Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for consideration of the amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask that the Senate consider Senator Reid's amendment numbered 1838.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this amendment offered by my friend from Nevada increases spending by $3.4 billion that causes the underlying bill to exceed the subcommittee allocation under section 302(b). Therefore, I raise a point of order against the amendment pursuant to section 302(f) of the Budget Act.

Mr. STEVENS. Can we establish a vote on the Graham amendment at 6 o'clock?

Mr. STEVENS. The amendment was cleared, but because of a change he wishes a rollcall vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Senator Graham had a chance to explain the amendment to us, but he has not explained it on the floor yet. He would like 5 minutes before the vote, and I would ask that the Senator be allowed 5 minutes after the Senator has completed his speech, and then following that, we vote, as indicated by the Senator from Nevada, with no further amendments in order.

Mr. STEVENS. We do not know anything about Senator Feingold's amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Subject to the 5 minutes.

Mr. STEVENS. We join in that request, Mr. President.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when Senator Feingold has completed his remarks, the Senator from South Carolina be recognized to speak for not more than 5 minutes on his amendment No. 1806, and following that time, there be no further amendments in order, and we have a rollcall vote on amendment No. 1806.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I send the modification to the desk so there will be no misunderstanding about that.

Mr. STEVENS. I need time, I say to my friend, to review this with the Armed Services Committee and the Government Affairs Committee before we can consent to that. I am sure there will be a recorded vote at some time, but I hope the Senator will accept a delay in that request.

Mr. STEVENS. Is it the Senator's intention that the money, one-third, be available at the end of 120 days?

Mr. STEVENS. I thank the Senator.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I was not informed about the request for time. The agreement we have pending would say we have a vote following the Senator's remarks. If there are Senators who wish to speak, I would like to know who they are and how much time they want to speak so we could change the agreement, at least have a vote. Members are coming back, thinking they are going to vote in a few minutes.

Mr. STEVENS. Yes.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have no objection to that request if Senator McConnell can speak and then we can vote.

Mr. STEVENS. My understanding was it was time for us to start moving some of the amendments on our side.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that we stand in recess, according to the previous order, until the hour of 2:15 p.m.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the attached statement I send to the desk from the Office of Compliance be printed in the Record today pursuant to section 303(b) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1383(b).

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Again, I apologize to the Senator from New Jersey. Our position on this amendment is it is an amendment that should not be brought up in connection with an appropriations bill when changing the reserve compensation system in a very drastic way. As a matter of fact, CBO scored this provision as follows for mandatory/direct: First year spending at $1.486 billion; the 5-year cost, $8.349 billion; and the 10-year cost, $16.466 billion. Both the House and the Senate have passed a provision that requires a study of this compensation, in part to determine whether retirement systems should be changed in view of the modern requirements and in view of the total force of the United States. The requirement to wait until age 60 to collect reserve pay has long been in effect and there is no basis right now to claim that any reservists who stay for a career have been misled about the level or timing of the compensation they receive. However, it is a matter of fact that we all want to have this changed. Any changes to the Guard and Reserve retirement benefits need to be assessed for the long term, not just in relationship to the current deployment. I am constrained to point out that the pending amendment 1811 offered by the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Corzine, increases spending by $2.3 billion in the fiscal year 2004. This additional spending would cause the underlying bill to exceed the Defense subcommittee's section 302(b) allocation. Therefore, I raise a point of order against the amendment pursuant to section 302(f) of the Budget Act.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, may I have the attention of the Senate for a moment. There is another scheduled amendment to be voted on right now. I ask Members of this side who have not come forward and offered their amendments--we have a series of amendments filed by Republican Members: Senators Hutchison, Specter, and Graham. We have notice that two or three other Senators--Senator Warner and Senator Brownback--have potential amendments. We have heard from the other side with amendments so far. We agree we should consider amendments offered on this side if anyone is ready to offer an amendment. I urge during this vote that Members consult with me and the staff to see what amendments they are willing to raise now. We are still committed to finishing this bill, and my colleagues are going to have to raise them sometime, so I hope they will consider raising them now. Regular order, Mr. President.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Senator from Nevada is absolutely right. I recall the other day when a number of us were missing. The last person had not voted and I asked his assistant where the person was. They said he was at the airport. An hour and 40 minutes later, I said: What airport? They said: Philadelphia. The Member who just voted last was on the subway. I thought that was the subway of the Capitol. I apologize to the Senator. I put the Senate on notice that we will observe the 20 minutes. In fact, as we get through this bill toward this evening, I hope to have a series of stacked votes, with the first vote being 20 minutes and all thereafter being 10 minutes. We have to stop wasting time on the voting process and get this bill finished by Friday, as we will try to do. I thank the Chair and ask for the regular order. Amendment No. 1834

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, current law allows the services to exceed end strength by 3 percent. Currently, there are about 9,000 soldiers who already exceed the end strength. They have another 5,000 that they can increase. This will take money from the amount they need. I strongly understand the Senator's request, as well as Senator Hagel, but I would like to yield 45 seconds to Senator McCain and 25 seconds to Senator Sessions and then be recognized to make a motion to table.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, it will take 3 to 5 years to train those additional soldiers. I do not know from where the Senator is getting his information. I get mine in writing from the Department of Defense, and I stated the figures as we understand them. We do not need any more troops. General Abizaid testified he has troops he does not need, and he is going to start bringing some home. I move to table the amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.