Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I hope every Senator will vote for the amendment. I don't know any Senator who will vote against providing money to continue the search for Osama bin Laden. If I could disclose to you how much money is in this bill otherwise for a classified program, you would understand why this is a superfluous amendment. Understanding that nobody would want to vote against something like this, if this amendment becomes law, the freedom of information provisions would mean all of the activities would be available to anybody. This is not a classified $200 million to search for bin Laden. Again, it is irresponsible, but I would not vote against the amendment. I don't want to be known for voting against additional money to search for Osama bin Laden. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the Senator's amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I object. What is this? I thought we would dispose of the Menendez amendment first. Are there further speakers on the amendment? I would like to see the amendment. Will the Senator agree to a time agreement for a vote on the Menendez amendment? Will Senator Menendez agree to vote at a time certain on his amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. I would be happy to yield.

Mr. STEVENS. Very well. I hope we can get a time agreement for a vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President I ask unanimous consent that the Menendez amendment be put before the Senate again. I ask unanimous consent that it be the pending business.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I want to be as courteous as possible. It is not a very good word to use, but it seems to me the Menendez amendment places a gag order on the Department of Defense. It says that the gains made by our military people and by the Iraqi forces cannot be reported to our people or to the Iraqi people. It is a strange amendment, if you want to look at it, because it just says no funds may be expended for a public relations program to monitor news media in the United States and Middle East and create a database of news stories to promote a positive image of the war in Iraq. The Department's press office normally reports day-to-day activities and is doing just that--getting the stories around and making sure we at home and the people in Iraq and our people in uniform know the positive side of this engagement. I can tell you that at home we see the negative side all the time. It seems to me that answering questions with positive stories would be considered a PR effort. I do think it would have unintended consequences potentially impacting intelligence activities. I don't want to go into that too much, but the world knows about this information and the activities that have been going on for years. They have been going on for years. We should not allow the Senate to take the position that prevents the Department of Defense to report on favorable news and to create a program to do that. To me, it constitutes a gag order. I move to table the Senator's amendment. Amendment No. 4897 It is my intention now to ask the Senate to make the Schumer amendment the pending business. I ask unanimous consent that is the pending business.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, funding in this current year for activities in Afghanistan is $116.5 million. That money is being used to build border crossing points and police headquarters and to train and equip Afghan national police and other security forces in drug detection and eradication. A significant portion of those funds is still being programmed to be spent. There was a delay in getting that bill ready for expenditures for 2006 so there will be some carryover into 2007. We don't know how much that will be. The President asked for an additional $18.5 million for this year in this bill, and the committee supported that request. In addition to the funding in the Department of Defense appropriations bill before the Senate, the fiscal year 2007 Foreign Operations bill as reported to the Senate has $297 million for counterdrug activities in Afghanistan. The Commerce Science Justice bill includes $30.5 million for counterdrug activities in Afghanistan. This means in the current bills pending for approval, there is already $346 million for counterdrug activities in Afghanistan for 2007, notwithstanding the carryover money that is available. This means there is approximately $400 million that will be available in 2007 already and the Senator wants to add $700 million to that. That is an enormous amount of money. The British Government actually takes the lead in counterdrug operations in Afghanistan. As we all know, NATO is in there now. The United States should not offer to take the entire financial burden of this operation. It is a multinational effort. The Senator is right in his premise that poppy production sales are a funding mechanism for terrorist activities in Afghanistan. We do support poppy eradication efforts. However, we do not need to throw money at that problem. Four-tenths of a billion dollars ought to be enough for one year. We have reviewed the counterdrug budgets for DOD and other agencies, and we believe they are sufficiently budgeted not only for this current year but for the 2007 year. If the Department needs additional funds for 2007, we will have a supplemental in the spring. I would be the first to support it if the Department came in and said they needed more money. However, in view of the fact that we are working with NATO and working with the British Government, which has the lead on this program, I do not think doubling the amount available for this program is prudent. As a matter of fact, obviously from the experience in the current year, it would not be spent. That should not be voted upon by the Senate. I move to table Senator Schumer's amendment. I ask unanimous consent at 2 p.m. today the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the pending Menendez amendment, to be followed by a vote in relation to the Schumer amendment--I have always made the motions to table--that no second-degree amendments be in order prior to the vote, and there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to the vote on each amendment. I believe this has been cleared.

Mr. STEVENS. I don't wish to seem preemptory about this. I thank the Senators for their courtesy in bringing the amendments to the Senate. Can we make the second vote 10 minutes? I ask unanimous consent the vote on the Menendez amendment be a 15-minute vote and the Schumer amendment be a 10-minute vote.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent it be in order for me to ask for the yeas and nays on both amendments at the same time.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I was off the floor, but I was informed of the amendment offered by Senators Reed and Bayh. It is my understanding--the Senator from Hawaii concurs--we would be willing to accept this amendment. Does the Senator want a vote on it? We would be happy to take it by voice vote if he is ready to let us accept it.

Mr. STEVENS. Very well. I have no objection. This money, if nothing else, would be available to replace some of the Predators that have been lost. So we are willing to accept it, but if the Senator wishes a vote, I would ask that--Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on his amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Senator's amendment will prohibit spending monies for a program to create a database for news stories that are positive. I do think there is an exception to that which says it does not apply to collecting and analyzing information in the news media. So they can spend money to analyze all the negative aspects of our news media, but they cannot spend money to collect the data that is necessary to provide the positive side of what our people are doing and what the Iraqi people are doing in Iraq in this terrible situation over there. I really think it is a gag order. I don't see why they should be able to collect all the news stories, but they can't collect the information that is positive and make it available. So I move to table this, and I believe we will have a vote here fairly soon. The 2 minutes equally divided will be after this amendment; is that correct?

Mr. STEVENS. The yeas and nays have been ordered?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, NATO is in charge, now, of Afghanistan. The British Government is the lead agency in counterdrug operations. Notwithstanding that, in this budget we have $346 million for counterdrug efforts in Afghanistan. In addition to that, there is a carryover available from 2007. It will be almost $400 million already, and the Senator wishes to add another $700 million. It is not our function. The lead agency is NATO, now, in Afghanistan. I have made a motion to table. I urge the Senators to vote to table this amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the adoption of the Boxer amendment at this time with a voice vote.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the pending business is the Boxer amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Kennedy amendment No. 4857 be agreed to, with the motion to reconsider laid upon the table. I further ask unanimous consent that the Rockefeller amendment No. 4906 be withdrawn, and further, that the managers' amendment, which has been cleared by both managers, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. I ask unanimous consent that following this action, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Reed amendment No. 4911, with no second-degree amendment in order to the amendment prior to the vote and that there be 4 minutes for debate equally divided prior to that vote. I ask unanimous consent that following disposition of that amendment, the only other amendment in order to the bill be the Bingaman-Domenici-Burns-Dorgan amendment relating to firefighters, and that following disposition of that amendment, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on final passage of the bill, the Senate then insist on its amendments, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, that now means the floor is open for consideration of the Bingaman-Domenici-Burns-Dorgan amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, it is my understanding this is a modified amendment, modified from the original form. I ask the Senator from New Mexico if that is the case.