Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Airland of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 2:30 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force aviation and air-launched weapons programs, in review of the Defense authorization request for fiscal year 2004 and the future years defense program.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., in SD 226. I. Nominations: Edward C. Prado to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit; Richard D. Bennett to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Maryland; Dee D. Drell to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana; J. Leon Holmes to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas; Susan G. Braden to be Judge for the Court of Federal Claims; Charles F. Lettow to be Judge for the Court of Federal Claims; Raul David Bejarano to be U.S. Marshall for the Southern District of California; and Allen Garber to be U.S. Marshall for the District of Minnesota. II. Bills: S. 274 Class Action Fairness Act of 2003 and S. 731 Secure Authentication Feature and Enhanced Identification Defense Act of 2003 (``SAFE ID Act'').

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a hearing on NATO enlargement. Witnesses: Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia--Dr. F. Stephen Larrabee, Senior Staff Member, RAND, Arlington, VA; Bulgaria and Romania--Mr. Janusz Bugajski, Director, Eastern Europe Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC; and Slovakia and Slovenia-- Dr. Jeff Simon, Senior Fellow, National Defense University, Washington, DC.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 3, 2003 at 10 a.m. to hold a hearing on Western Hemisphere Nominations. Nominees: Mr. Lino Gutierrez to be Ambassador to Argentina; Mr. James Foley to be Ambassador to Haiti; and Mr. Roland W. Bullen to be Ambassador to Guyana.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 9:15 a.m., to hear testimony on the Purchasing Health Care Services in a Competitive Environment.

Mr. STEVENS. 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 Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 10 a.m., to conduct an oversight hearing on ``The Federal Reserve Board Proposal on Check Truncation.'' The committee will also vote on the nominations of Mr. Alfred Plamann, of California, to be a member of the Board of Directors of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank; Mr. Thomas Waters Grant, of New York, to be a director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation; Mr. Noe Hinojosa, Jr., of Texas, to be a director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation; and Mr. William Robert Timken, Jr., of Ohio, to be a director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be allowed to conduct a hearing during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 3, 2003. The purpose of this hearing will be to review the reauthorization of child nutrition programs.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the chairman and ranking member, with the concurrence of both leaders, to be permitted to make technical and conforming changes as necessary to the supplemental appropriations bill. The bill was put together pretty quickly, and we want to do it carefully. We have cleared this with both leaders and with both sides of the aisle.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS. Good night, ladies and gentlemen.

Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry: There is no further business to be had on that bill; right?

Mr. STEVENS. Do we have the yeas and nays on final passage? I am too tired. We are going to third reading. We are finished. I am going to do that right now. We are done. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the passage of S. 762, the bill be held at the desk; provided further that when the Senate receives the House companion bill to S. 762, the Senate proceed to its consideration, all after the enacting clause be stricken, the text of S. 762, as amended, be inserted in lieu thereof; provided further the bill then be read for a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the Senate then insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate; finally, I ask unanimous consent that passage of S. 762 be vitiated and it be placed back on the calendar at that time and that the conferees be the entire Appropriations Committee.

Mr. STEVENS. I appreciate the cooperation of the Democratic whip, and given his assurances, I withdraw my amendment dealing with the debt ceiling.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, according to the Treasury Department, the statutory limit on the national debt needs to be raised. The amendment I offered yesterday would have increased the debt limit so as to avoid the risk of a default. I understand the concerns that have been raised about this amendment by the other side, and I am willing to withdraw the amendment if the majority can be assured that the Senate will pass a freestanding bill to increase the debt limit with the cooperation of the minority and without unnecessary delay, and there will be no necessity to file cloture to bring this bill to a vote. I know the distinguished Democratic whip has discussed this with the Democratic leader and others, and I would ask if he is able to give those assurances at this time.

Mr. STEVENS. I thank all Members for their patience and courtesy. And as the leader said, this is the last vote. We will handle the problem of moving this matter to third reading after this vote. There will be no further votes tonight. Have we adopted the managers' amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. It just means they were not numbered. We took out some amendments and put a new one in its place, but we did not make it a substitute for the amendment that is in place.

Mr. STEVENS. I call the attention of the clerk to the fact that there are several original amendments in that package, and they will be properly handled.

Mr. STEVENS. I withdraw that. Is it possible we might have a voice vote? I will be happy to have a voice vote. I renew the request that the managers' package at the desk be considered en bloc and adopted en bloc. Does the Senator want a rollcall vote? Without a rollcall vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk, a series of amendments. I ask that these amendments be considered en bloc and they be adopted en bloc by one rollcall vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the yeas and nays on the Kohl amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I will withdraw the other amendment when we have the dialog after the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. I would say there are amendments at the desk that have been modified or agreed to and put into the managers' package. So I ask that those be withdrawn. I believe all the Members involved know what has been done on those amendments. I ask that they be withdrawn and-- there are four of them.

Mr. STEVENS. The parliamentary situation is: We will vote on the Kohl amendment, we will vote then on the managers' package, and then the bill will go to third reading under the outline we provided at that time, and there be no further votes or amendments in order to this bill.

Mr. STEVENS. We will have a dialog here about the debt ceiling amendment, and I have given my word to the Senator from West Virginia that we would withdraw the amendment. I want to have that dialog. That can take place after the vote. I assured everyone that will be handled in a proper way. I have been asked to make a record of why we did not proceed with the debt ceiling amendment, and I would like to do it at that time. I renew my request.