Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. This is the Byrd relevant amendment that has been cleared on both sides, dealing with a provision of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. It is approved on both sides.

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

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if the Senator will just defer for a moment, I have an amendment that has been cleared on both sides. It has just been cleared as part of the managers' package. I ask unanimous consent it be in order to send it to the desk and have its immediate consideration at this time.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this amendment of the Senator from New York requires a report on an area that is being vacated by the Coast Guard in New York. The report is coming to relevant committees of Congress. I urge its immediate adoption.

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

Mr. STEVENS. I thank the Senator. Amendment No. 2120

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS. We have no objection as to its immediate consideration. We are willing to accept it.

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator will have 10 minutes, the Senator from Kansas would have 2 minutes, the Senator from Florida would have 2 minutes, and I would have 1 minute to close, and that would make it 11:50.

Mr. STEVENS. Then I ask unanimous consent the vote take place at 11:50 and the Senator have the remainder of his 5 minutes.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I understand what the Chair is saying, but I do remember the Senator did withhold his comments. We did agree before there was a vote on IMF he would have 10 minutes. How much time has the Senator used?

Mr. STEVENS. We divide the time between the majority and minority. I have one person who wishes to speak in opposition and one to speak for the amendment. If the Senator wants any time he will have to get it from your time.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I state to the Senators there is 10 minutes available on their side. As far as I know they can allocate it as they wish.

Mr. STEVENS. I yield on the majority side 2 minutes to the Senator from Nebraska.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, there are now 20 minutes left for further debate. I ask unanimous consent that time be divided between the majority and minority. Does the Senator wish any time?

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I announce that Senator Graham will not offer his amendment. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. STEVENS. There is some question as to amendment 2100, Madam President. It is the IMF amendment. It is Senator McConnell's amendment, which now has been amended by two amendments which were adopted this morning. No further amendments are in order. But I was informed that some Senators do wish to speak on the McConnell amendment before it is voted on. And it will be voted on at 11:45. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator withhold that request?

Mr. STEVENS. I stand corrected by the staff director. It is the total spending that is over the caps. The defense right now is under the cap, although before the year is over it will be right up to the cap.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, as the Senator from Arkansas is aware, the bill now before the Senate does contain emergency appropriations for both defense and domestic emergencies. As such, those appropriations have not been offset. I agree with the Senator's understanding that when offsets are required, the defense accounts must pay for defense appropriations, the nondefense must pay for nondefense appropriations. And that would comply with the so-called walls that exist between defense and nondefense spending. As I understand the situation, should we bring back a bill that has defense appropriations which are offset with reductions in nondefense accounts, the Budget Act would treat the defense funds to be over the cap that exists for 1998 and would not allow the treatment of the nondefense offsets to reduce that amount down below the cap. I call attention to the fact that our committee is the only committee that is subject to the point of order under the Budget Act. The House can propose whatever it wants to propose, but should we bring such a bill back to the Senate floor, it would be subject to a point of order, and it would certainly not be my intention to do that. Furthermore, as the Senator knows, it has already been indicated that the budget, the account for defense, has already been rescored and is $22 million over the cap now, which we will have to deal with later. But this bill is not over the cap. The defense account is over the cap before this bill. And we have a real problem with dealing with any funds that might attempt to be appropriated for defense on a nonemergency basis because they would automatically be subject to a point of order. So the Senator's amendment No. 2134, as I stated to him yesterday, in this Senator's opinion--and I checked with Senator Byrd yesterday--we believe that the Senator's amendment states the interpretation of the Budget Act as it applies to the Senate now and therefore is unnecessary.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I wish to make a statement to the Senate. We have a finite list now, and we are going to go through it today until we finish. I think it is very advisable for Senators to come over here and raise their amendments or work them out with us. It will be a lot better than doing it tonight at midnight. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. STEVENS. I am authorized to state to the Chair that Senator Hollings has agreed to remove his proposed amendment from the list. I do not think it is at the desk. I state that it has been removed from the list. I suggest the absence of a quorum.