Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. May I answer that?

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Four, Senator.

Mr. STEVENS. That is correct.

Mr. STEVENS. Neither did I.

Mr. STEVENS. We have that.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, is it possible now to proceed to the conference report that is before us? I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to the conference report before us.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from West Virginia for his comments. He has been my good friend for a long time. He and I have worked together now through my 36 years in the Senate, and as he states, we have not always agreed, but we have always been able to work together in the spirit of friendship and real understanding. I really have great admiration for the Senator from West Virginia. This is my swan song. I had expected to stand before the Senate and be proud of the product we have before us. I consider what happened in terms of the staff mistake a stain upon my service as the chairman. Mr. President, H.R. 4818, the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill was the legislative vehicle for the fiscal year 2005 Omnibus appropriations bill. The conference report includes $388.4 billion in discretionary funding for the following nine appropriations bills: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-State, Foreign Operations, Interior, Energy and Water, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch, Transportation-Treasury, and VA-HUD. Our fiscal year 2005 spending will be within the $821.9 billion discretionary cap. The conference report includes an across-the-board cut of 0.8 percent for each appropriations bills. This bill will provide the needed funds to keep this Government going for this fiscal year. As my chairmanship of our Appropriations Committee draws to a close, I want to take a few minutes to acknowledge and commend some close friends and some of the hardest-working and most dedicated staff I have had the privilege to work with. Let me begin with my good friend from West Virginia, our committee's ranking member, Senator Byrd, who has been a member of the committee since 1958. He and I have worked together throughout my 36 years in the Senate and it has been an honor to lead this committee with him since 1997. We have not always agreed, but we have always been able to put our differences aside and work toward the common good. I especially want to thank him for his efforts over the past year. We both had hoped and worked toward getting our appropriations bills across the floor on an individual basis. But, this was not possible. And, I want my good friend to know how much I personally appreciate his and his staff's cooperation in recent days as we've brought this process to a close. I will miss the partnership we have shared on this committee. Chairman Bill Young of Florida has been my partner across the Rotunda since 1999. He has become a good friend and ally in our steadfast efforts to complete our work. He, too, is stepping down from his chairmanship and I want to take this opportunity to thank him and his staff for their assistance and perseverance in getting our work completed. Bill has great respect for the institution that we serve and for his beloved House Appropriations Committee. His heart continues to be with the men and women of our Armed Forces. After the House recesses, he and his wife Beverly regularly visit wounded soldiers up at Walter Reed Medical Center. I hope Bill Young will be returning as chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. We will continue to work as a team dealing with modernization of our weapons systems, our military personnel programs, and the national security of this great country. Over the years, I have had opportunity to work with Dave Obey as both chairman and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. Congressman Obey and I have been on opposite sides of a number of issues, but I know of few Members who have his great intellect and passion. Dave Obey is a truly dedicated Member of Congress who cares about the institution, and the legislative process. He is a realist who gives his all in debate, but understands compromise and the need to move the business of Government forward. I ask unanimous consent to have a chart printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS. Now, I would like to turn to the clerks of our subcommittees. Pat Raymond has worked for me for more than three decades in the Senate and will be retiring at the end of the year. Pat began as my scheduler on my personal staff. She has supported me on the Governmental Affairs, Rules, and Appropriations Committees. From flextime, to postal reform, to the Federal retirement system, and as staff director on this Agriculture Subcommittee, and earlier on the Treasury Subcommittee, Pat has never lagged in her dedication to hard work. Always thorough and precise, always a stickler for details, Pat's also well-known as a quick study. Even more important than the attributes I have mentioned, has been Pat's loyalty to me personally, to this institution, and to our Nation. As an Alaskan, she understands the true ``can do'' pioneer spirit that has made it possible for her to accomplish even the toughest of challenges. The Energy and Water Appropriations bill, in particular, was put together in record time. The product represents a truly remarkable accomplishment. It is comprehensive, yet elegant in its simplicity. It sets out an ambitious course for the Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy, and Related Agencies. With few words, it cuts through years of red tape. After reading the bill, the phrase ``the Secretary shall'' has become one of my favorite phrases in the English language. Tammy Cameron, our majority staff director, Drew Willison, our minority staff director, and their able staff worked on a bipartisan basis and negotiate a bill with the House in 48 hours. They pulled a rabbit out of a hat I thought was long dead. Tammy just took on this new assignment 2 years ago having worked with Senator Campbell on the Treasury Subcommittee. She has learned a complex subject matter in a very short time, and has earned the respect of the highest ranking generals in the Army. On behalf of Senator Byrd and the entire full committee, I want to congratulate Tammy and the entire staff and extend my heartfelt thanks. And, I hope when these proceedings are concluded, they will all go home to bed and sleep for a week. Scott Gudes is one of those staffers who has become a member of my family. He keeps moving back into the house. Scott began with me on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee working with Sean O'Keefe, where he learned with a real master. And he has used what he learned with Sean ever since. He served for almost 5 years as deputy under secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere at NOAA, and worked as the acting NOA administrator under secretary in 2001. 1 worked closely with him to resolve the Stellar sea lion crisis which threatened to close down Alaska's fisheries, and almost closed down the Senate. As many of my colleagues will recall, while others were drinking eggnog, Congress remained in session until days before Christmas while we resolved that crisis. Scott was instrumental in that effort, and helped administer the resolution we adopted. He formerly worked for Fritz Hollings on the Commerce-Justice-State Subcommittee as well as on the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee. He has a reputation as a fair, even-minded problem solver, and has a heart for the world's oceans. As NOAA administrator, he had a reputation for rolling up his sleeves and working as crew on research vessels, and he has rolled up his sleeves for us. The senior Senator from Pennsylvania often refers to Bettilou Taylor as the 101st, and for good reason. She has helped me craft new initiatives in Alaska to address health care, labor, and education. Just yesterday, I got a report on the Denali Commission clinic effort, a program Bettilou created. To give an example of the difference just one person can make, since she instituted this program, there are now 41 new health care clinics in remote villages in Alaska that had none, and another 67 in the planning stage and another 26 under construction. Because of Bettilou and her staff, thousands of rural Alaskans now have health care where they had none before. She is hard driving, but fair; creative but down to earth; demanding yet caring. She knows health policy and education probably better than any single person in the Senate including her subcommittee chairman, and she can run circles around her adversaries. The word ``can't'' is not in her vocabulary. I once described one of her bills as a ``work of art.'' She is truly one of the Mona Lisa's of the Senate. Mary Dietrich began with me on the Labor/HHS Subcommittee. She has worked now for several years as the clerk on the DC Subcommittee, and I think it is no small coincidence that the District's finances turned around about the same time Mary showed up. She has worked closely with the City government in helping them shepherd the city toward financial solvency, and has taken a particular interest in programs for children and the arts. At the staff level, she almost single handedly pushed through the DC voucher program that no one else thought had a chance of succeeding. But she persevered, and today hundreds of poor children are attending some of the cities best private schools. They will never know who Mary Dietrich is and will never be able to thank her, but today I say thank you on their behalf and on behalf of the Senate. While Bono has led the public effort to address the worldwide crisis of AIDS/HIV, there is another rock star behind the scenes who has shaped our Nation's response to that crisis. Paul Grove has drafted dozens of provisions to improve the lives of people around the world-- from people living with AIDS and TB to children without limbs who receive wheelchairs. Together we have created a new program to bring fresh water to dozens of African villages which has changed thousands of lives each day. Paul is a child of the Foreign Service and has lived across the globe, including 2 years with the International Republican Institute in Cambodia. Paul is quietly competent, but his actions speak loudly about the kind of person Paul is and the difference he has made in the world. Rebecca Davies is a woman who has found her moment in history. Tough and uniquely qualified, Rebecca Davies has undertaken the task of helping create a whole new department of the government with the most important role of our time, protecting our Nation from terrorism. She formerly served as Deputy of the Appropriations Committee with service on the Budget Committee. I can probably count on one finger the number of people who have the knowledge of the Federal budget process that Rebecca Davies carries in her head. She has worked on the Treasury Subcommittee, Agriculture Subcommittee and each time left her mark. Together we created a series of programs for rural America while she was at Agriculture from rural water and sewer programs to funding to reduce the high cost of energy to funds to address public facilities in poor rural communities. As a result of her efforts, the honey bucket, what used to be the primary sewer system in Alaska, will soon be the subject of a museum exhibit. I rest better each night knowing that Rebecca Davies is looking out for our Nation's homeland. Bruce Evans began his career on the Alaska scene with my former colleague, Slade Gorton. A product of the Senate, Bruce is known by all as a practical problem solver with a great wit and a ``can do'' attitude. Of all the subcommittees I have worked with, I have probably thrown as much at Bruce Evans as any staffer on my committee. From timber harvest to oil and gas development, if I am working on a controversial issue, you can bet Bruce Evans is finding the solution. With Bruce's insight and quiet competence, together we have improved the lives of Alaska Natives from health clinics to alcohol treatment to fire fighting to save villages from destruction. And while I don't have a public reputation as an environmentalist, Bruce has worked quietly on my behalf to protect Alaska's wildlife. He created the State wildlife grant program funded this year at about $70 million, provided resources for research on wildlife from walrus to polar bears, provided the funds to take the Aleutian Canada goose off the endangered list, and restored Alaska's fisheries. Denali National Park is often called the crown jewel of the national park system. Bruce Evans is one of the crown jewels of the Appropriations Committee. Carrie Apostolou began her career with me on the VA-HUD Subcommittee. Intensely organized and detail oriented, ``slipping through the cracks'' is something you never have to worry about with Carrie. She has shepherded the Capitol Visitor Center through the process, and is responsible for the unprecedented security improvements we all see everyday. When the Capitol Visitor Center opens in 2006, it will be a testament to Carrie's persistence. Dennis Ward, came to our committee 2 years ago with a strong and wide ranging military background. He served in the Air Force as an officer for 18 years, taught political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and was a political affairs officer at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. He is diligent and tenacious and his abilities were evident to all of us when he worked fervently to complete action on the Military Construction Appropriations bill earlier this year. I look forward to a continued close working relationship with Dennis, as I continue my work on defense issues. Jon Kamarck is one of the leading public housing experts in the Congress. He is known as a tough adversary, but kind and compassionate. He has exercised the committee's oversight responsibilities with vigor, and many an agency has trembled in its boots when Jon finds indifference or incompetence. He has a reputation for demanding compliance with the laws he helps write, because he is as passionate about good Government as he is about helping people. There is a kinder, gentler side of Jon Kamarck agencies don't always see but I have seen as he meets with Eskimo people with no running water or works with low income people living in squalor. If ever there was a staffer who embodied my personal motto it is Jon Kamarck: ``to hell with the politics, just do what's right.'' And last of all, but first among equals is Sid Ashworth. Sid knows more about the Department of Defense than just about any one I know. She is responsible for the largest annual budget of any department, and has overseen revolutionary changes in our national defense from smart bombs to stealth bombers. She has the daily burden of reading intelligence reports, living every day with the knowledge of the threats that plague us. A former Defense civilian from Hawaii, Sid has forged a close working relationship with Charlie Houy that mirrors my own relationship with Dan Inouye. Sid is a woman who operates in what is sometimes viewed by some as a man's world. She has broken through stereotyped, and is universally revered by secretaries and generals alike. She is innately fair, intensely dedicated, and fiercely loyal. I am glad I have her by my side every day. I also want to acknowledge a few of the hardworking staff from the other side of the aisle. Terry Sauvain, Senator Byrd's staff director on our committee, has worked tirelessly along side of my staff to get our work done for the year. Terry has long been known as someone who is able to effectively work on both sides of the aisle. He is known as the master of West Virginia and my staff has learned a great deal from him since I became chairman in 1997. Chuck Keiffer, Senator Byrd's minority staff director, also deserves my thanks. He came to the Appropriations Committee 4 years ago from the Office of Management and Budget and has vast experience on the fiscal issues. I want to acknowledge him and thank him for his assistance and service during my tenure as chairman. And finally, I want to thank Charlie Houy, the minority clerk for the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Charlie has been with the Appropriations Committee for nearly 20 years, working for both the minority and majority. He is a consummate expert on defense issues and is well respected by those at the Department of Defense and his colleagues on the Hill. As chairman of the Defense Subcommittee, I look forward to continuing to work with Charlie and thank him for all of the hard work he has put in over the past year. I am proud to say he is my friend. Mr. President, we deal with a lot of important and controversial issues in this body. Maybe nowhere is that more the case than on this Senate Appropriations Committee. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to chair this committee with so much history and tradition. Senator Byrd has often reminded us of the historical context of this committee and our role which was specified by our Founding Fathers in the Constitution. And, I would be remiss if I did not note that I and all our members have been fortunate to have been supported by such outstanding professional staff. I remember when Senator John C. Stennis was preparing to leave the Senate in 1988. And he attributed his long and distinguished career to just a few things. The first, was good staff. So, I want to take a minute to recognize one such individual, our committee staff director, Jim Morhard. Jim is a consummate professional. He has truly done it all here on appropriations. He joined the committee after a career in the Navy Comptroller's office, and then in the Senate under Senators Wilson and Kasten. Jim staffed the military construction bill as both the minority and majority staff director. Jim worked on Defense Subcommittee and with some reluctance, answered my request for him to take over the Commerce-Justice-State Subcommittee. This is considered by many the most difficult of our 13 subcommittees to handle. At Commerce-Justice-State, Jim Morhard distinguished himself working as ``clerk'' or staff director under Senator Judd Gregg. Jim dealt with a variety of issues from Securities and Exchange Commission fees to NOAA fisheries programs to small business technical assistance. Long before September 11, 2001, Senator Gregg and Jim sought to wake up the Justice Department and FBI and enhance our counterterrorism programs. On September 11, many of those first responders had taken part in training in counterterrorism exercises that were put forward by our Commerce-Justice-State Subcommittee. In early 2003, I asked Jim to move up and become staff director for the entire committee. There was no staff that I considered more capable or prepared. Jim has always carried out his tasks with tact, fairness and bipartisan spirit. He has great expertise at the technical aspects of the appropriations job. He can make ``the numbers work'' and draft the bill and report language. And, he has the creativity to critically analyze programs and policies and come up with compromises that move the institution forward. I think about the same day Jim came on board, we began work on the first of two Iraq/Afghanistan supplementals. I think he has been working tirelessly ever since, shepherding through these bills and helping me get the 2004 and this 2005 omnibus appropriations bills through the Senate, through conference and to the President for signature. The executive branch has countless programs to recognize employees and excellence. Unfortunately, we here in the legislative banch do not. But, one should not assume that we do not recognize personal and professional excellence when we see it. And, I want to express my appreciation to Jim on behalf of the committee and the entire Senate for a job well done. the bering sea nonpollock groundfish fisheries buyback program

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as part of the fiscal year 2005 Consolidated Appropriations conference report there is a section that provides for a vessel buyback program for the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands nonpollock groundfish fisheries. Senator Murray, is it your intention that section 219 of Title II of the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations conference report is only to provide for a non-pollock groundfish fishery capacity reduction program for catcher processor vessels engaged in these fisheries in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands?

Mr. STEVENS. It is my understanding that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will develop the fishery management plans for the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands non-pollock groundfish fisheries and nothing in this section should be construed to impede or change the council's development of these plans. Is this your understanding?

Mr. STEVENS. Senator Murray, there is language in this section that states that future amendments to the fishery management plans in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands should not ``penalize'' members of any catcher processor subsector for achieving capacity reduction under this act or any other provision of law. Could you explain in greater detail what this means? In particular, I want to make sure that nothing in this act would preclude the North Pacific Fishery Management Council from accommodating CDQ interests in future Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands non-pollock fishery management plans.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for passage of the bill, and I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the attached correspondence from the Executive Office of the President be printed in today's Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, today, I submit a revised allocation to subcommittee for fiscal year 2005. The allocation has been modified to conform outlays for the outcome on the conference on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. These allocations are a revision to those printed in Senate Report 108-356, submitted on September 23, 2004. I ask unanimous consent that a table setting forth the revised allocation to the subcommittees be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I thank the current occupant of the Chair for yielding me 5 minutes from this bill. Delay Of Conference Reports Mr. President, I come to the Senate once more to ask that the Senate consider what is delaying the Homeland Security bill and the Military Construction bill which carry with them the money for the hurricane recovery in the southeastern part of this country, including Florida. I first want to say to my good friend from West Virginia, he reminds me very much of the comments my grandmother used to say to me about doing things on Sunday. And we tried to observe the commands of the Bible. This is not the first Sunday since I have been in the Senate, in 36 years, that we have had to meet. I, too, regret we have to meet on Sunday. But we are meeting today primarily because of the objection of one man. We should have taken up the Military Construction bill and the Homeland Security bill when it arrived from the House last evening. The House of Representatives had passed both of those bills in the course of about 2 minutes, and not one person spoke against those bills. It was a unanimous vote on both those bills. They came over here--and I congratulate the minority leader. Yesterday, when we opened the Senate, he said, without question-- without question--we should pass the Homeland Security bill and the Military Construction bill before we leave. The impact of this is an astounding delay because of one Senator, the other Senator from Iowa, Mr. Harkin, who is objecting because of an offset that was used in the Military Construction bill to enable us to proceed with the drought provisions in the bill. For the first time, we are putting up money to assist the people who are suffering around the country, primarily farmers, from drought. We needed an offset. This is the same offset we took once before. And we straightened out the program after that borrowing of budget authority was used effectively. Now, I told the Senate last night I was informed that last evening FEMA ran out of money. On October 1, it had $836 million, including a $500 million carryover from fiscal year 2004. There was a $336 million apportionment under the continuing resolution, which was intended to last until November 20, but because of the demands in Florida, they have run out of money. And we want to see these bills passed. We and the leadership on both sides tried to clear this bill. We are primarily here voting on this cloture now rather than tomorrow because we had to come in in order to qualify cloture votes for tomorrow. We will not vote on the Military Construction and Homeland Security bills until tomorrow because one Senator--one Senator--wants to delay them. Now, I want the Senate to know--this is my last year as chairman of the Appropriations Committee--we have worked hard with Congressman Young on the other side, who is from Florida and is very disturbed about the delay. We worked our committees, and worked them literally night and day, particularly the staffs, to get these bills ready to move. And the Senator from West Virginia says we should only be working if it is an emergency. Well, it is true there are emergency bills right behind this bill. I would hope we would get cloture and pass this bill as quickly as we can so we can move to the Military Construction bill. We cannot interfere now. We cannot call up the Military Construction bill or the Homeland Security bill until this process is over. But I urge the Senate, every Member of the Senate, to talk to Senator Harkin and ask him not to delay these bills any longer. These bills will take time to prepare and get what we call enrolled, and then they will be signed by the Speaker of the House and by the Vice President or myself, and they will go to the President. That could be done today. That could be done today, if this one Senator will relent in this procedure to delay these two bills. I do not understand why the Homeland Security bill has been delayed at all. We were ready to put it in what we call wrap-up last night. The Senator from West Virginia and I and all those connected with it said: Let's just pass this. It has passed the House without objection at all. The matter was reviewed by the Senator from Arizona. I am pleased to say for one time we are in total agreement. That bill does not have to have any re-specification of anything we put in that bill that would raise the objection of my friend from Arizona. And he is my friend, despite our disputes. But I tell the Senate, it is time to pass the Military Construction bill and the Homeland Security bill today.

Mr. STEVENS. Yes, he was.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, will the Senator yield to me for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Senate now has before it two of our appropriations bills. The first is the homeland security bill, H.R. 4567. That bill has $6.5 billion, among a lot of other money, for FEMA. That is to be used for those disasters that were not part of the hurricane disaster but for those such as the tornado damage and flood damage, the things that spun off from the hurricane. That money is going to be particularly used for that. We sought to add some money to that bill for that purpose. We urged to let FEMA do its work and see how much would be needed, and if we have to have a supplemental next year we will have it. We also have the military construction bill, H.R. 4837, before us. It has some $9.1 billion in it in the supplementals that were included in that bill that are primarily aimed at recovery from the four hurricanes to hit the Southeast, particularly Florida. There is no question that money is vitally needed, also. That money, by the way, would have been in the $6.5 billion had the homeland security bill passed, as we should have been able to do by October 1. It would have been available immediately and there would not be the emergency in that area now. But homeland security has been traveling on a continuing resolution. As I pointed out this morning, the moneys that were allocated to FEMA under the continuing resolution since October 1 are supposed to last until November 20. They ran out last night. I have not seen two bills of this type, of this magnitude, passed by the other body as rapidly as they passed these two yesterday. They passed them in less than 2 hours. There was not one single vote in opposition, not a single word opposing it. As a matter of fact, every Member of the House voted for each of those bills. Now, we tried last night, when the bills were received here, to proceed with the homeland security bill, and that was not possible because of an objection. Mr. President, at this time, I ask unanimous consent that this procedure under cloture on the FSC bill be put aside so that we may consider the homeland security bill.

Mr. STEVENS. Regular order. Is there objection to my motion?

Mr. STEVENS. This is to proceed with the homeland security bill, H.R. 4567. And if it is brought before the Senate, I intend to ask unanimous consent that it be immediately adopted.

Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. STEVENS. Is it possible for me to amend the conference report, as the Senator requests, by unanimous consent?

Mr. STEVENS. I have the floor.

Mr. STEVENS. Is there an objection, Mr. President?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I still have the floor.