Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. You didn't yield to me.

Mr. STEVENS. No, you wouldn't yield to me. I am not going to yield.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am going to yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Kansas and 10 minutes to the Senator from Hawaii. I want to start off by saying we are talking about UC-35 support aircraft under a pilot lease program. I do not know what this business is about someone saying last year--I do not know the straw man. Last year, I said we expected them to lease intercontinental aircraft of a large size, and they did. This time we are telling you we expect them to lease UC-35-type aircraft for operational and support utility purposes. There are nine planes authorized to be leased--three for the Army, three for the Navy, and three for the Marine Corps--to replace planes that are aging, many of them more than 30 years old, older than the pilots who are flying them. It is time we woke up to the fact that it costs so much to operate them, so much to maintain them that it is too expensive. We are trying to modernize without buying so many airplanes. We want to lease them. This is a pilot program, as was the one last year, to see what the cost will be as we have to replace this fleet. It is an aging fleet. As a matter of fact, we bought the first G-3 the first year I was the chairman of the subcommittee in 1981. Those planes are now over 20 years old, the 21s are over 30 years old, and we have to replace them. We have two pilot projects: One is to lease the larger ones and one is to lease these smaller ones. We are going to see what it costs us, what the maintenance costs are. I am getting tired of these GAO reports written by people who do not know what they are talking about, and we are going to do something about that, too. That same person who has been writing these reports has condemned every airplane we have bought in the last 5 years. It is time we stopped listening to the people who do not know what they are talking about. These are pilot programs to lease aircraft, instead of replacing them, to determine what the maintenance costs will be, what will the cost to the Government be if we pursue a leasing program, which most major businesses do now, rather than buying aircraft. I think it will be cost effective. But above all, this is a program to determine the cost, whether there is a choice for us, instead of buying replacements, to lease these aircraft. Until we put the pilot programs in place, we will not know. I think this is the rational thing to do. I have seen a lot of straw people, but you get on the www.gulfstream. com all you want and look at the beautiful airplanes. They are not what we are talking about. We have not bought any of those either. We have not bought planes such as those they will see advertised for commercial purposes. We bought them for military purposes. They are stripped down, and they are functional aircraft. The ones we leased last year are functional now. I invite my colleagues to take a ride on one and look at them. As a practical matter, right now, I yield to my friend--

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

Mr. STEVENS. I yield on your time.

Mr. STEVENS. If I am correct, that is a UC-35 that the Senator put up there, and that is what we are going to lease. That is exactly what this provision covers, the UC-35s.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I now send to the desk a series of amendments. Normally, it would be shown that I have offered them for these Senators. I ask unanimous consent they be shown to have been submitted by the Senators whose names have been shown as sponsors.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from West Virginia and I have just discussed an amendment he has filed. He is prepared to modify that amendment but wishes a little bit more time. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment that has been filed by Senator Byrd be subject to his modification notwithstanding the present order.

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 send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this amendment changes one figure in the bill. It is cleared by Senator Inouye. Mr. President, I urge the adoption of the amendment.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, 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 would have been pleased to have had the amendments read, but they are technical. They have been cleared by my good friend from Hawaii. I ask unanimous consent the amendments be adopted en bloc.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have four amendments at the desk; three are technical in nature and one is substantive. I ask unanimous consent they be presented at this time.

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

Mr. STEVENS. We have no problem with agreeing that the amendment not be subject to a second-degree amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if I may be recognized, I ask that it be scheduled for sometime tomorrow at a time to be agreed upon between the Senator from Hawaii and myself.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, 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 am filing an amendment for myself and Senators Roth and Biden. In their absence, I am submitting this amendment probably as an alternative to an amendment they have filed. I want it on the record just to avoid any problems in the future. I ask that it be filed.

Mr. STEVENS. I will agree to that.