Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am not opposed to the concept of a comprehensive test ban treaty. If we are able to maintain our own nuclear deterrent and the umbrella of nuclear protection we have extended to our allies, a ban on testing under a fair treaty could be very much in our national interest. Clearly we do not want other countries to develop sophisticated nuclear weapons, the sort that are light enough to go on ICBMs that could reach our country. A verifiable test ban would seriously hinder other countries from developing those sophisticated weapons. However, today we cannot indefinitely maintain with certainty the safety and reliability of our nuclear weapons. So while proponents of the treaty make valid points about the benefits that may be obtained with regard to nonproliferation, we are not yet prepared to assume the risks that would be imposed upon us if we give up the ability to test our own weapons. As Paul Robinson, the Director of the Sandia National Laboratory, put it: Confidence in the reliability and safety of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile will eventually decline without nuclear testing * * * Whether the risk that will arise from this decline in confidence will be acceptable or not is a policy issue that must be considered in light of the benefits expected to be realized by a universal test ban. I have considered the risks on both sides of the this issue, and I come to the conclusion that a test ban should remain our goal, but we are not yet in a position to enter into an indefinite ban. We hope over time to reduce the risks of maintaining our stockpile without testing using a science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program. But that program is not yet ready. Our lab Directors believe it will take another 5 to 15 years to prove the program can be a success. As John Browne, the Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has said, he is ``concerned about several trends that are reducing [his] confidence. These include annual shortfalls in the planned budgets, increased numbers of findings in the stockpile that need resolution, an augmented workload beyond our original plans, and unfunded mandates that cut into the program.'' I hope the Senate can delay a vote on this treaty. It is in our national interest to ask others to abide by a ban as we are doing, and our ability to make that request will be reduced if we vote against ratification today. However, on whole, the risk to our national security is greater if we prematurely agree to an indefinite ban. For that reason, I hope we will put off the vote on this treaty, but, if we have to vote, in the interest of national security, I will vote against the ratification of this treaty at this time. I thank the Senator for the time.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS. I share the concerns that the Senators are raising and join in their support of vocational education. I want to assure them that I am committed to work with the senior Senator from Pennsylvania to try to find additional funds for vocational education during Conference. I also want to encourage the Administration to request an increase in funds for vocational education in its FY2001 budget submission.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I share the sentiments expressed by my colleague from South Dakota. I have witnessed first hand the devastating effects of FAS and FAE in Alaska, which has the highest rate of FAS/FAE in the nation. Our Alaska Native people are especially at risk for these entirely preventable conditions. It has been estimated that the lifetime cost of treating and providing necessary services for a single victim of FAS/FAE is in excess of $1 million. I am pleased that the bill before us contains language encouraging the Department of Health and Human Services to provide necessary resources to fund comprehensive FAS/FAE prevention, education and treatment programs for Alaska and for a four-state region including South Dakota and will work with the conference committee to ensure that funds are available for these programs. I also support language in the report mandating development of a nationwide, comprehensive FAS/FAE research, prevention and treatment plan. I know that federal support can make a difference. In Alaska, federal assistance has allowed two residential treatment programs for pregnant women and their children--the Dena A Coy program in Anchorage and the Lifegivers program in Fairbanks--to make a positive difference in the lives of numerous Alaska Native women and their children. I look forward to working with my colleague to find real solutions to the problems of alcohol-related birth defects.

Mr. STEVENS. I have worked closely on this with both the Sub- Committee Chairman and Senator from Massachusetts, and this is certainly my understanding as well.

Mr. STEVENS. I could not agree more with my friend from Massachusetts and I have been pleased to work with him on this vitally important issue. Research has shown that children exposed to negative brain stimulation in the form of physical abuse or community violence causes the brain to be miswired making it difficult for the child to learn, develop healthy family relationships, reduce peer pressure, and to control violent impulses. Early intervention and treatment is much more successful than adult rehabilitation. This certainly points to a need for more early intervention and treatment programs for children and adolescents who suffer from violence related trauma. It also highlights the need for more professional training in the best practices for treating this psychological trauma.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, for 28 years Albert Engelken was the man behind the scenes at the American Public Transit Association (APTA), a Washington-based member organization advancing and representing the interests of public transit systems and industry suppliers across North America. He was the creative force for the vast majority of APTA's ``People Programs,'' including the innovative International Bus Roadeo, where drivers and mechanics compete in events that test their skills at operating and maintaining public transit vehicles. His efforts at this endeavor also spawned the equally competitive International Rail Roadeo. Albert Engelken was the originator of ``Transit Appreciation Day,'' which later became ``Try Transit Week,'' an annual fixture that encourages people to ride public transit, and salutes those who make the systems work. His creativity also extended to judging and selecting those systems that demonstrated excellence in transit advertising, a program now known as ``AdWheel,'' an important event held at the Association's annual meeting. Albert Engelken's education programs developed transit information modules for thousands of grade school teachers throughout the United States. And, until his retirement in 1997, Albert Engelken produced the American Public Transit Association's Grant Awards Ceremony, an event that honors transit systems, individuals, and achievements in the public transit industry. That ceremony continues today, and while lacking the unique skills Albert brought to directing the national and local arrangements that publicized the winners, the ceremony this year will honor him by electing him to the prestigious APTA Hall of Fame. He was also the long-time editor of the Association's ``Passenger Transport'' weekly newspaper, and directed the industry's successful communications strategy in the important formative years of the federal transit program. Over his entire career with APTA, Albert's behind-the- scenes work--from speechwriting to the orchestration of presentations and the stage management of events--were critical to the success of APTA's member programs and the smooth functioning of APTA's many conferences. Albert is known by his family, colleagues, and peers as a person who would always go the extra mile to help them out. No task was too small or too complicated to be turned away. He is a gentleman, trusted friend, and caring confidant. Yet he has never sought the spotlight not taken a bow over his work in public transit and APTA. Those are just some of the reasons to honor Albert Engelken, Mr. President. At work and in the community he has touched thousands of lives, and made life safer and easier for hundreds of thousands of transit users and providers across our nation. He is a also great family man. His wife Betsy, children Jane, Elizabeth and Richard and their spouses, and his five grandchildren can certainly attest to that. Mr. President, I join them and his colleagues in congratulating Albert Engelken for a job well done, and in applauding his induction into the American Public Transit Hall of Fame.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I, too, serve on more than one of the interested committees. On Commerce with the Leader, the Senator from Arizona, and the Senator from Washington, and on the Appropriations Committee with the Senator from New Mexico, the Senator from Alabama, and the Senator from Washington. No member's state relies on aviation more than does my state of Alaska. Yet, changing the budgetary treatment of the aviation accounts is, in my estimation, shortsighted and irresponsible. The FAA is to be commended, along with the airlines, for the level of safety they have contributed to achieving. However, the FAA is not known as the most efficient of agencies. Unfortunately, the FAA has had substantial problems on virtually every major, and minor, procurement and has been the subject of numerous audits and management reports that invariably call for increased accountability and oversight. Changing budgetary treatment cannot have other than a detrimental effect on the oversight efforts of the two committees of jurisdiction that I serve on. For that reason as well as the reasons mentioned by the Leader, the Senators from Alabama, New Mexico and New Jersey, I cannot support a change in budgetary treatment for the aviation accounts.

Mr. STEVENS

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

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 send this resolution to the desk.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I express my gratitude to the secretary for the minority for clearing this resolution so quickly, and I ask for its consideration.

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, pursuant to the consent agreement of Friday, October 1, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of judicial nominations.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I commend Senators Shelby and Lautenberg for this bill. It is really a monstrous bill, and they have come back with a very good compromise, a bill with which we can all live. The staff on this bill deserves a great deal of credit, too. To my right is Wally Burnett, staff director of the Transportation Subcommittee for the Senate. He handles the highway and aviation accounts. Wally tops at 205 pounds now, but we call him Little Wally in Fairbanks. I thank him and Joyce Rose, who handles the railroad and transit accounts. She spent a lot of time away from her young kids. Paul Doerrer handled the Coast Guard and NTSB accounts. He did a great job on his first bill. I also thank Peter Rogoff and Carole Geagley of the minority. They have worked very hard on this bill. As I said, it is an extremely good bill. I want to mention two items related to this bill. We do have a very difficult problem in Alaska on aviation safety. We are, after all, the largest State of the Union, one-fifth of the size of the United States. We use aircraft as other people use taxis or buses or trains. Over 80 percent of our inter-city traffic is by air. Seventy percent of our cities can be reached only by air. As a consequence, safety is one of our major concerns. This summer, Director Hall of the National Transportation Safety Board came to Alaska. He met there with representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and their National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH. There are resources provided in this bill to implement the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations and NIOSH's interagency initiative for aviation safety in my home State of Alaska. Senator Specter's bill, the Labor-HHS bill, provides the resources for NIOSH. They will have to be in the bill in order to put this plan into action. The NIOSH initiative for the air taxi industry in Alaska is modeled after the highly successful 1993 helicopter logging study which produced recommendations for changes that implemented safety plans without Federal regulation. NIOSH recommended crew rest and crew duty schedules along with changes in helicopter logging equipment, and that has all but eliminated helicopter logging fatalities since those recommendations were implemented. It is my hope that the NIOSH study on aviation can produce the same results--industry-led improvements to commuter aviation safety operations in Alaska--again, without the need for new Government- imposed mandates. The industry itself I believe will implement the NIOSH recommendations. As the Senate knows, my family has known fatalities from airplane crashes. And I have many friends who have been involved in such crashes. As one who was lucky enough to walk away, it is my hope that these studies will lead to greater safety considerations for all who fly in Alaska. I am grateful to the chairman and the ranking member, Chairman Shelby and Senator Lautenberg, for including in this bill these great, new safety initiatives. I am happy to report on another matter. This bill ensures completion of the pedestrian footbridge that will span the Chena River in Fairbanks. Fairbanks is Alaska's second largest city. The Alaska River Walk Centennial Bridge is the brainchild of Dr. William Ransom Wood. He is really the sage of Alaska. He is the executive director of Festival Fairbanks. This bridge is a small piece of an overall plan that Dr. Wood and the rest of the festival have developed to beautify Fairbanks and make it pedestrian friendly. At 95, Dr. Wood has been one of Alaska's major players. He served as the president of the University of Alaska, mayor of Fairbanks, and on so many community councils and State task forces that I cannot here name them all. In honor of Dr. Wood's contribution to Fairbanks, the State of Alaska, and our Nation as a naval commander in World War II, Senator Murkowski and I join together in introducing a Senate resolution which will urge Secretary Slater to designate this footbridge the William R. Wood Centennial Bridge.

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I would be happy to move to table them all and go to conference tonight.

Mr. STEVENS. I would like to leave this on my desk and ask Members to see if their amendments are within this category. If they wish to withdraw them, of course, I will not make a motion to table them. I think that would be the easiest way to dispose of them--to have Members withdraw their amendments. But I do intend to make a point of order under rule XVI against some 23 amendments before the evening is over.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, our staff tells me that we now have 62 amendments pending to this bill. That means we are going to be here an awful long time on this bill. I think I am going to request that the leader initiate a weekend session if we are going to get this bill passed. We had this bill out of committee with the hopes that we could get it passed today at the end of the fiscal year so we could once again get back to the habit of passing all the bills in the Senate that come from the Appropriations Committee by the end of the fiscal year at least. I hope Senators will tell us seriously how many of these amendments they intend to call up. There are 41 on that side of the aisle and 21 on this side of the aisle. Most of them are riders, and if you put them on the bill, we will drop them in conference anyway. Beyond that, those amendments that take money, you have to take money from some other Senator to get them passed. Let's not play games with this bill. It is the last bill. It is the biggest bill. This is the largest bill. Two-thirds of this bill is not even subject to our control. Two-thirds of the bill is entitlements. I hope we will start watching those entitlement bills and understand it is a very hard bill to put together. I congratulate the Senator from Pennsylvania and the Senator from Iowa for their handling of the bill. But I plead with you to tell us which of these amendments you really want to call up. I see my good friend from Nevada. He doesn't have on the right tie today. But he is a man who believes, as I do, that bills should move forward as rapidly as we can move them. I hope I have his help in urging Senators to tell us which of these amendments you really want considered by the Senate and give us a time agreement on them so we know how long it will take before we finish this bill. Does the Senator wish the floor?

Mr. STEVENS. The Dodd amendment would increase the amount under this child care development block grant. This bill is at its ceiling now. There is no additional money. I was told at first that it was written so it would apply to 2001. That is not the case. The amendment is not subject to amendment, as I understand it, under the procedure we are under right now and cannot be cured, and I make the point of order that it violates the Budget Act.

Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry. When I came in, I understood one of the sponsors had urged the adoption of this amendment; isn't that so?

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed just 30 seconds.

Mr. STEVENS. I wish to correct my statement. This does amend a section in this bill, which is advance funding, and it is, therefore, not subject to the point of order I would have made.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, on the desk of the clerk and on the desk of the two managers of the bill is a list of the amendments that, in the opinion of the Parliamentarian, violate rule XVI. I ask I be notified by the Chair at any time any one of those amendments is called up. I ask unanimous consent I be notified if any of those amendments on the list at the desk are called up.

Mr. STEVENS. I assure the distinguished whip that I will be here. But in the event I am not here, I have not asked that I be the one to have the exclusive right to make a point of order. I only asked I be notified if it is called up. In effect, I am serving notice if you call up that amendment, I will make the point of order.