John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator. Amendment No. 405 (Purpose: To express the sense of Congress with respect to the court- martial conviction of the late Rear Admiral Charles Butler McVay, III, and to call upon the President to award a Presidential Unit Citation to the final crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis)

Mr. WARNER. That is a development somewhat new, as opposed to what we had in earlier conversations. Might I suggest the Senator lay down the amendment and commence and give me the opportunity to consult with the ranking member?

Mr. WARNER. And I thank my colleague for that understanding. So if the Senator will proceed and allow me to seek recognition as soon as the ranking member can give me advice, I will be in opposition, as will the ranking member. I hope we could have, perhaps, 50 minutes equally divided.

Mr. WARNER. I want to consult with my distinguished ranking member, but in fairness, I advise my good friend I have looked over this amendment--the Senator from Virginia, as chairman of the committee--and certainly my own judgment is that I will have to move to table. I think my good friend understands that.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. WARNER. We now turn to an amendment by the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire, Mr. Smith, a very valued member of the Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. It would be my hope we could arrive at a time agreement and possibly vote on the amendment tonight.

Mr. WARNER. I ask unanimous consent that be laid aside.

Mr. WARNER. That is exactly right.

Mr. WARNER. Yes.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I have assured him. In order to protect all parties--Senator Stevens may wish to speak to this --I ask unanimous consent that we have 1 hour, divided 20 minutes under the control of the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma, and 40 minutes, which would include the time for Senator Harkin, under the control of the Senator from Colorado.

Mr. WARNER. Why not give 15 minutes to each side; 20 minutes for Senator Harkin. Is there any other time that you know of, I ask my distinguished ranking member?

Mr. WARNER. That is the amount of time he will require. It may be that we have to go off this amendment for a short time, but I have assured him that we would not, of course, vote, and we would come back on the amendment to give him the 20 minutes. But I inquire of the Senator from Colorado the time that he desires, and the distinguished Senator, Senator Inhofe, the time that he desires.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Chair. I am very anxious to structure this so all Senators have an opportunity to speak on this important amendment. I have spoken to Senator Harkin, and he desires 20 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if the Senator would yield?

Mr. WARNER. Fine. Mr. President, we are then ready to proceed.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Chair. Mr. President, it is the desire of the managers and the leadership to continue to work on this bill and make good progress. The pending amendment is the amendment by the distinguished leader from Mississippi, Mr. Lott; am I not correct? I am fairly certain.

Mr. WARNER. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. WARNER. I thank my colleague. It has been a good, spirited debate on a very serious subject. I think his historical context would be very helpful for all Senators. The bottom line is, we tend to forget, as you pointed out, in 1988, it was foremost in our minds. Not so. Mr. President, if the Senate could now proceed to the vote with all time yielded back, I ask for the yeas and nays and move to table the Kerrey amendment.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. There could be other Senators, many Senators, interested in this Civil Air Patrol issue. I am happy to lay it down, and at such time as we can get a reconciliation of viewpoints, we hope to proceed. How much time do you think you would need so other Senators----

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if I could advise the Senator from Colorado, in fairness to all colleagues, Senator Inhofe, a fellow committee member, has a position, I think, different from yours; is that correct?

Mr. WARNER. Reserving the right to object, would you describe in two sentences the nature of the amendment so other Senators can be acquainted with it.

Mr. WARNER. I will put it in the Record as of now that you have done that, if you will address the Chair. Amendment No. 396 (Purpose: To substitute provisions regarding the Civil Air Patrol)

Mr. WARNER. Might I suggest to the ranking member that another Member, the Senator from Colorado, desires to address another matter. Rather than putting in a quorum call, I would like to have agreement that the Senator proceed.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we will acknowledge the request for the quorum, but I think one Senator seeks recognition for an administrative purpose, and I have no objection to that.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I say to my good friend, we have bent over backwards all day to accommodate him. We will continue to do so. Whatever the problem, we will solve it.