Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. That is all the amendments; is that correct?

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

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

Mr. STEVENS. I yield back my time.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this amendment would mean that we would exceed the budget allocation for defense. There are 82 days left in this fiscal year. The Department of Defense has already sent us, with the President's approval, a request for $18.4 billion for 2002. That money will be readily available. This amendment is redundant in that respect. I have always supported defense in my day. I cannot remember ever disagreeing on a defense amendment, but on this occasion it violates the commitment we made to stay within the amount of the President's budget. It takes funds from nondefense accounts and puts them in defense accounts violating the wall concept that we have followed now for 4 years. For 4 years, we have agreed to the amount to be spent for defense and the amount to be spent for nondefense. This amendment takes money exclusively from nondefense and puts it in defense. If the tables were turned, I would obviously be violently opposed to taking money from defense and putting it into nondefense. I feel obligated to defend the process which has saved the defense accounts over the past 4 years, and I urge that the McCain amendment be tabled.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I yield back the time in opposition to the Wellstone amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am informed that we have just made an error. I ask unanimous consent that in section 210(f) of the managers' amendment the figure ``$38.5 million'' be ``$39.5 million.''

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I will file the amendment I referred to for the managers' amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the managers' amendment be agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator has 5 minutes under the time agreement.

Mr. STEVENS. If the Senator will yield, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be amended to add a million dollars for FEMA for the disaster storm Allison. I will present an amendment to the desk in writing.

Mr. STEVENS. Now that Senator McCain's time has expired, that is in order?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, don't we have a managers' amendment still on the agenda?

Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry: Is that in order under the Budget Act? This is a specific point of order. There are other points of order I may want to try, too.

Mr. STEVENS. I raise a question about this. All points of order?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am constrained to point out to the Senate that part of the Budget Act gives us the power, in the Appropriations Committee, to make allocations to specific portions of the budget. We have 13 separate bills. The allocation to the Defense Department under the Defense appropriations bill for 2001 I made when I was chairman--and Senator Byrd from West Virginia has modified that slightly, but it is still a limitation--it is a limitation that prevents us from transferring money from one bill to another without the consent of the Senate. The amendment of the Senator from Arizona would increase the amount allocated to the Department of Defense for 2001 in excess of the current budget allocation that both Senator Byrd as chairman, and I, when I was chairman, submitted to the Senate. The amendment by the Senator from Arizona has the unfortunate consequence of exceeding our allocation. I make a point of order against the McCain amendment under section 302(f) of the Budget Act. If adopted, this would exceed the allocation for the Department of Defense for 2001.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, that is correct--in order to accommodate the Senator's request.

Mr. STEVENS. Is the Senator from New York willing to yield the remainder of his time?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: Is it not the case that we must finish the Schumer amendment before we go back to the McCain amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, how much time remains?

Mr. STEVENS. Yes.

Mr. STEVENS. Reserving that right to object, I wish the Senator would allocate that time to the Senator from Alaska. I have 2 minutes; Senator McCain has 4; the Senator from Missouri has 5 minutes.

Mr. STEVENS. We will be glad to accord the Senator from Missouri 5 minutes of our time. The Senator is right; let's hold the time and let Senator Schumer start his amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. It is my understanding the Senator from Missouri wishes 5 minutes of the time in support of the McCain amendment.