Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, October 15, committees have from the hours of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in order to file legislative or executive reported items.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendment, as amended, be agreed to; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any statements relating to the bill appear at the appropriate place in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 142, S. 399.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask that the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 169, until 12 noon on Monday, October 20, 1997. Thereupon, the Senate, at 6:57 p.m., adjourned until Monday, October 20, 1997, at 12 noon.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 65, 281, 289, and 307. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed; that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table; that any statements relating to the nominations appear at the appropriate place in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 163, 273, and 319. I also ask unanimous consent that the Labor Committee be discharged from further consideration of the nomination of Katharine G. Abraham, to be Commissioner of Labor Statistics, and that the Senate proceed to its consideration. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed; that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table; that any statements relating to the nominations appear at the appropriate place in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate return to legislative session.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 136, submitted today by Senators Biden, Mack, Abraham and others.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I might state that all of those items were cleared by the Democratic side, as well as the Republican side of the Senate.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I announce that when the Senate adjourns this evening, it will reconvene under the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 169 at 12 noon on Monday, October 20. I ask unanimous consent that immediately following the prayer, the routine requests through the morning hour be granted; and that there then be a period for the transaction of morning business until the hour of 2:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 5 minutes each.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Senate will not be in session tomorrow, Friday, October 10. The Senate will reconvene on Monday, October 20, and at 2:30, the Senate will resume consideration of the ISTEA legislation. However, no votes will occur during the session of the Senate on Monday, October 20. Votes could occur as early as the morning of Tuesday, October 21. The continuing resolution expires on October 23. Therefore, the Senate will be considering available appropriations conference reports throughout the week the Senate returns from the Columbus Day recess.

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. The Senator is correct in his assessment of the continuing resolution. If funding and authority were restricted in fiscal year 1997, then that same funding and authority remains restricted under this resolution. In this particular case, the language to which the Senator from Washington refers in fiscal year would be extended for the duration of the CR.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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

Mr. STEVENS

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

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendments were agreed to, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator is correct.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I note that there is an understanding between us that conference reports coming out of the Appropriations Committee will receive prompt attention, but I wanted to make sure everyone understands that means putting aside anything that is here, to try and get these bills to the President before the end of the fiscal year.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, in order to notify the leader--it is time for him to make a statement concerning the proceedings--I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, in review of the printed copy of the ``Statement of the Managers'' that accompanies H.R. 105-265, the fiscal year 1998 Department of Defense conference report, we have found a typographical error in the Patriot modification line of the ``Missile Procurement, Army'' account. The President's budget request included $20,825,000 for the continued modification of the Patriot missile system. It was the decision of the conference committee to provide a total $28,825,000, an increase of $8 million above the budget request for this program in fiscal year 1998. The additional funds provided by the conferees are for the procurement of additional GEM +/- upgrades for the Patriot system. I would note that the tables on page 90 of House Report 105-265, do not reflect the intent of the conferees. It would be my hope that the Army would execute this program to reflect the intent of the conferees and further, that the Army use its reprogramming authority to provide the recommended funding level of the conference committee. I intend to work with my ranking member, Senator Inouye and Representatives Young and Murtha to insure this program is not inappropriately reduced because of a administrative error. printing errors Mr. President, I would like to bring to the attention of Members three typographical errors that appear in the statement of the managers to accompany H.R. 2266. On page 76, under ``Operation and Maintenance, Air Force'', the REMIS program should read as an increase of $8.9 million and not a decrease. On page 119, ``Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy'', under the heading ``Undersea Warfare Weaponry Technology'', the 6.25-inch torpedo project should read as an increase of $3 million and not zero. On page 125, ``Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force'', under the heading ``Space and Missile Rocket Propulsion'', the total amount should read $18,147 and not $18,847. All of these programs were listed correctly in the official conference papers. The typographical errors appear in the project level adjustment tables and do not affect the funding levels in the bill. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on our conference report.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the conferees have included a general provision, sec. 8129, within this conference report containing language to permit the Navy to enter into a contract for the procurement of four submarines under the New Attack Submarine Program. I would like to point out that this section does not provide new budget authority, but rather is an earmark of the amounts appropriated under the heading ``Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy'' for the New Attack Submarine Program. The intent of the conferees was not to create new budget authority over and above amounts set forth elsewhere in the bill, but rather to clarify the terms and conditions under which the New Attack Submarine contract may be entered into between the Navy and the contractor team. c-17 Mr. President, the conferees on the Defense spending bill understand that the manufacturer of the C-17 is building two additional aircraft in fiscal year 1998 for potential commercial sale. However, the Air Force has an agreement with the contractor which may permit DOD to accept early delivery of these aircraft within the Defense Department's C-17 multiyear contract. This agreement, combined with positive cost and schedule performance under the C-17 contract, may permit DOD to purchase up to 11 aircraft within the fiscal year 1998 appropriation. Thus, I believe the Senate's objective of delivering additional C-17 aircraft in fiscal year 1998 may actually be achieved without the appropriation of additional funds at this time. holloman air force base/gerald champion memorial hospital shared facility Mr. President, during the final session of the conference on Defense appropriations an error was made on the amount appropriated for the Holloman Air Force Base/Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital Shared Facility. It was the intent of the conferees to appropriate $7 million for the shared facility, but the filed report reflects only $5 million. This project was strongly supported by the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force during hearings conducted by the subcommittee. Senator Domenici worked very hard on this issue and I believe that it is a great idea. Mr. President, I have contacted the Department of Defense about this matter and they have assured me that they will fully fund the shared facility project at its intended level of $7 million. I will continue to work with Senator Domenici to ensure full funding for this important project. I commend Senator Domenici for his efforts in this regard and look forward to seeing his vision of better quality service for our troops at a lower cost become a reality.

Mr. STEVENS. If there is any time, I reserve it. Does the Senator from Hawaii have any final statements? Mr. INOUYE addressed the Chair.

Mr. STEVENS. I yield the Senator 4 minutes.