dairy. In my discussions with Secretary Glickman, I found he had the power to raise the price of milk unilaterally by establishing a different price of cheese. Therefore, on March 10, I wrote to Secretary Glickman and urged him to take immediate action to establish a price floor at $13.50/cwt on a temporary, emergency, interim basis until he completed his action on delinking the National Cheese Exchange from the basic formula price. This subject was aired during the course of a special hearing before the appropriations subcommittee on March 13. At that time, Secretary Glickman said that the Department of Agriculture had ascertained the identity of 118 people or entities who had cheese transactions that could establish a different price of cheese. He told me that the Department had written to the 118 and were having problems getting responses. I suggested it might be faster to telephone those people. Secretary Glickman provided my staff with the list of people, and we telephoned them and found, after reaching approximately half of them, that the price of cheese was, in fact, $.164 higher than was being reported on the Cheese Exchange. On March 19, I again wrote Secretary Glickman and informed him of the results of my staff's survey. This price difference translates to a $1.64 per hundredweight addition to the price of milk. On April 17, I introduced two pieces of legislation to revise our laws so that they better reflect current conditions and provide a fair market for our Nation's dedicated and hard-working farmers. The legislation goes to two points. One is to amend the Agriculture Market Transition Act to require the Secretary to use the price of feed grains and other cash expenses in the dairy industry as factors that are used to determine the basic formula for the price of milk and other milk prices regulated by the Secretary. Simply stated, the Government should use what it costs for production to establish the price of milk, so that if farmers are caught with rising prices of feed and other rising costs of production, they can have those rising costs reflected in the cost of milk. The second piece of legislation would require the Secretary of Agriculture to collect and disseminate statistically reliable information from milk manufacturing plants on prices received for bulk cheese and require the Secretary to report back to Congress within 150 days on the rate of voluntary compliance with the survey. This bill was successfully attached to the 1997 supplemental appropriations bill which was signed into law on June 12, 1997. On Tuesday, May 6, 1997, the Department of Agriculture announced that they were replacing the National Cheese Exchange in Green Bay, WI, with a survey of cheddar cheese manufacturers in the United States in order to determine the price of cheese for use in setting the basic formula price. I am pleased to report that last Friday, the basic formula price jumped to $12.07, an increase of $1.21 over last month, as a result of increased cheese prices measured by this new cheese survey. While we have made some progress in providing relief to farmers, there is much more that needs to be done. This sense-of-the-Senate resolution will ensure that farmers receive the necessary support they need to continue to produce milk. This resolution makes it clear that in emergency situations, the Secretary of Agriculture should set a temporary minimum price for dairy that is equitable to all producers nationwide and that provides price relief to economically distressed milk producers, I urge my colleagues to join with Senator Feingold and me as we work together to revise the current dairy laws so that they better reflect current conditions and provide a fair market for our Nation's dedicated and hard-working farmers.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, if I may respond, I don't think there is any unanimous consent order required. If the Senator is here tomorrow morning when we proceed with the bill, I am sure he will be recognized.