John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Our colleague tonight will consume part of my time, and we will almost be in balance at the conclusion of this evening. The vote is going to happen at 2:30, so we are running around with fractions tonight.

Mr. WARNER. Understood.

Mr. WARNER. With the addition of the distinguished Senator from West Virginia, that is 3 hours 50 minutes. The Senator from Michigan has?

Mr. WARNER. The Senator from Virginia has 2 hours and?

Mr. WARNER. First, how much time is remaining again with the Senator from Virginia?

Mr. WARNER. I withdraw the unanimous consent request. I have stated for the Record my commitment as the manager of the time to the colleagues I have enumerated. I will somehow tomorrow manage that very ably to see they are recognized. Then there will be others who will come forward. I will leave it at that.

Mr. WARNER. The Senator can talk tonight for such time as he desires because there will be, by virtue of the time agreement by the leadership containing tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., some time yielded back by both sides tonight, in my judgment, unless the Senator from Alabama goes into extensive remarks.

Mr. WARNER. Does that include the 60 minutes allocated to the Senator from West Virginia?

Mr. WARNER. That is under the 10-hour agreement.

Mr. WARNER. I am familiar with that letter.

Mr. WARNER. He is a fine naval man.

Mr. WARNER. I say to my colleague, 23 Senators have already taken an action. They voted on it in the Appropriations Committee. They have taken that action. And you go back and count among the 23 those who proudly served in uniform for this country. Let me turn to another point. How do our allies feel, listening to this debate where we are saying they are of little consequence? If we pull out 2,000 or 3,000 ground combat troops, leaving the support troops in place, why, the sky is falling in, says General Clark. What does that say to the other 30-plus nations that have their troops there: You are ineffective; You won't hold the line; You break ranks? I think that is a fallacious argument.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I can answer that. Senator Byrd and I discussed not having the amendment accepted. We have the assurance of Senator Byrd. I talked to Senator Stevens. I concur that in the conference the substance of the amendments will be worked out should the provision remain in the bill. It is the best we can do.

Mr. WARNER. In that time, we can work on the time for the rest of the evening. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WARNER. None, Mr. President, but I want to inform the Senate as a part of this colloquy that it is the distinguished majority leader's will we do at least 4-plus hours tonight. I will remain, of course, for that purpose. I do hope other Senators will indicate their availability so we can use that time properly. I believe this is one of the most important and interesting debates on a foreign policy issue we have had in the Senate this year.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, will the Senator allow me to speak for 1\1/2\ minutes?

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I commend Congressman John Kasich. The House voted 264-153 to adopt the provision which I drafted and then gave to Congressman Kasich, which is approximately one-half of the matter we are now debating. In other words, the House has already acted on one-half of the provision we are debating, and it voted in favor of it 264-153. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print the House amendment in today's Record for the availability of Members.

Mr. WARNER. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question? I yield on my time.

Mr. WARNER. I have listened very carefully. By the way, it was the Biden-Warner amendment back in the intense part of that air operation which prevailed.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask the distinguished leader, who came to this body following an earlier distinguished career in the House, is he aware of the overwhelming vote in the House today for basically the principles that are incorporated in the Byrd-Warner amendment? The vote was 264 to 140-some, something along in there. I think that is a clear indication that the people in the United States of America want, first, participation by the coequal branch, i.e., the Congress; and, secondly, for us to address this matter in a responsible way before we shovel out $2 billion more for this type of operation.

Mr. WARNER. That is right. Mr. President, their voices, the people's voices, were heard through this House vote today.

Mr. WARNER. I thank our distinguished leader for his support. I thank our dear colleague from West Virginia who, year after year after year, comes to this floor and reminds the Senate of its responsibilities in foreign affairs. This is precisely what is before us in this vote.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, while our distinguished colleague is here, and on my time, I would like to say that he has followed this matter for some time. He was on the Appropriations Committee at the time this amendment was voted into the bill. My recollection is that 23 Senators voted to put it in. Am I not correct?

Mr. WARNER. Three opposed and two abstained.