Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. As I understand it, the Senator is saying he would like to have the Senate agree that the two leaders can bring a bill before the Senate for consideration that has not yet been passed by the House, and no Member would be able to object to consideration at that time.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I yield the 12 minutes on this side to the Senator from Alaska.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, what is the time circumstance on this bill?

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Murkowski be recognized for up to 20 minutes and that Senator Sessions be recognized for up to 15 minutes following the two rollcalls that will soon take place.

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

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

Mr. STEVENS. I am going to yield back the time I had so we can vote earlier. I agreed to yield time to two colleagues, to be used after the votes take place.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, in order that I do not lose the time allotted to me, 1 hour, I ask unanimous consent that the time of the quorum call not be charged against either side.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. STEVENS. As an opening statement on this continuing resolution that is now before the Senate, I want to state that this is a simple 6- day continuing resolution. This bill will fund ongoing Federal programs at the same rate and under the same conditions as currently applied to each agency of our Federal Government. The continuing resolution now pending before the Senate is in the same form as those passed in previous years to bridge Federal spending until the full year's appropriations acts are completed. This committee has made good progress this week in advancing work on the fiscal year 2001 bills. The energy and water bill was filed last night and should be taken up in the House later today. Work is nearly completed on the Interior appropriations bill, and the conference on the Transportation bill will meet later today. I want to assure all of our colleagues of our determination to complete the work of the Appropriations Committee within the next week, to meet the target adjournment date of Friday, October 6. Hopefully, this will be the only CR needed for the remainder of the consideration of the appropriations bills for the fiscal year 2001. A second continuing resolution may, however, be needed to ensure the President has the required period that the Constitution gives him to review the bills that are passed by the House and Senate as conference reports once they are presented to the President. Mr. President, we are in a difficult situation this year because we are adjourning this evening and will not be here through the full period of September. We will miss 2 days of the time we would otherwise have to complete our work. Therefore, it is necessary that the Senate approve this continuing resolution. I urge the Senate to do so and we will strive to complete our work within the next week. Mr. President, I reserve the remainder of my time. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, having been a Senator who served in the minority, in the majority, and then in the minority, and again in the majority, I understand the discussion that has taken place here today full well. I have been a member of the Appropriations Committee for many years--not nearly as long as the Senator from West Virginia but for a long enough time to know that the appropriations process has to fit into the calendar as adjusted by the leadership. We have done our best to do that this year. It does inconvenience many Senators whenever the appropriations process is shortened. I believe in full and long deliberation on appropriations bills. Mainly, I believe in bringing to the floor bills that have such uniform support on both sides of the aisle that there really isn't much to debate. I think if the Members of the Senate will go back and look at the Defense Appropriations Committee bills since I became chairman, or when Senator Inouye became chairman, we have followed that principle. Unfortunately, issues develop that are not bipartisan on many bills and they lead to long delays. In addition, the closer we get to an election period, the longer people want to talk or offer amendments that have been voted on again and again and again. We have had a process here of trying to accommodate the time that has been consumed on major issues, such as the Patients' Bill of Rights and the PNTR resolution dealing with China, which took a considerable time out of our legislative process. We find ourselves sometimes on Thursday with cloture motions that have to be voted on the following Monday, and then we make it Tuesday and we lose a weekend. We have adjusted to the demands of many Senators. I believe the Senator from West Virginia would agree that we have tried very hard in the Appropriations Committee to get our work done. Most of our bills were out of committee before we left for the recess in July. As a matter of fact, we had our two major bills, from the point of view of Defense--military construction and the Department of Defense appropriations bill--approved in really record time.

Mr. STEVENS. Yes.

Mr. STEVENS. I thank the Senator. I wasn't inferring that I received any comments or concern on my activity or the committee's, per se. I believe the process of the Senate, however, is one that involves the leadership adjusting to the demands of the Senate and to the demands of the times. A political year is an extremely difficult time for the leadership. Senator Byrd had leadership in several elections, and I had the same role as the Senator from Nevada--the whip--during one critical election period during which the leader decided to be a candidate and was gone. So I was acting leader during those days. I know the strains that exist. I want to say this. I believe that good will in the Senate now is needed to finish our job. The American people want us to do our job. Our job is to finish these 13 bills that finance the standing agencies of the Federal Government and to do so as quickly as possible. Because of the holiday that starts in a few minutes for some of our colleagues, we will not meet tomorrow, and we cannot meet Saturday. So we will come back in Monday, and that will give us another 7 days to work on our bills. The House has now passed the energy and water bill. We will file the Transportation and Interior bills--I understand those conferences are just about finished now--on Monday. We are working toward completion by the end of this continuing resolution. But let's not fool ourselves. If we got all these bills passed by next Friday, there would still have to be a continuing resolution because the President has a constitutional period within which to review the bills. He has 10 days to review them, not counting Sunday; so we are going to be in session yet for a considerable period of time--those of us involved in appropriations. I urge the Senate to remember that circumstances can change. We could be in the minority next year, God forbid, and the leadership on the other side could be trying to move bills. And if the minority taught us some lessons about how to delay, I think we are fast learners. We have to remember that what comes around will go around. It is comity that keeps this place moving and doing its job. I think all of us have studied under and learned from the distinguished Senator from West Virginia. He has certainly been a mentor to people on both sides of the aisle. He has taught us everything there is to know about the rules and how to use them. He has never abused them. I don't take the criticism that he has made other than to be of a process that we now find ourselves involved in. Our job is to work our way out of this dilemma. I hope we can. I hope we can do it in good grace and satisfy the needs of our President as he finishes his term. We have been working very hard at that since we came back from the August recess. In my judgment, from the conversations I have had with Jack Lew, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, there is a recognition of the tensions of the time and a willingness to try to accommodate the conflicting needs of the two major parties in an election year. That is what we are trying to do. I hope we will vote to adopt this continuing resolution and that Members will enjoy the holiday that is given to us by our Jewish colleagues. We will come back Monday ready to work. I fully intend to do everything I can to get every bill we have to the President by a week from tomorrow. That may not be possible, but that is our goal, and I expect to have the help of every Senator who wants to see us do our constitutional duty, and that is to pass these bills. Does the Senator wish any further time?

Mr. STEVENS. I am compelled to object because I want to state to the Senator that I took our time and allotted it after----

Mr. STEVENS. I don't know what the leader intends to do after that time. I have no indication that he wishes to object, but I don't know. In a very short time our Jewish friends must be home before sundown. I don't think there is going to be objection, but I am not at liberty to say.

Mr. STEVENS. I thought it was sundown tonight.

Mr. STEVENS. I don't see any reason to object.

Mr. STEVENS. I am compelled to say this: Under the practice we have been in so far, the Senator's side of the aisle has consumed 6 hours today, and we have consumed about 40 minutes, at the most. There is a process of sort of equalizing this time. I would be pleased to take into account anyone who has to leave town, but can we do that after this time? I promise the Senator I will help work this out.

Mr. STEVENS. I think the time has come for us to ask that this resolution be presented to the Senate for a vote. I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. STEVENS. I am pleased to yield to my friend 5 minutes of the time I have between now and 4:15.

Mr. STEVENS. I am pleased to yield to the Senator from New York 3 minutes.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I apologize.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, it is my privilege to yield to the distinguished Senator from Alabama, so he might introduce for the Record, comments concerning our visiting Chaplain.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I wish to make this statement for the leader. Today, the Senate will immediately begin consideration of H. J. Res 109, the continuing resolution. Under the previous agreement, there will be up to 7 hours for debate with a vote scheduled to occur after the use of the time or after the yielding back of the time. After the adoption of the continuing resolution, the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote in regard to the H-1B visa bill. Therefore, Senators can expect at least two votes during this afternoon's session of the Senate. As a reminder, tomorrow evening is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, the Senate will complete its business today and will not reconvene until Monday, October 2, in observance of this religious holiday.