Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from West Virginia to make a short statement.

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Massachusetts for his kind comments. I want to echo what he has said. Senator Jeffords has been a great leader in this area. As a matter of fact, he sort of encouraged me to get involved. I am happy to have been able to get involved. I told him it should have been the Jeffords-Stevens amendment. In his typical Vermont reticence--he is a Yankee as far as I am concerned--he said, no, that I should put in the amendment and be the sponsor. I am proud to do that. But the real voice of reason in this amendment has been Senator Jeffords. I am pleased to yield to him, and I thank him for his cooperation.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, our Nation has lost one of the great and modest men of our time, David Mahoney. A man who will receive posthumously one of the highest awards the medical community can bestow on a layman--the first Mary Woodard Lasker leadership in Philanthropy Award for ``visionary leadership'' from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation on May 9. David, through his generosity, with both his time and his money, greatly expanded knowledge about the human brain, neuroscience, and the connection between body and brain which is helping people lead longer, healthier lives. He led us through the ``Decade of the Brain'' and used his extraordinary marketing and public relations skills to foster awareness in Congress and our people of the importance of medical research and brain research in particular. From his humble beginnings in the Bronx, my friend served as an infantry captain in World War II and then attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania while working full time in the mail room of an advertising agency. David's talents did not stay hidden for long; by the time he was 25, he had become the youngest vice president of an advertising agency on Madison Avenue. He went on from there to form his own agency in New York and then began his climb through the corporate world, first running the good Human Ice Cream Co., and rising to chief operating officer of Norton Simon's various corporate holdings. It was during his stewardship of Norton Simon, Inc., that I first met David. My friend Norton Simon retired as president and CEO of Norton Simon, Inc., in 1969 and selected David Mahoney to be the new leader of his company. He chose David because ``David was inspirational, tough, visionary, and dangerous.'' David expanded the company and helped Norton Simon build the world famous Norton Simon art collection, the greatest personal art collection west of the Mississippi. David wrote a book about his own life in business called Confessions of a Street Smart Manager. David was a wonderful combination of street smarts garnered from growing up in the Bronx, an education from the Wharton School, and the Irish charm that could convince people to share a dream and work to realize its value. Just 2 years ago David authored another book, along with Dr. Richard Restak, ``The Longevity Strategy--How To Live To 100 Using the Brain- Body Connection.'' David once said that ``God gave you intelligence so you could build your intuition about what lies ahead.'' David Mahoney's second career and perhaps most lasting legacy was with the Charles A. Dana Foundation where he served as its chairman since 1977. After leaving Norton Simon, he focused the attention of the Dana Foundation on neuroscience research and helped the world's top neuroscientists and researchers explain the importance of their research to the general public and to funding agencies in the executive branch and the Congress. In 1992, he and Nobel Laureate Dr. James Watson launched the ``Decade of the Brain'' with 10 specific objectives they believed might be achievable by the end of the decade. That effort focused attention better than ever before on understanding the basis for diseases of the brain like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and generated an unprecedented level of support for neuroscience research. David has become widely and justifiably credited as our foremost lay advocate for neuroscience. While David had recently expressed some frustration to me that those 10 ambitious goals had not yet been fully achieved, through his efforts remarkable progress has been made in understanding the human brain and the diseases that afflict it. I know those goals will ultimately be met, and David Mahoney will be forever remembered as the driving force behind this effort. My friend David Mahoney and his wife Hillie have been close friends of ours for many years. David and I celebrated our 75th birthdays, which fell in the same year, and shared many memorable times. Catherine and I will miss his wit and his wisdom and his leadership, but I will continue to enjoy personal memories of our friendship and to be grateful for his legacy of exploration into the workings of the human brain. Mr. President, the May 2, 2000, New York Times contained an excellent obituary of David Mahoney, and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library, it is my great pleasure to congratulate the Library of Congress, and Dr. Billington, the Librarian on the occasion of the Library's Bicentennial. The Library is America's oldest Federal cultural institution, and was established on April 24, 1800. It houses the largest and most extensive collection in history, and is one of the nation's assets. Congress is very proud of the Library, and the role it plays in ensuring free public access to information. As we move forward into the new millennium, efforts are underway to enhance public access to the collections of the Library through the National Digital Library. The Library has planned a wonderful day of activities on Monday, April 24, in honor of Thomas Jefferson's birthday. It was Thomas Jefferson's collection of 6,487 books that first began the Library's collections. The events include the issuance of the first bimetallic commemorative coin, and a postage stamp featuring a color photograph of the interior dome and several of the arched windows in the Jefferson building. At noon there will be a birthday party and concert outside on the East Lawn of the Capitol. I ask unanimous consent that the following message from the Librarian of Congress, and press announcements of the exhibits and events associated with the Bicentennial of the Library be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

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

Mr. STEVENS. I urge adoption of the amendment.

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

Mr. STEVENS. This one just came back from lunch.

Mr. STEVENS. Reserving the right to object, on this vote people are out to lunch. I don't mind saying the next one will be 7\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay before the Senate amendment No. 3003.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this amendment establishes a priority of funding for early education of children. It has broad bipartisan support. It does not make it mandatory. We now know the stimulus children get at a very early age contributes to the development of their brain and increases the ability of children who receive that stimulus to learn readily. This creates a program for stimulation and sets aside funds for grants to the States. It is not a mandatory program. It will be put in the discretionary level. I do hope the Senate will accept this. My understanding is the managers will accept it.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, using my time, I would be honored if the Senator would let me be a cosponsor of the amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. How much time do we have remaining?

Mr. STEVENS. What is the parliamentary situation?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, because of time circumstances, I ask unanimous consent that this amendment be temporarily laid aside so that Senator Robb may offer his amendment. I understand arrangement has already been made on that and that we will proceed. It is my understanding that my amendment would be pending when the Robb amendment has been disposed of. Is that correct?

Mr. STEVENS. Point of order: I call for regular order. The regular order is my amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I regret to do this, but my colleague from Delaware is wrong. I was there. President Eisenhower set aside an arctic wildlife range that was open to oil and gas exploration. It was not until 1980 that it was designated an area subject to oil and gas exploration. An environmental impact statement was provided by the Congress. It was not set aside by President Eisenhower or anybody as wilderness yet.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2965

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am still disturbed, if the Senator will yield about the procedure.

Mr. STEVENS. I appreciate that.

Mr. STEVENS. I will retain 4 minutes of the time and yield the rest of the time to the Senator from New Mexico. He will yield time to my friend from Virginia, as well as the Senator from Texas.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I send a modification to the desk.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that be the procedure.

Mr. STEVENS. Yes.