Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have served here long enough now that I have witnessed a lot of the comings and goings of many fine public servants whom I have known on the floor of the Senate. Today, I would like to comment about those who are leaving us, and I want to start, first, with my good friend from South Carolina. Fritz Hollings and his wife Peatsy are very close friends of ours. They have been friends since we first came to the Senate. Fritz and I served in World War II. We have traveled to places where he served and I served in World War II, and we are comrades in the deepest sense of that word. He is a very interesting man. I remember earlier this year, when I was asked to cut a tape to be used at a retirement dinner for Senator Hollings, I told my press secretary I did not think I could do it. As a matter of fact, I ended up appearing in person. As I told my staff, I really cannot conceive of the Senate without Fritz Hollings. It will be a different Senate. We have not always agreed, but we have always been friends. There have been good times together. I can remember some of the fish that Fritz and Peatsy caught in Alaska, and I can remember tales about some that they did not catch, the big ones that got away. But I do know that having visited with them in their home in South Carolina, and visiting with their friends in Charleston, they have a really great life to go home to. They are wonderful people, and we are going to miss them a great deal. I will say this, that when I first heard of Senator Hollings, it was in a story about his role as Governor of South Carolina. He had become Governor, and as he entered the grounds of the Governor's house, he found there were places inside the grounds where prisoners were kept. There were literally, at that time, I think, cells that were partially underground. Fritz did not like that any more than I would have, and he found ways to free those people and to give them another life. As a matter of fact, I remember meeting one of them who was very devoted to Senator Hollings. Senator Hollings is a man with a great heart and a great mind and a great spirit and a temper almost as bad as mine. We are going to miss him, miss him terribly. I hope he will come back often and visit us. I think he has the longest career of all of those who are retiring, obviously, because he is the oldest. But he was one of the Ten Outstanding Men of the Year in the United States when he was young. I don't like to tell stories about him, but I think he actually attended a Republican Convention at one time. As a member of the statehouse, as Governor, and as a member of the Hoover Commission, he distinguished himself in many ways, in commissions where he was appointed by both President Eisenhower and President Kennedy. We are losing a man who has had a great role in public service. I hope we will all wish him well as he departs the Senate. Don Nickles Mr. President, another Senator who is leaving us is Senator Don Nickles. Senator Nickles is a man I first met when I was traveling through Oklahoma with my friend, Senator Bellmon. Senator Bellmon had served here as a Senator. He served as Governor of his State. Senator Nickles, obviously, is a man of great capability, too. As a matter of fact, he is the first Oklahoma Republican Senator to be elected for four terms. He has had a commitment to his constituents and to his colleagues. He, as I, served as assistant Republican leader. That is the highest leadership position ever held by a Member of the Senate from Oklahoma. I particularly remember his role as chairman of the Budget Committee and his role in the Finance Committee because no one has been more strenuous in expressing his views concerning the level of spending in the United States and the necessity to have firm budget control over the processes of the Senate, particularly the appropriations process where I have served a great many years. I do believe his commitment to making Federal Government more responsible and less intrusive, his commitment to the basic Republican principles that government nearest the people is best, has been demonstrated by his service in the Senate. We are going to have a tough time without his guidance. He, I am sure, will be somewhere near us--at least that is indicated. But having met him even before he ran for the Senate, I felt really a great warmth of friendship for him because I know how hard he worked to become a Member of the Senate, and I know his commitment, having left his business and coming here to make a new life. Linda and their four children have been known to all of us in one way or the other. I think he has a wonderful family, a wonderful wife, and we wish them well. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. STEVENS. I would like to tell the chairman of the Finance Committee as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I checked with Chairman Young, Bill Young of the House Appropriations Committee. Neither of us was aware this had been inserted in the bill. It was inserted at the request of one staff to another, reliance on the statement made by one that the front office had been briefed and is fine with this. That was not right. No Member had ever seen it. It came out during the readout. I am pleased that after it was presented to the body, it was found. It does not represent the policy of the Appropriations Committee. None of us have even ever discussed in a meeting either on this side or the House of Representatives any further access to taxpayer information. It came strictly from a staff request to another staffer. It is absolutely a mistake. I apologize to the Senate. I am sorry that both the Senator from Iowa and his colleague, Chairman Thomas in the House, properly were exercised over it. It is a mistake. It will be deleted. We have made an agreement it will be totally deleted from this bill.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield further?

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator from Arizona is absolutely warranted in his comments. As I said, I apologize to the Senate. We thought we had these bills read through twice. Both sides read them through twice by people who are involved in them. I have to tell the Senator from Arizona, I do not sit there for 10 hours as that is being read. I rely on the people who have been with us now for years and years to tell us that it has been checked properly, that there is nothing in the bill that has not been approved by the bodies respectively and in conference. But this error happened. I do apologize to the Senate. It is unfortunate. And it is more than a mistake; it is a terrible disaster, and we will have to examine our whole procedures to see if there is any way we can prevent it in the future. But it has happened now, and we do apologize. Congressman Young is as disturbed about it as I am, and his statement was: ``Take it out now.'' And that is what we are going to do.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I just ran up here. I thought I heard the Senator from California say the chairman had sought this power?

Mr. STEVENS. I hoped that was not the case. In any event, the Senator from California did say it was a one-sided review, with the Republicans reviewing this. The staff reads out our bills--joint staff, House and Senate, Republican and Democrat. I don't want to embarrass anybody here tonight. I am sure every Senator and Congressman will talk to their staff about this mistake. I assure the Senate that there were members in the minority from the Senate and from the House and members from the majority from the Senate and House that read this bill through twice. It wasn't just the majority; it was the minority and the majority staff. This is a mistake. It is clearly a mistake. It is an unfortunate mistake. I have talked to the chairman of the House committee. He was appalled, as I was, when we found it was in there. To my knowledge, no Member of the House and Senate was asked about this staff request. A representation was made that the front office had cleared it. Actually, we have to have a signoff from the minority as well as the majority staff for their section of these bills. We have that signoff. If the Senator from California wishes, I will tell her the members of the staff on the Democratic side who reviewed this section and signed off on it. I don't want the Record to show it was a partisan review. We do not have partisan reviews of our bills. As a matter of fact, there is no committee that works on a bipartisan basis more than the Appropriations Committee. Again, I apologize to the Senate. Members of my staff are going to answer to me tomorrow. I want the Senate to know it was a bipartisan staff from the House and the Senate that made this mistake, a terrible mistake. I question any staff member who would ever approve this language without referring to a Member of the Congress to whom he or she is responsible. I hope the Senator from California understands it is not something we sought, not something we wanted. Both the chairman of the House committee and I sought to delete it the minute we found it. It was too late. The House had already passed it.

Mr. STEVENS. No objection.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senator have additional time, if he desires it.

Mr. STEVENS. I send to the desk a joint resolution. Ms. LANDRIEU addressed the Chair.

Mr. STEVENS. I withdraw that.

Mr. STEVENS. Joint.

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator is correct that the provision would stay in the law. But we will pass a joint resolution. It is my understanding that will be passed and the Speaker of the House and chairman of the Appropriations Committee guaranteed this would be the case when the House reconvenes. Meanwhile, it is our understanding that the President of the United States will issue a statement when he signs the bill that this section shall be disregarded because of the action taken by the Senate and the commitment of the House to act when it comes back. I think that is a good-faith effort to correct a serious mistake, a terrible mistake. The Senator is right about the section. But I want to assure him the implication that either the chairman of the House committee or I, as chairman of this committee, ever wanted such authority is wrong. We never sought it. It was an accident, a mistake. A representation was made by one staff member that the front office in the other body had cleared this. On the basis of that, it was put into the section. When it was before the bipartisan staff in both Houses, it was not even noticed. Under the circumstances, it is something the Senator from Arizona criticized and I too criticize it. It is something contrary to anything I have ever had happen in over 30 years on the committee. But it can be corrected and the law will not be permitted. By the way, it takes the request of the chairman of either House to trigger it. We have stated categorically we will not trigger this section. It is not available to anyone else. It is available only to the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee or the chairman of our Senate committee. And I have stated categorically on the record we would never use that. We didn't seek this authority. We are as appalled as the Senator from North Dakota. I hope you would rely upon our good faith to try to correct the staff error. Certainly no Member of Congress that I know of, other than the person who originally suggested it in the House, ever sought this. I am led to believe the language is not what he sought, but it is one of those things that happened at the last minute. It is a terrible thing. We are in this situation because we never had a budget. We never passed our appropriations bills at the time we should have. We had to construct a ceiling we would operate under. Senator Byrd and I have tried our best to comply with the circumstances. But we didn't get the chance to even look at it--the Appropriations Committee on these nine bills--until after we came back from the August recess. We have been under pressure now since we came back. We have been under pressure now for 3 days. Some of my people haven't slept for 2 days, and one of them made a mistake--one of my staff. I can tell you he had not had sleep for 2 days. This is a serious situation. It shouldn't happen. The Senator from Arizona is right. It should never happen. I pray to God it will never happen. It will not happen under my watch. My watch is over tonight, but I guarantee you that during the time I am chairman, I will not use this authority and it will be taken out of this bill. The first reaction of the chairman from Florida, Bill Young, was, take it out; take it out now. I share that reaction. I thank the Senator.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. STEVENS. I don't read anything in this provision that either chairman can release the information. He makes the assertion that if we use this power, we can release it. There is no such provision.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. STEVENS. If the Senator says he has respect for this Senator, he will believe me. We didn't ask for that authority. We would not use that authority. We detest this section, and I am tired listening to people say somehow or other we intended to use it. We don't intend to use it. It is going to come out of this bill. It is going to come out of this law and it is not going to be used. I don't know how I can be any firmer. I am tired of it. We have been working hard on this bill. We did not do this. To imply we did--either Congressman Young or I did it--is wrong, wrong.

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator implied that I will use it; that I would disclose it.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield again?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I want to state again the protection for the minority on this bill was in the people who were with my staff when it was read through. If there was a mistake in it, it is borne equally by your side of the aisle as well as ours. I have accepted the total responsibility as chairman. No question about it; a bad mistake was made. But let me go back. Senator Byrd and I begged for a budget resolution in May, in June, in July, and when we came back in September. We didn't get a budget resolution. The Senator is on the Budget Committee. Why didn't we get a budget resolution? We said if we don't, we will have another one of those nights when we will have a big Omnibus appropriations bill. I preached it right here on the floor. I will dig it out, if you want. I said if you don't, we will have a midnight session again trying to get a bill through that no one knows what is in it because we have had to move and move these limits. There are provisions in this bill that must become effective or people will lose rights as of Sunday. We are trying our best to get it done. A mistake has been made. I hope the Senate would take my word. It is my word. I don't think I have ever broken my word to any Member of this Senate. That was a mistake. It says as chairman of the Appropriations Committee I can trigger that and ask for access. I have said I would never do it. I did not seek it. The chairman of the House did not want it. He is appalled by it. It is a provision that, even if it becomes law, cannot be utilized except by Bill Young and me, Ted Stevens. We have said we will not do it. Isn't that enough? Isn't that enough? Do I have to get down on my knees and beg the other side? This bill must become law because people have rights that will be affected by it if we don't pass it until we come back in December. That is all there is to it. It is not my fault. I hate working under these pressures. My staff hates it. As a matter of fact, it is a terrible way to do business, but I had nothing other than to try to do it. As a matter of fact, we had to take one bill and do it in the last 3 days because we could not get agreement between the people involved. It has been a terrible bill to handle. I hope the Senate appreciates the work that people have done this last week to try and get to the point where we could pass it before we left.

Mr. STEVENS. I object.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I send a joint resolution to the desk and I ask unanimous consent we now proceed to this joint resolution, that it be read three times and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. STEVENS. I renew my request, Mr. President.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent we proceed to the resolution, it be read three times and pass, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.