Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. The amendments have been submitted. It is my understanding that one of them was cleared on both sides. That may have changed within the last 30 minutes. The second one will be modified, as requested by the Secretary of Defense and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We have modified that at their request to make the portion dealing with reduction in the U.S. contribution to NATO to be a sense of the Senate rather than mandatory. But there is a mandatory cap in that amendment. And it will be controversial, I do admit. Why do I need unanimous consent? I will wait my turn.

Mr. STEVENS. Could I respond to that?

Mr. STEVENS. Well, 30 minutes. I am willing to have a time agreement on the amendments. It was my understanding, Mr. President, one of them would be accepted. That may have changed in the last few minutes. But in any event, I do not need more than 20 minutes myself to explain my two amendments.

Mr. STEVENS. That is correct.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask now that amendment 2066 be placed before the Senate. It will be accepted, and I ask that 2066 be voted upon.

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

Mr. STEVENS. We just discussed this, and both sides have agreed to it.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry. It is my understanding amendment 2065 is temporarily set aside until a later time.

Mr. STEVENS. I am glad you don't have a headache tonight, dear. Let me ask that this amendment 2065 be set aside temporarily until the Senator from Delaware concurs in my revision.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I submit a report of the committee of conference on the bill, H.R. 3579, making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the House passed earlier today the emergency supplemental appropriations conference report by substantial margin. I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to my friend and colleague from West Virginia, Sen. Byrd, for his assistance and cooperation in presenting this bill to the Senate. Our Committee worked in a bipartisan manner through every step of the process of moving this emergency supplemental bill through the Senate, and back from conference. I strongly urge all my colleagues to vote in support of this bill, which addresses urgent funding requirements for the Department of Defense, and many agencies responsible for dealing with natural disasters. The conference report provides $2.8 billion for emergency defense accounts. These amounts are not offset by any reductions to defense or non- defense appropriations--they are treated genuinely as emergencies. We recommend these appropriations based on the expenditures already made by the military, and recognizing the devastating effect of failing to provide these funds now. The Congress will have the opportunity to consider the proposed funding for missions in Bosnia and southwest Asia in the fiscal year 1999 defense authorization and appropriations bills. This supplemental funding does not prejudge the decisions we face later this year. The conference report provides $2.6 billion in nondefense emergency appropriations, for FEMA, the Departments of Agriculture, Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers. These appropriations are offset by budget authority reductions to contract authority available for HUD sec. 8 housing and the airport improvement program. Based on extensive discussions with the administration, these amounts are not required to execute these programs during the remainder of fiscal year 1998. We do face the need to monitor these accounts closely for fiscal year 1999, and some additional funds may be needed for the HUD section 8 housing. Mr. President, I very much regret that the conference report does not include the funding passed by the Senate for the International Monetary Fund. The House wishes to take up IMF funding in a separate vehicle, which has been reported by the House Appropriations Committee. Speaker Gingrich has committed to holding a vote on the IMF bill in the House. I hope that vote comes later this month, so that we can assure the markets in Asia, and the global financial community, of our Nation's commitment to maintaining economic stability and growth. Mr. President, before closing, I want to note the exceptional work undertaken by the staff of the House and Senate appropriations committees. Our conference met for the first time at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and completed most of its work Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. By 9:30 a.m. today, the official papers were prepared and ready to file--a remarkable achievement. I want to especially note the contributions of Jay Kimmitt, Jack Conway and Richard Larson of the Senate committee staff, and John Mikal, Dennis Kedzior and Chuck Parkinson of the House committee staff. Mr. President, we need to pass this bill tonight, and I believe we have returned to the Senate a good bill, that merits the Senate's support.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I urge adoption of the conference report. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. STEVENS. Could we have a time on that?

Mr. STEVENS. I yield 1 minute to the Senator from Pennsylvania.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, there are provisions in this bill that extend regulations. None of the provisions overrule regulations. There is an additional period of time in three instances for regulations to be reviewed by Congress. We did not meet at night; only during the day. But this is a very serious matter to get this bill passed to assure that men and women of the armed services get the support they need to continue their training and also to meet the disasters that have occurred to this country during this year since we passed a 1998 appropriations bill. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I yield.

Mr. STEVENS. I state to my friend from Delaware that I am preparing to change the amendment so that it reads, ``requirement of payments of funds specifically authorized, no cost incurred by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, other than the common funded budgets of NATO in connection with the admission of membership participation of any country not a member of NATO as of March 1, 1998, may be paid out of funds from any agency,'' et cetera. We do not seek to be redundant with the second amendment, but 2065 addresses the voyeurism of our people in Europe to go and do it alone in interoperability, in communications, in the whole series of things that they wish to have these new members of NATO have, without regard to common funded budgets, and to go obligate the United States, and then we get the bills brought to us in Appropriations without any authorization, without any review of Foreign Relations Committee, of Armed Services Committee, and suddenly the Appropriations Committee is faced with making decisions which we shouldn't have to make. I am told all the time these areas should be authorized by law, and here is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee saying why don't we have a requirement they be authorized by law. It is sort of like a role reversal here of the husband saying, ``I've got a headache tonight, dear.'' It is not quite the normal thing to be hearing from an authorizer that this is wrong for us to say. Make them get the authorization by law before they present the Appropriations Committee a bill to be paid.

Mr. STEVENS. I have no intention, if the Senator will yield further, to cover the issues--he is talking about the one that puts a cap on the 1998 expenditures--unless authorized by law. The other one is intended to cover those costs where I believe the United States is going to venture out and say we will do this. We have had that experience with the expenditures before. I think we will have it again in these new areas, and these new areas are the ones that need the most in terms of expenditure. Very frankly, we cannot afford to go it alone anymore. We want to see a requirement that Congress review the expenditures of funds in these areas.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am more than happy to put into the second amendment, which is 2065, the phrase, ``other than common funded budgets of NATO.''

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. STEVENS. That is correct.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Mr. BIDEN addressed the Chair.

Mr. STEVENS

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