John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. We will proceed with the amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I commend our colleague. This is a subject that certainly will be approached in a very bipartisan way. I am wondering, do we have any procedural requirement on that family who needs childcare, to express some sort of need for it before it is automatically granted? Would the Secretary adopt regulations? I just ask the distinguished Presiding Officer if I may enter into a colloquy with our distinguished colleague on that.

Mr. WARNER. No.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we would be happy, on this side, to work out a time agreement as soon as the Senator from Rhode Island is able to indicate to us the amount of time he desires. We will quickly respond as to the amount of time we would desire.

Mr. WARNER. I say to the Senator, an entire hour on your side?

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I would request we have an hour on this side, with the expectation we will be able to yield time back. Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am happy to yield to the Senator for purposes of a statement.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we are moving along in a very cooperative spirit. We are going to ask for a time agreement on the Reed amendment and the Warner second-degree amendment as a package. They will be considered in the course of 2 hours, hopefully less. At the conclusion of the debate on these two amendments, we will then proceed to a record vote on the Warner amendment. In the event the Warner amendment prevails, then the Chair would recognize the Senator from Rhode Island for the purpose of a perfecting amendment, which he has a right to do under the rules, but in order to keep the sequence moving, I would like to advise the Senate that it would be done in that way. At this time, until we see the perfecting amendment, we cannot set a time agreement on that. But it would be my hope that we can move along expeditiously, first by crunching the 2 hours to less, moving to a vote, and then the perfecting amendment and concluding, hopefully, a brief colloquy, debate on that, and vote, if that becomes necessary. Have I correctly stated it?

Mr. WARNER. That is correct. But there would be in order an amendment to the perfecting amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Let me try that again. We have before the Senate at this time the underlying Reed amendment. We have the Warner amendment in the second degree. We ask for an hour on each. At the conclusion of that period of time, which I hope will be less than 2 hours, the Senate would proceed to a record vote on the Warner amendment. I am asking for the yeas and nays incorporated in this. After that is taken, the Chair would then recognize the Senator from Rhode Island for the purpose presumably of offering a perfecting amendment.

Mr. WARNER. The Senator is correct.

Mr. WARNER. Immediately.

Mr. WARNER. That is a leadership request, I so advise the Democratic whip.

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

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I would like to have a clarification about the standing order with regard to the amendment of the distinguished Senator from Rhode Island.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. We wanted to clear the amendment.

Mr. WARNER. We would have to lay this aside. We are waiting for the Chair to rule.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I thank the leader. The package is being put together. At this point in time I yield the floor and I see the Senator from Missouri seeks recognition.

Mr. WARNER. It is not in the form of a unanimous consent.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, that was a suggestion I made to the Senator from Rhode Island. I think he will perhaps reflect on the need to go forward with his second missile defense amendment, and he had asked for that need to be reconsidered. Therefore, in its place we can put the end strength amendment, which would be a matter of convenience and great interest to our membership on this side, given it is a bipartisan amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Could we put time agreements on this now?

Mr. WARNER. That is correct.

Mr. WARNER. I concur in the request.

Mr. WARNER. That is correct, and I seek now to modify it, and I will send a modification to the desk and add to the modified amendment. It is a very minor modification. I simply strike one word, and it is the word ``the.'' I send the modification to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. He is right here.