Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, 2 minutes before each vote. Senator Coburn and I each have 1 minute.

Mr. STEVENS. The committee has already cut $85 million from travel funds for the Department. This would say that for programs related to staff and travel costs and conference programs or other conference matters, the total amount available to the whole Department--over a million people in over 120 countries in the world--will be limited to $70 million. We are unable to run the Department at $70 million a year. So I proposed and made a motion to table the amendment.

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, there are two more amendments. These are 10-minute votes, at the request of the leadership. I hope we can keep to that time. We are ready to take all three amendments to conference. Amendment No. 4787

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, we are ready to take the amendment to conference on a voice vote. Is the Senator willing to accept a voice vote?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Improper Payments Act is not within the jurisdiction of our committee. We agreed that it should be reported. I believe the committee of jurisdiction ought to have hearings to determine whether there is improper compliance. We are pleased to accept it. If a rollcall vote is required, let us go ahead.

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. Amendments Nos. 4755, 4808, 4847, and 4828, en bloc

Mr. STEVENS. I have a managers' package: amendment 4755, for Senator Santorum, regarding maritime inspection; amendment 4808, for Senator Bill Nelson, regarding UAV virtual training; amendment 4847, for Senator Reed of Rhode Island, regarding recoil mitigation; amendment 4828, for Senator Chambliss, regarding linguists. I send this package to the desk. I ask unanimous consent it be considered en bloc, agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. STEVENS. We are continuing to work on the agreements. I hope Members come forward to help work them out. We still have the opportunity to finish this bill before we leave this week. There are some 34 amendments still pending we are working on. I do believe a lot of them can be worked out, as these last four were.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have conferred with our cochairman, Senator Inouye. This is our intention. We do appreciate the Senator's desire to work cooperatively on this issue, and we intend to follow through and see to it we get the information he seeks and have further dialog on it when we do.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this amendment has been modified after consultation with the distinguished chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. I believe it has the support of the Senator from Hawaii. I suggest the absence of a quorum, Mr. President.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as I indicated, we have discussed this amendment with the Senator from Kansas, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. We had a little bit of trouble reading the writing on the modified amendment. I believe we have that agreed to now.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for adoption of this amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator from Iowa wishes to be recognized.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I certainly understand the position of the Senator from Florida. Reluctantly, I raise a point of order that this is legislation on the appropriations bill, and so it is in violation of rule XVI. There is also a budget point of order, but I believe that is sufficient.

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

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes equally divided on the Coburn amendment No. 4848, followed by a vote on the amendment with no second-degree amendments in order.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, for the information of Senators, after the vote on this amendment, Senator Sessions will offer his amendment which deals with the conventional Trident modification, a very serious amendment. I ask unanimous consent that the vote on this amendment be limited to 10 minutes. I say to the Senate this amendment is on the Defense authorization bill. I urged the Senator to accept a voice vote, but the Senator requested a vote. So I request a vote now.

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

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. Amendments Nos. 4774, 4846, as Modified, 4849, 4851, 4761, as Modified, 4840, as Modified, 4801, as Modified, 4864, as Modified, 4841, 4860, 4797, and 4855, En Bloc

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have a managers' package that I would like to describe: Amendment No. 4774 for Senator Sessions regarding blast protection; amendment No. 4846, as modified, for Senator Pryor regarding combat support hospitals; amendment No. 4849 for Senator Bond regarding intelligence personnel; amendment No. 4851 for Senator Biden regarding military bases in Iraq; amendment No. 4761, as modified, for Senator Lott regarding UAVs; amendment No. 4840, as modified, for Senator Levin regarding vehicle technology; amendment No. 4801, as modified, for Senator DeWine regarding shipbuilding; amendment No. 4864, as modified, for Senator Nelson of Florida regarding test and evaluation; amendment No. 4841 for Senator Allen regarding OEA study; amendment No. 4860 for Senator Mikulski regarding an intelligence project; amendment No. 4797 for Senator Voinovich regarding portable batteries; and amendment No. 4855 for Senator Dodd regarding Navy UWVs. All of these have been approved on both sides, and they have the clearance of all concerned, to the best of my knowledge. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that these amendments which I send to the desk be considered en bloc and that they be adopted en bloc and that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a second? Would the Senator agree to a time limit so that we would vote at 6:15 on the amendment?