John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, the Armed Services Committee met yesterday under the advise and consent role with respect to General Shinseki to be Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and General Jones to become Commandant of the Marine Corps. I want to say with the deepest personal reverence that in my 21 years in the Senate, I cannot recall ever being moved as strongly by the remarks of a fellow Senator as I was yesterday when the senior Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Inouye, addressed the Armed Services Committee and introduced General Shinseki. While I would like to read these remarks, it is better that they just be printed in the Record. I urge all Senators to examine these remarks. They are extraordinary. They come from the heart of a Senator who has served his country with the greatest distinction, and his praise for a fellow Hawaiian who came up under circumstances not unlike his, although removed by a generation or so. I ask unanimous consent to have the remarks of Senator Inouye printed in the Record.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, this afternoon, the Senate Armed Services Committee reported out favorably the nominations of General Shinseki and General Jones, and I anticipate tomorrow the Senate will move on those nominations. As chairman, I designated Senator Roberts, a former U.S. Marine, to place the nomination by the committee, as approved, of General Jones to the Senate; and Senator Cleland of Georgia, an Army veteran of great distinction and an officer who served in Vietnam, will place before the Senate the nomination of General Shinseki. Once again, I close by saluting the Secretary of Defense, the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States, and our allies for their courage and perception in meeting the challenges proposed in Kosovo. I wish them well in the future.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, with a deep sense of humility, I believe the Senate should close its proceedings today by paying our profound and deepest respect to the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and their comrades in arms from 18 other nations, NATO, for having taken an enormous risk in performing with a degree of excellence that by any standard can be judged by all who understand military operations as in keeping with the finest traditions of our military and the military of other nations of the world. Their actions to bring about what appears to be a cessation of hostilities, certainly in the air, at this time receives our profound gratitude and our prayers for their safety. I, moments ago, spoke with the Secretary of Defense to pass on to our old colleague from the Senate a ``well done.'' I had the opportunity, as did many here in the Senate, to work with him on a regular basis throughout this crisis period in Kosovo, and I commend him for maintaining a very strong hand on this situation, particularly at times when it became very difficult. We have discussed the command from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, chiefs of services, down through the CINCs, to the privates, whether they be in the air, on the sea, on the land. Again, they performed their job with great professional skill and dedication. It was not an easy job, because there was a good deal of uncertainty, and that uncertainty still remains as to exactly how this mission was carried out and whether it could have been done differently. But nevertheless, some 3,000-plus sorties were flown by the men and women in the aircraft of eight nations, supported by ground personnel at bases throughout that region, 17 bases alone in Italy. I had the privilege last week, as a matter of fact a week ago today I was in Albania with General Jackson, who will be heading the ARRC force and who broke the news of the agreement between the military side with the representatives from Yugoslavia, General Clark and Admiral Ellis. I wish to say to these commanders that, again, it was their leadership which instilled a sense of confidence and conviction in their subordinates that this job had to be done, that we had to stay the course, and the professionalism we have witnessed now in the air operation. I was asked momentarily, does this represent a victory or how would you characterize it? I simply said to the press early today, and to my colleagues I say now, it is far too early to try to make those judgments. The Senate Armed Services Committee, which I am privileged to chair, will hold a series of hearings on what went right and what went wrong and what, most particularly, will be the strategy of our forces for the future if faced with another situation of the seriousness and the complexity of this one in Kosovo. I visited this region last September. As I stood there in Albania and Macedonia and observed the terrain, which is identical in many ways to that in Kosovo, I thought back to the refugees at that time huddling in the hills. I said on the floor of the Senate there would be a need then, as there is now, for a ground military force to stabilize the situation, stabilize it so while the ground forces of NATO will go in, eventually other nongovernmental organizations from all over the world will come to help these people who were tragically driven from their homes and villages by a very brutal military force under the direction of President Milosevic, a man who has conducted himself with complete disregard of all international law and human rights. Again, I return to the troops. While the air operation, hopefully, will be secured, if not already, within hours, we have remaining before us the challenge on the ground, and the ground forces will now take up their professional responsibilities. May the hand of God rest upon their shoulders, because they will be faced with land mines and booby traps, all types of uncertainty. They will have to perform tasks not unlike those of a mayor of a village, to the extremes of how to deal with this hidden weaponry and a tragic situation of returning people to a devastated homeland. The KLA will present challenges. In some instances, they fought with great courage. But now they must reconcile themselves to the fact that this international force, indeed NATO and the United Nations, must resolve the situation in a peaceable manner. So while victory cannot be pronounced now, not until the ground forces go in and perform their challenging tasks, I say clearly that NATO has taken another major, significant step in the international community toward reaching its five basic goals. Those goals have been stated on this floor and in the press many times. I salute all. In my discussions with Secretary Cohen, we made reference to the President. The President is Commander in Chief. The words that Secretary Cohen used--and I have a great respect for Bill Cohen, having served with him here some 18 years in the Senate--were that the President was steady. He stayed steady at every turn in these events, stayed focused and gave it his attention. In every way, I think the comments of the Secretary of Defense were very respectful. Clearly, in the minds of all of us, we have to credit the President with holding together the 19 nations. It was essential that that coalition under the NATO charter remain together throughout this first phase--that is, the air phase--and now they must remain together throughout an equally difficult and challenging phase, that of securing the ground. As I said, when I was there one week ago with General Jackson, General Clark, Admiral Ellis, and other military commanders, it is clear that the magnitude of the uncertainty relating to the landmines and booby traps, and indeed the problems associated with moving the Serb forces out, pose a challenge that, in many respects, has never been faced by a U.S. military force. But I have confidence in those commanders and in the men and women who will boldly undertake this task. So I wish to just pay my humble respects, and I will follow this operation very clearly, in terms of our duties in the Senate and on the Armed Services Committee and, most assuredly, in our prayers for their safety and for the safety of those Kosovars who were driven from their homes and now have hope to once again return.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, tomorrow, the Senate will immediately resume consideration of the Y2K legislation. The Senate hopes to complete action on that legislation tomorrow afternoon. Following the debate on S. 96, the Senate may begin consideration of the State Department authorization bill, any appropriations bills available, or any legislative or executive items on the calendar. Therefore, Senators can expect votes throughout tomorrow's session of the Senate.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 10. I further ask that on Thursday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of the proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that the Senate then resume consideration of S. 96, the Y2K liability legislation.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Will the Senator yield for an observation?

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I send to the desk an amendment on behalf of Mr. Smith of New Hampshire.

Mr. WARNER. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment on behalf of the distinguished Senator from North Carolina, Mr. Helms.

Mr. WARNER. Now, it is the request of the manager that Mr. Cochran be recognized for not to exceed 10 minutes to lay down an amendment. If that amendment cannot be agreed upon by a voice vote, we would just lay it aside with the understanding there is 10 minutes for opposition at some point in the afternoon.

Mr. WARNER. The Senator from Florida has waited very patiently for about 2 or 3 days. He has an amendment which is to be laid down following the Cochran amendment. I ask there be a period of 30 minutes, 15 minutes under the control of the Senator from Florida, 15 minutes under the joint control of Senators Shelby and Robert Kerrey.

Mr. WARNER. I guess that is the end of the ability to move things. We just have to put that request in abeyance.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, in light of this agreement, all first- degree amendments must be relevant and offered by 2:30 p.m. today. It is the intention of the managers and leaders to complete action on this bill, hopefully, no later than 5 o'clock today. We have had a number of Senators patiently waiting. The Senator from Florida is willing to accommodate the chairman in his request that a period of 30 minutes, under the control of the Senator from Arizona and the Senator from New Mexico, be allocated for an amendment which they will lay down within that period of time, and at the conclusion of the 30-minute period, that amendment will be laid aside for the purpose of an amendment to be laid down by the Senator from Florida, which amendment will require 30 minutes of debate, 15 minutes under the control of the Senator from Florida, 15 minutes under the control of the Senator from Alabama, Mr. Shelby, and that 15 minutes will be shared between Mr. Shelby and Mr. Kerrey, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee. I propose that to the Chair.

Mr. WARNER. That being in order, we will now proceed with the 30 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. My understanding is that the Senator from Virginia propounded a UC to give the three Senators Senator Kyl just designated 30 minutes in which to lay down an amendment, and at the end of the 30 minutes the amendment be laid aside. There is no restriction whatsoever on the remainder of the time with respect to further consideration of the amendment, I say to my distinguished colleague.

Mr. WARNER. First, with regard to the balance of the afternoon: I ask unanimous consent that all remaining first-degree amendments be offered by 2:30 p.m. today, and at 2:10 p.m., Senator Levin be recognized to offer and lay aside amendments for Members on his side of the aisle, and at 2:20 p.m., the chairman of the committee be recognized to offer and lay aside amendments for Members on his side of the aisle, and that those amendments be subject to relevant second-degree amendments. I further ask that all first-degree amendments must be relevant to the text of the bill.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I commend our colleague. He is a very valuable member of the committee. I was privileged to be in the Pentagon when Secretary Melvin Laird devised the total force concept, which means the United States of America looks to its national security in terms of not only the Active Forces but the Reserve and the Guard. That was the turning point, a recognition for those men and women who so proudly and in a great deal of sacrifice in terms of their private lives--because they have to balance a full-time job in most instances together with Reserve and Guard commitments requiring them very often to forgo their vacations-- contribute that time to their desired slots in the Reserve and the Guard. Therefore, I strongly support this amendment. I want to clarify one thing. This does not add any more numbers of general or flag officers to the total number now in the Pentagon. The numbers that will be used for these promotions are to be drawn from a number within the ranks of each of the departments of the military. Am I not correct on that?

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Hutchison.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Mr. Thomas.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment on behalf of Mr. Gramm of Texas.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I will just have to ask the indulgence of my colleague for a minute or two. I hope that can be achieved. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WARNER. Why don't you finish up the first amendment, inform the Chair, and then we will have Senator Lautenberg complete the Kennedy amendment.

Mr. WARNER. If the Senator will yield for a moment, it was the decision of the manager of the bill that the importance of this amendment was such that the sooner it was shared on both sides of the aisle the better, because this is an important amendment. We are making progress towards completing this bill by the hour of 5 o'clock. This is simply the one unknown quantity that we have to assess. This procedure, in my judgment, enables the Senate to get an assessment of the probability of the resolution of this amendment.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Aging be authorized to meet for a hearing on ``Older Americans Act'' during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 27, 1999, at 2:30 p.m.