John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Jeffords' fellow, Sande Blalock, be given floor privileges under this bill.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I believe construction of a new Command & General Staff College instruction facility will be included in the FY 2003 through 2007 Military Construction Future Years Defense Plan and I would certainly encourage the Army to execute this project as soon as possible.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy, Export and Trade Promotion be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 7, 2000 at 2:30 pm to hold a hearing.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Forests and Public Lands of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 7, at 2:00 p.m. to conduct a hearing. The subcommittee will receive testimony on S. 2300, a bill to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the maximum acreage of Federal leases for coal that may be held by an entity in any one State; S. 2069, a bill to permit the conveyance of certain land in Powell, Wyoming; and S. 1331, a bill to give Lincoln County, Nevada, the right to purchase at fair market value certain public land in the county.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I thank my colleague from Michigan. We all have to rely on these estimates.

Mr. WARNER. If the Senator would indicate such time it would be convenient for him to proceed to questions, then I would seek recognition.

Mr. WARNER. Fine. Let's clarify one other thing. Senator Levin brought up the points of order. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent at this time that it be in order for the Senator from Virginia to raise a point of order that the Johnson amendment, No. 3191, violates section 302(F) of the Budget Act, and that would take effect after my vote. Then there would be a point of order, and the Senator could, at this time, ask for the waiver.

Mr. WARNER. I regain 30 seconds of my time. I simply say at the time that was done, they did not foresee the Duma would put these conditions on the START II treaty. That is the essence of this debate.

Mr. WARNER. So at the conclusion of the brief remarks from my colleague, say not more than 2 minutes on my behalf, we then proceed to the votes as they have been ordered previously? That order, of course, is we will vote--I think the Presiding Officer should state the order of votes.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Chair. Does the Senator have anything further? Otherwise, I will just say two words.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, our President doesn't take the exact turn in the way these things are written. The Duma knew full well that in this Chamber--and, indeed, in the Congress and, indeed, in the whole of the United States--there is a very serious and important debate going on; I hope it is part of the Presidential election debates, as to whether or not this Nation should allow itself to be held hostage by Russia in terms of a critical need to defend our Nation against the growing threat of strategic intercontinental missiles. You know that, and I know that. That is what these protocols go--the ability of this Nation to defend itself. They were very clever in the Duma because they knew that was putting out, as we say in the military, a ``tank trap.'' We were stopped cold once those protocols were put on.

Mr. WARNER. Fine. We will do that. I ask my friend to not overextend his responses.

Mr. WARNER. I simply reiterate what my colleague, who is the chairman of the subcommittee, has said. This amendment, which I drew up carefully, is drawn in such a way that it does not preclude President Clinton from negotiating and, indeed, preclude him from exercising his authority as Commander in Chief to direct the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and others in the Pentagon: This is a level to which you will drive nuclear weapons. He can do it. We are saying it should only be done after a quadrennial review, after a nuclear posture study has been completed. From a practical standpoint, it simply, in my judgment, cannot be achieved. If it were forced to be done, it would be viewed not only by us but the Russians and all others who follow this as an imprudent, an unwise step by our President. That is it.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. In light of this agreement, there will be no further votes this evening, and the Senate will resume the DOD authorization bill at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday morning.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending McCain amendment and the Robert Smith amendment be laid aside, the McCain amendment become the pending business at 1 p.m. on Thursday, and there be 2 hours equally divided on the McCain amendment, with a vote to occur in relation to the McCain amendment immediately following the scheduled vote re: HMO at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

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

Mr. WARNER. It is the right to offer the amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I just ask that be temporarily laid aside.

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

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I strongly urge we consider this matter by voice vote. I urge the question. THE PRESIDING OFFICER. If there be no further debate, the question is on agreeing to the amendment.

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

Mr. WARNER. Following the disposition of the Wellstone amendment, which is subject to a 30-minute time agreement, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Robert Smith be recognized to offer his amendment regarding security clearances on which there will be 30 minutes equally divided with no amendments in order prior to the vote in relation to the amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of the Wellstone amendment--that will now be the pending business as soon as I yield the floor. Is that correct?

Mr. WARNER. I ask unanimous consent that this amendment be laid aside temporarily.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I wish to keep all Senators informed. We are making progress on this bill. We are still anxious to get indications from Senators with regard to their amendments. We are having very good cooperation on both sides. I will address that later this evening. Under the existing order, I believe it is now the amendment of the Senator from Virginia. Am I not correct?