Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of calendar No. 434, S. 1559.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be deemed read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill appear at the appropriate place in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of calendar No. 548, S. 1130.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 554, Senate Concurrent Resolution 52.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, that any statements related thereto appear at the appropriate place in the Record as if read.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of a Senate resolution 287 submitted earlier today by Senators Lott and Daschle.

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 551, S. 1735.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I appreciate that the Senator's work on this year's bill included funding for three important renewable energy projects in Alaska--two are clean, small hydroelectric projects to partially or fully replace 100 percent diesel-generated electricity in rural parts of Alaska, which are predominantly Native. Funding for the third project will be for the construction of a transmission intertie to bring energy from a recently completed hydroelectric project to several communities. For rural Alaska, electric power is still expensive and limited in supply. Electricity is produced in rural Native villages by burning diesel fuel that is brought in to the villages during the summer months and stored in fuel tanks. For the past two decades the State of Alaska has been able to provide subsidies to rural Alaskans through its Power Cost Equalization Program. Because the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope are now in decline, however, and because development of the known oil field on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still restricted, the State's continuation of this program is uncertain. Rural Alaskans, therefore could be facing an increase in their energy bills on the order of 30 cents to more than $1 per kilowatt hour. The national average for electric power is just 7 to 8 cents per kilowatt hour. For this reason, development of renewable energy and energy transmission projects in rural Alaska is all the more important. My only disappointment regarding this program is that, with the limited funding we are able to provide this year, several worthy projects, such as the hydroelectric projects proposed for Old Harbor and Admiralty Island, Alaska, were not funded. Additionally, the authorization for the Indian Energy Resources Program is only through fiscal year 1997. It is my hope that the Department of Energy will give what support it can to Native projects such as the Old Harbor and Admiralty Island hydroelectric projects this year. I also fully support the reauthorization of this program.

Mr. STEVENS. I would like to enter into a colloquy with the bill manager, Senator Domenici, and Senator Bennett. The Advanced Computational Technology Initiative [ACTI] is an ongoing DOE advanced R&D Program involving joint research efforts by the national labs and the oil and gas industry. The program pairs the unique supercomputing capabilities of DOE's nine multi-purpose National Laboratories with the domestic oil and natural gas industry. These research capabilities that would not otherwise be readily available will enable American industry to solve some of the grand challenge problems that exist in exploration and production geophysics, engineering, and geoscience.

Mr. STEVENS. The Federal funding supports the national lab and university components, no Federal funds go to the industry. The projects have been selected on a competitive basis to ensure only relevant and widely beneficial research is supported by DOE. Industry contributes over 50 percent on a cost-sharing basis.

Mr. STEVENS. Included in this appropriations bill is funding for the Indian Energy Resources Grant program, which was originally authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 1992. As the Senator from New Mexico knows well, in its short history, this program has been put to good use in providing up to a 50-percent match for funding for sorely needed energy projects in Native communities.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Very well. Really, as an original sponsor of the whole concept of the essential air service, I am pleased to see this amendment come forth in this form. We would have had to oppose the creation of a new office. But this does not do that, so we are prepared to accept the amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. There is an indication that the chairman will not be able to get back in the time we thought he would get back. I think there are going to be others that seek time on this bill. Will the Senator agree we would extend time on each side for another 10 minutes? I ask unanimous consent that the current time agreement be extended for 10 additional minutes for Senator McCain and 10 additional minutes for Senator Lautenberg.

Mr. STEVENS. That time is on or in relation to this amendment and that there be no second-degree amendments in order.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that on this amendment there be a time agreement with 30 minutes on the side of those who oppose Senator McCain's amendment and another 5 minutes for Senator McCain.

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

Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 5132 (Purpose: To reduce the level of funding for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation)

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield for a moment?

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator wishes time to contact the Senator from Delaware. If the Senator will proceed, we will try to get a time agreement.

Mr. STEVENS. I am interested in a time agreement if the Senator would indicate how long he might want.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I merely want to find out, is the Senator going to modify the amendment in the form I have before me? This is amendment No. 5131, is that correct?

Mr. STEVENS. Has the Senator modified his amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, has there been a modification of the amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. I misunderstood the situation. I thought it was being modified from its original form.