John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Certainly.

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

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that S. 2400 as amended be printed as passed.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed immediately to the consideration en bloc of S. 2401 through S. 2403--Calendar Order Nos. 504, 505 and 506; that all after the enacting clause of those bills be stricken and the appropriate portion of S. 2400, as amended, be inserted in lieu thereof, according to the schedule which I am sending to the desk; that these bills be advanced to third reading and passed; that the motions to reconsider en bloc be laid upon the table; and that the above actions occur without intervening action or debate.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Chair.

Mr. WARNER. I concur in the modification.

Mr. WARNER. If that is the preference, so granted.

Mr. WARNER. That is correct. It is in the script.

Mr. WARNER. That is correct. If I failed to read it, it is as amended.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am prepared to enter into a unanimous consent agreement with the distinguished Senator from Nevada. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all pending amendments be withdrawn, with the exception of the following: Daschle, No. 3409, as amended; Leahy, No. 3387, which will have a second degree by Senator Leahy or designee; and a series of amendments which have been cleared by both managers; I further ask consent that at 9:30 tonight the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Daschle amendment No. 3409, with no second degrees in order to the amendment prior to the vote; provided further that following the disposition of the Daschle amendment, the Senate vote in relation to the Leahy amendment No. 3387. I further ask consent that following the disposition of the Leahy amendment, and the disposition of the cleared amendments, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of the bill, with no intervening action or debate. Before the Chair rules, I ask unanimous consent that the votes occur in reverse order than listed above.

Mr. WARNER. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I think we are ready to do a package of amendments, if I could get the attention of the ranking member. Amendments Nos. 3414, As Modified; 3280, As Modified; 3355, As Modified; 3220; 3373, As Modified; 3459, As Modified; 3311, As Modified; 3476; 3477; 3478; 3479; 3480; 3481; 3342, As Modified; 3482; 3483; and 3484 Mr. President, I send a series of amendments to the desk which have been cleared by myself and the ranking member. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider those amendments en bloc, the amendments be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that any statements relating to any of these individual amendments be printed in the Record.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, reference was made to the hard work Senator Landrieu performed on this amendment. Indeed, I was witness to that. But it did bring back a fond memory to me. In the period during the war in Vietnam, there was a very colorful and strong chairman in the House Armed Services Committee named Eddie Hebert from New Orleans, LA, and a gentleman who worked very closely with him, named Moon Landrieu. They were quite a team. They did a great deal working together for the men and women of the U.S. military. When reference was made to Senator Landrieu's accomplishments, I am sure she would agree with me that the teachings of her distinguished father and the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee have vested in her a lot of wisdom about military matters. I also recognize the work done by Senators Ensign and Snowe. I have been working with both of them over a period of time. Senator Ensign and Senator Snowe each have put in previous pieces of legislation which basically covered this same subject. In the course of the past 48 hours, those two Senators have been working in collaboration with Senator Landrieu in an effort to get the Senate to take the action that we just took on that amendment. So I thank the Senator from Maine and the Senator from Nevada for their work. As veterans look to the action taken by the Senate, they can decide for themselves on the work done by these Senators, and all Senators, because there was a unanimous vote on this amendment. I think we fulfilled our obligation to that very important class of individuals, the veterans; and particularly in this case, this provides benefits for the widows primarily--there are a few remaining spouses--but basically the widows who are at a critical time in their life and there is need for special consideration as it relates to personal finances. So I thank the Presiding Officer and I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER. No objection.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I urge adoption of the second-degree amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, there is no objection. The matter has been carefully worked through the course of the evening, and it is ready for action by the Chair.

Mr. WARNER. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. The pending amendment offered by the Senator increases mandatory spending if adopted and would cause the underlying bill to exceed section 302. Therefore, I once again raise the point of order against the amendment, pursuant to section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act. I yield back my time and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Forests and Public Lands of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 23, at 2:30 p.m. The purpose of the hearing is to review the grazing programs of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, including permit renewals recent and proposed changes to grazing regulations and related issues. The hearing will also examine the Wild Horse and Burro Program, as it relates to grazing, and the administration's proposal for sage-grouse habitat conservation.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, with respect to H.R. 4200--Calendar Order No. 537--the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate turn to its immediate consideration; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 2400, as passed, be substituted in lieu thereof; that the bill be advanced to third reading and passed; that the Senate insist on its amendment to the bill and request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees; that the motion to reconsider the above-mentioned votes be laid upon the table; and that the foregoing occur without intervening action or debate.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, that concludes the matters addressing the bill. I thank the leadership of both sides, members of our committee, and the wonderful, fine staff we have, particularly my staff, Mrs. Ansley, and my good colleague over here, my partner for these 26 years we have been in the Senate. Guess we landed another one, not necessarily in record time. Our calculation is 16 legislative days. So perhaps we have set something of a record as the days were fairly consecutive. I thank the chief of staff sitting here. Thank you, Captain.

Mr. WARNER. I thank my friend. These many years we have worked, really, as partners, and achieved one of the highest degrees of bipartisanship in the discharge of our respective responsibilities, together with the staffs.

Mr. WARNER. I thank our distinguished majority leader, truly a very gracious soul and of pure heart.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the names of staff printed in the Record.

Mr. WARNER. I am happy at this time to yield the desk back to the majority leader. I hope I never see this again for another year.