John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I likewise ask to be added as a cosponsor of the amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I strongly support the Chambliss amendment. I want to bring to the attention of colleagues that a minute ago we accepted another amendment which will go to conference, and I am quite confident that out of that conference will come a package of further compensation to the men and women for the Guard and Reserve for other reasons. But in this bill we are adding enormous benefits for the men and women in the Armed Forces, all of which are justified in many areas. The Senator has picked out an area which has been under consideration for some period of time. But I point out that the cost of the Durbin second degree, which vote will follow this one, must be considered in the area of $1 billion for their 2006 and $10 billion over the next 10 years. That is 10 times, according to my calculation, the cost to the Federal taxpayer of the amendment of the Senator from Georgia. Am I correct?

Mr. WARNER. So I urge my colleagues we must show some restraint as we are going through a number of valid and important increments in pay and benefits for the men and women in the Armed Forces. In essence, the Chambliss amendment is an adaptation of the Durbin amendment but at one-tenth the cost because I think you are more equitably treating those who have served in periods of active service. I thank the Senator.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I also ask for the yeas and nays on the Durbin amendment.

Mr. WARNER. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we have this vote. We are making great progress on this bill. I will be consulting with the leadership. There is a possibility we would like to continue tonight, but with regard to further rollcall votes, we will have to consult our respective leaders to determine that. We will do that as quickly as possible so as to convenience Senators. But this bill will go on tonight. It may well be we debate amendments and stack them for the morning.

Mr. WARNER. Well, I have to get my leader, I have to tell you. I know he came on and off the floor. Mr. President, the managers wish to advise the Senate that this will probably be the last rollcall vote tonight. But we will continue to debate amendments and stack them for a time agreed upon by the two leaders for tomorrow morning. Amendment No. 2473, as Modified

Mr. WARNER. We will schedule this vote at a time in consultation with our respective leaders. There may be some other matters that we have.

Mr. WARNER. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I see the distinguished Senator from Missouri and the Senator from Connecticut. This is one of the amendments in the 12 on this side of the aisle. I would like to have this amendment move forward.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I strongly endorse the amendment by our colleagues, both the Senator from Missouri and the Senator from Connecticut. They have carefully discussed with us the process by which they arrived at this conclusion. I must say, putting aside a little modesty, years and years ago, I was the one who on several occasions worked with others in this Senate to save the C-17 from even coming into being. We could see the needs into the future. This plane has been an absolute, rock-solid performer in our inventory of airlift. I think this amendment comes at a critical time, expressing the desires of the Congress. It gives flexibility to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of Defense to proceed. I strongly support it. At this time, it may be necessary to put in a quorum call so the matter can be discussed. Is that correct?

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, do I understand the Senators desire a rollcall vote?

Mr. WARNER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that time until 11:30 a.m. tomorrow be equally divided in the usual form, and that at 11:30 the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Dorgan amendment No. 2476, to be followed by a vote in relation to the Talent amendment No. 2477, with no second degrees in order to those amendments prior to the votes; further, that there be 3 minutes equally divided between the votes.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1988 introduced earlier today.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. WARNER. I must say to the distinguished Presiding Officer, the war reserves stockpile for Korea, I don't know if that includes me with it or not. I did spend a period of time over there in 1951 and 1952 in the winter with the Marines. Likely I will be here again tomorrow morning to pursue the authorization bill.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 10; I further ask, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate then proceed to a period for morning business for up to an hour, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the Democrat leader or his designee; further, that the Senate resume consideration of S. 1042, the Defense authorization bill as under the previous order.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I hope to be joined by my colleague from Michigan this afternoon. We will do our very best to keep the Senate moving without quorum calls to conclude the amendments, each side having 12, and also the managers approving a number of reconciled amendments on both sides. I anticipate a vigorous procedure this afternoon on behalf of this bill, moving toward third reading at the earliest possible date, which is the decision that the majority and Democratic leaders will eventually make. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WARNER. Will the Senator yield for a question? Could he put the chart back up?

Mr. WARNER. I will be recognized and would hope that the reply of the Senator could be brief. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, this is a little bit of a complex situation. We are anxious to get started on the bill. We want to honor the 9 minutes on the other side of the aisle. I am wondering if the Senator from Oklahoma could proceed as in morning business until such time as there is recognition sought on the other side to utilize the remaining 9 minutes.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I don't know that we condone a marketing tool by which a certain category--and it so happens that category perhaps has the preponderance of things which people would consider liberal. I am not sure we can escape totally the use of that word. It is better that we let the 33 stations themselves decide what it is. If a program hasn't hit a million, well, there may be some audience within the family of people you discuss here, all of the various listeners and families and embassies and consulates, maybe they would like to hear something even though it hasn't hit the 1 million mark.