[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   INTERSTATE TRASH, SALTWATER RESEARCH, AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, let me just comment on three things very 
briefly.
  One is something that I just chatted with Senators Wofford and Baucus 
and Coats about, and that is the flow of waste between States and 
agreements.
  There has been a problem with the city of Chicago. The city of 
Chicago recognizes that they do not want to be a stumbling block, and 
so I have entered a colloquy in the Record. We are going to try to work 
out the difficulties that remain there.
  A second issue that we are very, very close to getting worked out, I 
hope, is something important to civilization, and that is getting 
research done to find a less expensive way of converting saltwater to 
freshwater. The Presiding Officer is from Hawaii. Hawaii, fortunately, 
has plenty of water. But there are a lot of places surrounded by water, 
surprisingly, that have severe water shortages. If you take a look at 
the world today, its population is going up like this. About 5.7 
billion today, by the year 2050 it will be somewhere between 8.5 to 10 
billion. Our water supply is not going up. You do not need to be an 
Einstein to understand that period where we are headed for difficulty.
  This bill to provide research not only has the interest of many 
people here, it has the interest of people as unlikely as Prime 
Minister Rabin and King Hussein and many other leaders around the world 
who recognize we are going to have to rely much more on ocean water in 
the future for water supplies. We can do it now for drinking water, but 
we cannot use it for agriculture and industrial uses because it is too 
expensive.
  We are very close to a breakthrough here. We have ended up in a minor 
jurisdictional problem. Senator Chafee is looking at that right now. I 
hope he will be able to remove his hold and that we can move ahead. It 
is rare that you can say a bill is important to civilization. This one 
is important to civilization itself.
  Then, finally, a measure that I have been working on for some time, 
together with Congressman John Lewis, from Georgia, over in the House, 
as well as a number of colleagues here-- Senator McCain has been great; 
my colleague, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, has been great--is to have 
an African-American museum here.
  Because of the arcane rules of the Senate, any one Senator can have a 
hold on a bill. I have used it. I am sure the Presiding Officer has 
used it. We all use it. But I would vote tomorrow for a change in the 
rules. I think it is wrong that any one Senator can hold something up. 
But that is the situation. And one Senator has held up this Martin 
Luther King museum bill that the Smithsonian wants.
  Other than planning money, they are not asking for any money for it. 
There is no cost. And yet it can tell American citizens and visitors 
who come here from around the world about the diversity of America and 
that two groups have very special histories, American Indians--native 
Americans--and African-Americans. For very different reasons, they have 
different histories.
  The Smithsonian has an American Indian museum, native American 
museum, and they want to go ahead with an African-American museum. I 
have a hard time fathoming why anyone would oppose that when we are not 
asking for an additional penny of money, but it is being opposed. I 
hope next year we can work it out.
  My colleague, Senator Helms, who has the hold on it, has told me he 
will try to work with me in a good-faith effort to get something worked 
out next year. I hope we can do that.
  Mr. President, if no one else seeks the floor, I question the 
presence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois suggests the absence 
of a quorum. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________