[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 TREASURY, POSTAL SERVICE, AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  1995

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the vote 
scheduled for 7:15 be scheduled for 7:25.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. Madam President, the amendment pending, the amendment 
from the Senator from North Carolina, has some merit. But I must say I 
am very disappointed to see the personal attack on the assistant to the 
President who is the administrator of the Office for Management and 
Administration.
  Before I comment on that, let me say the White House is very 
cognizant of the importance of a drug-free workplace. And, indeed, they 
have taken steps to ensure that is the case. As a matter of fact, it 
has been prior administrations that have taken that step, and there 
have been assistants to the Presidents in past administrations and one 
in this case who was tested, it was positive, and they have been 
dismissed. So, no one is trying to exempt themselves from the drug 
testing.
  The Executive Office of the President has had a drug-free workplace 
since July of 1988, and this administration adopted that and actually 
enhanced it. The drug-free workplace is administered by the Office of 
Administration, Personnel Management Division, which is headed and 
staffed by a career civil servant. We are not talking about a political 
appointee. This is not Patsy Thomasson who runs this drug testing 
program.
  Any individual being placed in a testing designated position is 
tested under the applicant's testing provisions of the program. Here in 
this White House they have adopted a drug testing for employees--it is 
currently a mandatory procedure. Everybody employed at the White House, 
the Office of Policy Development, the Office of Administration, the 
National Security Council, Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of 
the Vice President, Council of Economic Quality, Executive Residence, 
Office of the National Drug Control Policy, the Office of Science and 
Technology--all of these people are under a mandatory drug testing 
program. And it is 12 percent, or approximately 117 employees, of the 
Executive Office of the President who undergo this mandatory annual 
drug test every year.
  That means their names are not picked by Patsy Thomasson or by Mr. 
McLarty or some political person down there. They are picked randomly 
from the 1,057 employees. As they come up they are tested. No excuse. 
Not, ``OK, 2 days''; or ``I just do not feel like doing it now''--they 
are tested. It is conducted by an independent contractor, somebody who 
is totally dismissed and divorced, not part of the White House 
politically or professionally. They are independent contractors who 
conduct the test for the White House to ensure quality control.
  Testing 12 percent is above, I am told, what the normal drug-free 
workplace standard is.
  Let me get to the heart of this amendment that ought not to be here, 
in all due respect to the distinguished Senator from North Carolina. 
There is no evidence that I know of that Patsy Thomasson has been 
involved in any drug action or participation in any way herself. I am 
advised she has gone before the grand jury in the State of Arkansas, 
that there has been no evidence whatsoever to link her in this. It is 
to me a disgrace that the accusations are made here regarding this 
young lady. She is a hard-working person who is trying to do the best 
she can. It is a tough job, administering 1,057 people, many of them 
political appointees, who have certain relationships with the President 
or the Chief of Staff and do not have to listen to her, and she has 
almost a thankless job.
  For Senators to stand up here and read newspaper clippings and make 
accusations that Patsy Thomasson is somewhat involved in drugs and that 
she is responsible for the problems down at the White House is unfair. 
Believe me, I have worked with this woman. And when there was a 
security problem down there, she said, ``Yes, what can you do to help 
me, Senator?''
  When I called I said, ``I want to help.'' And we, from the 
Intelligence Committee, offered to send down our director of security 
and, if I may Madam President, the Intelligence Committee has a 
security system that is widely respected throughout the intelligence 
community. And we have had an excellent record. And the White House 
took us up on it. Mr. James Wolfe went down there and spent several 
days with White House officials reviewing their security procedures, 
including the drug testing.
  And there is no evidence that Ms. Thomasson has been involved with 
administering this drug test. She just said, ``It will be a policy,'' 
as it always had been. It is a policy today.
  So, though this amendment has merit because I find nothing 
objectionable relating to the responsibility of the executive office, I 
find it very objectionable and disgraceful, in my opinion, to see 
attacks on someone who is an administrator at the White House who I 
think has a proven ability. If somebody wants to look back and say, oh, 
well, she had a friend once who was indicted or who did something 
wrong, was accused of something--well, as the Bible said, who is going 
to throw the first stone in this body? Who has been in politics who has 
not had some friend or somebody who has gotten in trouble that they had 
nothing to do with?
  So I am extremely disappointed that an amendment that has some merit 
cannot be set before the Senate without making a personal attack on 
somebody's reputation. Believe me, I have a little experience with 
that.
  It is absolutely enough to make you regurgitate.
  Mr. PRYOR addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, I was not planning to speak, but on the 
TV monitor, I listened to the Senator from North Carolina.
  Let me just briefly state that we have just seen a case of the 
Senator from North Carolina assassinate the character of a fine lady, a 
fine woman, a fine person who works in the White House.
  Patsy Thomasson, during the trial and the grand jury proceedings of 
Dan Lasater, to the best of my knowledge, testified at length before 
the grand jury, and in her testimony, to the best of my knowledge, 
stated that she had never used cocaine in her life. The Senator from 
North Carolina, a few moments ago, stated on the floor of the U.S. 
Senate that Patsy Thomasson had, in fact, admitted to the use of 
cocaine.
  Madam President, I think the Senator from North Carolina owes this 
individual and the U.S. Senate an apology.
  I yield the floor.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I would like to draw attention of my 
colleagues to the fact that this will be the last Treasury, Postal 
Service bill that our very dear colleague, Senator Dennis DeConcini, 
will be moving through the U.S. Senate. He, of course, will bring back 
an excellent conference so that we will be able to vote on that.
  But I wish as a member of the Appropriations Committee and a member 
of the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service to pay my respects to 
Senator DeConcini and the outstanding job he has done, both in the 
Senate and with this particular subcommittee. This is a very 
complicated subcommittee. It deals with Federal law enforcement, other 
than what is at the Justice Department.
  He tried to make sure that there was enough money for the new cops, 
for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, those wonderful, 
gallant men and women who are trying to protect us from too many guns 
on the streets.
  He has been an advocate of adequate funding for the Internal Revenue 
Service, not only to collect enough taxes to balance the budget, but go 
after the waste, to go after the fraud, to go after the bums and to go 
after the deadbeats who just will not pay their taxes. And Dennis 
DeConcini was in the forefront of making sure it was adequately funded.
  Every single agency at the Department of Treasury has come under this 
man's appropriations. He has stood firm in terms of fiscal 
responsibility and yet he has seen a direction for the future and 
placed money in law enforcement, in those Federal agencies important to 
the Treasury. He has tried to get the mail delivered on time. I hope 
one day he is a stamp himself.
  So as a Member of the United States, and I know he is in active 
negotiations, I would like to say that Senator DeConcini is really one 
of the great guys in the Senate, and I say that because I have worked 
with him, I have served with him, and I have learned from him.
  Madam President, Senator DeConcini on Appropriations will be sorely 
missed.
  Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  Mr. BOND addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator withhold her call for a 
quorum call?
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I withhold.
  Mr. BOND addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri is seeking 
recognition.
  Mr. BOND. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator 
from North Carolina may be permitted to speak for 1\1/2\ minutes. I 
believe some questions were raised about what he said, and he wished to 
clarify them before we go to a vote. I know many of our colleagues have 
other commitments and want to go to a vote. But I ask unanimous consent 
that he be given 1 minute----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. PRYOR. Reserving the right to object.
  If the Senator from North Carolina is given a minute and a half, I 
ask a minute and a half to be given to the Senator from Arizona to 
respond or to the Senator from Arkansas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. CONRAD. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question recurs 
on the motion to recommit offered by the Senator from New Hampshire 
[Mr. Smith].
  Mr. DeCONCINI. Madam President, I move to table the motion by the 
Senator from New Hampshire----
  Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Senator withhold?
  Mr. DeCONCINI. And I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. I withhold that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator withholds and yields to the 
Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. For parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I make a parliamentary inquiry. Does the Senator think 
it is appropriate if a Senator wants to explain and say he did not say 
what a Senator has accused him of saying that he should not be given 
permission to do that for 1\1/2\ minutes?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is the question addressed to the Senator from 
North Dakota who objected?
  Mr. DOMENICI. The question has been propounded, and I do not expect 
an answer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator does not expect an answer.


                      Motion to Recommit H.R. 4539

  Mr. DeCONCINI. Madam President, I move to table the motion of the 
Senator from New Hampshire and ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on agreeing to the motion 
to table the motion to recommit the bill offered by the Senator from 
New Hampshire.
  The yeas and nays have been ordered, and the clerk will call the 
roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Iowa [Mr. Harkin] is 
necessarily absent.
  I further announce that the Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Dodd] is 
absent due to illness in the family.
  I also announce that the Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] is absent 
attending a funeral.
  Mr. DOLE. I announce that the Senator from Montana [Mr. Burns], the 
Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Durenberger], and the Senator from Wyoming 
[Mr. Simpson] are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Wyoming [Mr. Simpson] would vote ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 56, nays 38, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 156 Leg.]

                                YEAS--56

     Akaka
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boren
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bumpers
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cochran
     Cohen
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeConcini
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Exon
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Hatfield
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnston
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Mathews
     Metzenbaum
     Mikulski
     Mitchell
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Nunn
     Pell
     Pryor
     Riegle
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Sasser
     Simon
     Specter
     Stevens
     Wellstone

                                NAYS--38

     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bradley
     Brown
     Bryan
     Chafee
     Coats
     Coverdell
     Craig
     Danforth
     Dole
     Faircloth
     Feingold
     Gramm
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Heflin
     Helms
     Hutchison
     Kassebaum
     Kempthorne
     Kohl
     Lott
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Packwood
     Pressler
     Roth
     Shelby
     Smith
     Thurmond
     Wallop
     Warner
     Wofford

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Burns
     Dodd
     Durenberger
     Harkin
     Reid
     Simpson
  So the motion was agreed to.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by 
which the motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. BOND. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THURMOND. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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