John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. That is correct. Let me just finish this and then I think it will be clear. Now, Mr. President, if I may continue, in light of this agreement, there will be no further votes this evening. Senators interested in the BRAC debate should remain this evening. The Senate will resume the DOD bill at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and two amendments are expected to be offered prior to the 11:45 a.m. resumption of the BRAC debate. Therefore, at least one vote, if not more votes, will occur beginning at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.

Mr. WARNER. We are working on that.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator.

Mr. WARNER. Now, Mr. President, in light of this agreement, there will be no reinstitution of a vote tonight. It is not the leader's desire; I wish to make that clear.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, to advise the Senate with regard to the important business remaining to be performed tonight, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to an amendment to be offered by Senators McCain and Levin re: BRAC and that there be 3\1/2\ hours of debate equally divided between the proponents and opponents. I further ask consent that all debate time be consumed during Tuesday, May 25, except for 2 hours, to be equally divided, and to resume at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday. I further ask consent that the vote occur on or in relation to the BRAC amendment on Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. and no amendments be in order to the amendment prior to the 1:45 p.m. vote.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we yield back time on both sides.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Just 2 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. I would suggest that we try to conclude the Roberts amendment in 5 or 10 minutes. Then we will proceed to the Wellstone amendment, and then we can adhere to the time agreements.

Mr. WARNER. The Senator is correct, for about 3 minutes, in support.

Mr. WARNER. I will need to check other commitments we made with regard to time. I will work on it and come back in a minute or two and clarify this. In the meantime, if we can proceed with the Roberts amendment.

Mr. WARNER. If I may say, Mr. President, right after our caucuses are votes on other amendments, including Senator Roberts' amendment.

Mr. WARNER. This is the dilemma that the Senator from Virginia, the manager of the bill has, in that, as drawn, the UC of last night requires it to be completed prior to 12:30. So now let's figure out how we accommodate the Senate. Perhaps we can move your amendment to some point this afternoon, that is, amendment No. 3, when the Senator could avail himself of the full 30 minutes, if he so desires.

Mr. WARNER. Beg your pardon? I have to address the Chair. There is a UC requirement of the expenditure of that time prior to the normal weekly recess today at 12:30?

Mr. WARNER. I am just seeking to try to accommodate the Senate.

Mr. WARNER. For the convenience of the Senate, does the Senator think he can give us any estimate as to how he can shorten it from a half hour down to, say, 10 or 12 minutes?

Mr. WARNER. We would like to complete that amendment by 1 o'clock. Will the Senator reduce his amount of time? In all likelihood, we will yield back the half hour reserved for us, because there is not likely to be any opposition.

Mr. WARNER. I am only addressing procedure.

Mr. WARNER. And does the Senator wish to adhere to that previous order?

Mr. WARNER. We have not put it in the form of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, for the purpose of the party caucuses, we hope to complete all debate on the underlying amendment circa 12:30, which is roughly a half hour. I wish to speak a few more minutes on the amendment offered by the Senator from Kansas, as does the ranking member. My suggestion is, if possible, while Senator Wellstone is on the floor, do the voice voting of his two amendments, reserving, of course, scheduling the third, and then we can continue with this debate. It will not take but a minute on the two voice votes on the two Wellstone amendments.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I want to address the document that was submitted to the Senate by the Senator from Delaware entitled: The Kyl Amendment and the Strategic Concept of NATO. I went back and asked the Senator from Delaware to clarify the date, time, group, and when it was prepared and submitted to the Senate. He is doing that. But I just wish to draw the attention to the Senate, as I read this document--and I have seen it before--it simply refers to those portions in the Kyl amendment that were incorporated into the final draft of the Strategic Concept. But it does not, on its face, nor do I believe it was intended to, say that it covered everything by the new Strategic Concept. Indeed, I agree with the Senator from Kansas this document in no way is intended to represent that it encompasses all of the new Strategic Concept. The Senator from Kansas is quite properly pointing out there are those of us--the Senator from Kansas, myself, and others--who feel the Strategic Concept went beyond the Kyl amendment. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER. I yield such time as the Senator from Michigan needs.

Mr. WARNER. We gave the names of some of the most revered elder statesmen of this body who presided, such as Alben Barkley. And, indeed, President Truman had to address, in 1947, as Senator Roth and I covered last night, the tombstone promotions, which were given to officers of this category, and deny them. Truman himself had to make that decision. So I say to my good friend, many fair-minded individuals have reviewed this case and have come up with the determination that they were not the only ones who had culpability, but certainly, as I read it, this commission of the Congress of the United States found a serious basis for holding the action and making the decision that they did.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Chair. Now, Mr. President, we are ready to receive the comments under the standing order for the day from our distinguished colleague from Minnesota. These comments will be relative to what I call the third amendment, No. 382. Perhaps we could take this time to vote the first two by voice.