[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 51 (Thursday, April 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3909-S3914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA POLICE CHIEF

  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I rise to make a few remarks concerning 
Section 10007, a general provision included in the conference report 
for the emergency supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 
1998. My amendment is a technical amendment clarifying that the terms 
of the contract recently signed by the new Police Chief for the 
District of Columbia are valid and not in conflict with existing law. 
The new Police Chief, Charles Ramsey, was unanimously approved for the 
job by the D.C. Council, the Mayor, the D.C. Financial Responsibility 
and Management Assistance Authority (the Control Board) and the Mayor's 
Citizens Advisory Panel. The employment contract, which called for 
Chief Ramsey to report to the Control Board, was signed by the Mayor 
without objection on April 21, 1998. An April 23, 1998 legal opinion 
written by the District of Columbia Corporation Counsel challenges the 
legality of the contract. This opinion has created a potential crisis 
of uncertainty over who Chief Ramsey will report to and threatens to 
sidetrack the Chief as he begins to clean house at a very troubled 
department. My amendment simply states that the Chief's April 21, 1998 
contract is valid. It also makes clear that, so long as the Control 
Board--which Congress created--exists, all future Chiefs of Police will 
work under the same reporting conditions as Chief Ramsey. This 
amendment is imperative if we are to support the Control Board, Chief 
Ramsey, and the citizens of the District of Columbia, who deserve a 
police department that can protect them on the streets and in their 
neighborhoods.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
thank Chairman Stevens, Senator Bond, Senator Domenici and their staffs 
for their efforts on behalf of the citizens of Alabama. Over the last 
several months, Alabama has suffered greatly as a result of multiple 
natural disasters. As the state was addressing the flooding in its 
Southern regions, a series of violent tornados devastated portions of 
Northern Alabama. These terrible events resulted in loss of life and 
extensive property and infrastructure damage. In many cases, whole 
communities were destroyed. While communities have banded together to 
begin the process of rebuilding their lives, the need for assistance is 
obvious to anyone who has viewed the destruction firsthand.
  I appreciate the efforts of the Senator from Missouri as the Chairman 
of the Appropriations Subcommittee on VA/HUD and Independent Agencies 
to increase the funding provided by the Community Development Block 
Grant (CDBG) program. Although there has been extensive promotion of 
buyouts and relocation, it is my understanding that only 3 million 
dollars is available to the State of Alabama through hazard mitigation 
funding for this purpose. These funds are dramatically insufficient to 
meet the current needs and demands of the communities hit by these 
disasters. It is my understanding that the State of Alabama will be 
eligible for the CDBG funds included in this bill to respond to the 
flood and tornado disasters. Is it the Chairman's understanding that 
this funding could be used by the State for buyouts?
  Mr. BOND. As you know, in large part to your help, the conference 
report to the FY 1998 Supplemental appropriations bill includes $130 
million for emergency CDBG funding that is intended to meet unmet 
emergency disaster needs by supplementing the existing, more 
traditional disaster programs administered through FEMA, the SBA and 
the Corps of Engineers. While there remains significant concerns over 
HUD's administration of

[[Page S3910]]

emergency CDBG funding, buyout funding is an eligible activity under 
both FEMA disaster relief and HUD emergency CDBG funding, and I expect 
any request for buyout funding for Alabama to receive the full 
consideration by both FEMA and HUD. Nevertheless, the term ``buyout'' 
has become overused and has come to mean different things to different 
people. The federal government should be providing communities with a 
menu of flexible approaches to address emergency disaster needs. This 
flexibility is critical to the people of Alabama. In addition, I urge 
both FEMA and HUD to develop comprehensive yet flexible requirements 
for buyouts, including eligibility and cost requirements.
  Mr. SHELBY. If the State is able to use CDBG money for buyouts, this 
will certainly help them meet the demand for buyouts that currently 
exceed the funding made available through the hazard mitigation 
program. Is it correct that States eligible for this funding would be 
able to obtain waivers from the low to moderate income requirement in 
order to make use of this funding for the purposes of responding to 
their disaster needs?
  Mr. BOND. Correct, waivers are included to help programs address 
local needs. Emergency CDBG funding needs to remain flexible to assist 
families and individuals in these times of real crisis.
  Mr. SHELBY. I want to thank the Senator from Missouri again for his 
help and effort to ensure that adequate funding is provided for 
disaster assistance. It is my hope that this funding will be made 
available expeditiously and equitably to those States currently 
recovering from disasters. While the funding provided through this 
bill, due in great part to your assistance, will help, I believe that 
Alabama will still face huge hurdles in its recovery process. I look 
forward to continuing to work with you to address the needs of those 
trying to rebuild.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I would like to begin my remarks this 
afternoon by recognizing and applauding the efforts of my colleague, 
the distinguished Senior Senator from Alabama, for all of his efforts 
in working to ensure that the Supplemental Appropriations bill produced 
by the conference committee includes badly needed relief for our home 
state of Alabama in the wake of the terrible natural disasters that 
have occurred over the past month. Senator Shelby has worked tirelessly 
to see to it that this document includes assistance for those 
communities that have suffered so much in the wake of the recent spate 
of floods and tornadoes that have so severely struck our state. In his 
position as a member of the Appropriations committee and as a 
conference to this bill, Senator Shelby has been a true champion for 
the interests of his constituents. It is fitting and appropriate that 
his work be generously acknowledged.
  I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts 
of the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and to thank him for 
all of the assistance he offered during the conference negotiations 
over the disaster provisions in the bill. It is very likely that 
without the support and the leadership provided by Senator Stevens, we 
would have been unable to secure funding for the town of Elba, Alabama. 
Elba has recently been devastated by flooding caused after rain swollen 
rivers forced the town's levees to give way. Thanks to Senator Stevens' 
generous support, this bill contain $5 million in funding to help 
repair Elba's levee. I can not begin to express how much Senator 
Stevens' willingness to go to bat for this small Alabama town means to 
this Senator.
  Finally, I want to thank my good friend Senator Bond of Missouri for 
your willingness to work with Senator Shelby and myself to ensure that 
the increased money that this bill provides for Community Development 
Block Grants will get to those who are direly in need of them. The 
supplemental bill contains $130 million in Community Development Block 
Grant funding. This funding, which is important to communities seeking 
to recover from devastating events, like those events my state has 
recently suffered through, needs safeguards to ensure that it 
ultimately reaches those areas where it is most desperately needed. It 
is imperative that the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
makes these grants really available to areas within Alabama that have 
suffered from these natural disasters. Over the last few weeks my 
office has been receiving requests from communities throughout the 
state, communities such as Birmingham and Elba, Geneva, Brewton and 
East Brewton, all asking that these funds be made available to them so 
that they might begin the difficult task of rebuilding. Senator Bond, 
your willingness to help work to ensure that this funding gets back to 
the devastated areas within my state is very generous, and I appreciate 
your commitment greatly.
  Mr. President, this supplemental bill goes a long way toward 
beginning the healing process for the citizens in my state that have 
recently had to shoulder such a heavy burden. I have personally visited 
the sites in my state that were the hardest hit, and I can assure you 
that the scope of the devastation and the scope of the personal, human 
toll these disasters have taken is beyond my ability to adequately 
convey. This supplemental disaster bill is a good bill, a solid bill 
and I look forward to securing its passage so that the relief provided 
within can be begin to get back to the people of Alabama.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, today we are voting on the FY 1998 
Supplementary Appropriations bill which contains very important 
disaster relief and funding for our military operations overseas.
  In this bill before us, Congress funds emergency disaster relief for 
El Nino related storms on both coasts and in the southeast. We also 
provide important funding for our military personnel in Bosnia. 
Although I have been on record consistently opposing our continued 
presence in Bosnia, I support our military men and women while they are 
there. This bill provides that important support.
  This appropriations bill also funds our military mission in Iraq. 
While I am skeptical of the dubious and undefined U.S. plan in this 
region, I again vote to make sure our military personnel serving our 
country there are well equipped and defended. This bill provides this 
assurance.
  This bill also provides some important local relief for Colorado. 
This legislation contains language to assist the City of Boulder. 
Boulder needs to replace a water pipeline that crosses Forest Service 
lands. The language in the bill provides assurance that Boulder does 
not abandon its original easement when it agrees with the Forest 
Service to relocate the pipeline.
  This bill also contains important relief for the National Forests in 
northern Colorado. Recently, a unique meteorological situation occurred 
in Routt County, near Steamboat Springs, called a blowdown. A blowdown 
is exactly that--winds of such terrific and concentrated force blew 
down almost every tree in the region. It looked as though a large 
nuclear bomb was detonated above. This devastating disaster affected 
20,000 acres of land, almost all which was on national forest land and 
was the largest such blowdown ever recorded in the Rocky Mountains.
  Part of the $10 million appropriated by this bill to the National 
Forest System would support the cleanup efforts in the Routt National 
Forest in Colorado. This would assist the local communities which rely 
on the natural resources of the Routt National Forest for tourism, 
recreation, agriculture, and timber can get back to normal. Not only 
will this help economies of the local communities, but it is vital for 
the health of the Routt National Forest and the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness 
Area.
  This funding will allow the Forest Service to establish a timber 
salvage plan for the responsible harvest of the downed timber and 
maintain the roads that will be necessary for this to take place. While 
the prospect of a timber sale may seem objectionable to some people, I 
believe the responsible harvest of this timber in the national forest 
is preferential to the chance a natural or accidental forest fire might 
occur there.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am going to vote for this Supplemental 
Appropriations Conference Report because it contains important disaster 
relief funds for Vermont, which was hard hit by ice storms this winter. 
Vermont's maple syrup makers suffered devastating losses and these 
funds will help them recover.

[[Page S3911]]

  But were it not for that I would vote against this Conference Report, 
and I want to take a moment to explain why and to express my regret and 
frustration about what has occurred here.
  As senators will recall, the Senate passed by a vote of 84-16 funding 
for the International Monetary Fund as part of this Supplemental. That 
funding was strongly supported by Senator Stevens, the Chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee. It had overwhelming bipartisan support.
  It reflected obvious alarm about the economic crisis in Asia, and the 
fact that a third of all American jobs are tied to exports and a third 
of those exports go to Asian markets.
  Secretary Rubin made a strong case that the IMF funding is urgently 
needed to stem further weakening of the Asian economies.
  So the IMF funding was an issue in the Conference Committee, but the 
House Republican conferees refused to recede to the Senate position. 
Apparently the House leadership had ordered them not to agree to the 
IMF funding because of its continuing dispute with the President over 
the completely unrelated issue of family planning.
  Mr. President, it is outrageous that yet again we have a vitally 
important foreign policy matter being held hostage by the House in its 
seemingly endless and futile attempt to make political points over 
family planning.
  The IMF funding has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with family 
planning. They are separate issues and should be decided on their 
merits, not used as political blackmail.
  I mention this, Mr. President, because the American people, many of 
whose jobs depend on the stability of foreign markets, should 
understand exactly what is happening here.
  This is not about the IMF, it is about politics. The House Republican 
leadership is playing games with the lives of American workers. What do 
they care? They know that whether or not the Asian economies recover or 
collapse, the House Republican leadership will have a job regardless. 
They are not the corn farmer in Iowa, or the manufacturer in Delaware.
  Before they will agree to the IMF funding, the House Republican 
leadership wants the President to sign a law that prohibits US 
Government support for private organizations that use their own money 
to petition foreign governments on abortion. It would prohibit those 
organizations from even speaking on behalf of policies to make abortion 
safer in countries where it is legal.
  And if the President does not agree, they would cut funding for 
family planning which prevents unwanted pregnancies and abortions by 
$44 million. It is the most illogical approach to an issue I have ever 
seen.
  Mr. President, we are back to tactics of sabotage, of blackmail, of 
bringing the government to its knees to win political points. 
Apparently, as far as the House Republican leadership is concerned 
nothing matters anymore--not democracy, not the legislative process, 
and certainly not what is in the best interests of the country.
  It is becoming increasingly clear that it is up to the Senate to 
prevent the Congress from becoming totally irresponsible.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for the 
disaster supplemental conference report. I would like to thank the 
conferees and Chairman Stevens for their efforts to meet the additional 
needs Maine and the other Northeast states identified after the January 
ice storm.
  Since early January I have worked with the State, FEMA, SBA and other 
federal agencies to ensure that the devastation from Ice Storm `98 
would become a memory and not a long-term problem in Maine. The impact 
of the storm was such that every Mainer who lived through it, will 
always remember it--whether it be for the length of time they were 
without power, the loss of trees throughout the state, the amazing 
utility crews from up and down the East Coast who worked to restore 
power or simply the viciousness of mother nature.
  The conference report provides assistance in several areas where 
current federal programs simply couldn't handle the entire problem or 
where no program existed. Our forests are in shambles due to the damage 
inflicted on the trees by the ice. The conference report provides $48 
million to the US Forest Service in order to help the states and 
private land owners assess the damage and develop plans for clean up 
and for ensuring a healthy future for the forests. There is an 
additional $14 million in the Tree Assistance Program for cleanup. This 
funding is much needed and very welcome.
  There is $4.48 million included in the Emergency Conservation Program 
to help the maple syrup industry. This money, which will be matched, 
will help restore tubing which was torn from the trees by the ice and 
replace taps that were lost.
  I am pleased that the conference report also contains funding for the 
Northeast dairy farmers. The lack of electricity prevented many farmers 
from milking their cows or from being able to store their milk at the 
necessary temperature. The $10.8 million in the report will help cover 
some of these losses as well as pay for stock that was lost as a result 
of the storm.
  The $130 million included for the Community Development Block Grant 
program (CDBG) is not as much as I would have liked, but I understand 
that the conferees had a large gap to negotiate as the House bill 
provided only $20 million while the Senate bill had $260 million. This 
money is very important to Maine as it will assist the state in 
covering disaster-related costs unmet by FEMA, including the biggest 
unmet need in Maine--the costs associated with the damages to our 
utility infrastructure.
  I wish to reiterate my appreciation for the support that the 
Committee Chairman has shown for the needs of Maine and the Northeast 
states. His leadership has been vital in ensuring that the recovery 
from the Ice Storm of `98 for Maine, Vermont and New York will be 
completed as quickly as possible. Again, I appreciate his assistance 
and attention to the special needs of our states because of this one 
hundred year storm, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
the conference report.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, like the vast majority of my colleagues, I 
am anxious to speed the funds provided by this bill to the communities 
all across our country that have been adversely affected by natural 
disasters. I am equally anxious to provide the funds necessary to 
maintain our crucial peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia.
  This spending is so important because it responds to emergencies--
unforeseen events that cause terrible damage to property and to life. 
Everyone in this chamber understands that the unpredictable nature of 
these unfortunate events makes budgeting or planning for disasters, by 
definition, very difficult. That is why the Senate's rules allow us to 
spend money on an emergency basis without finding offsetting budget 
cuts. And that is exactly what we in the Senate did when we passed this 
bill originally.
  Unfortunately, through no fault of the distinguished Chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee, Mr. Stevens, or Ranking Member Byrd, this 
bill now includes over $2.3 billion of cuts in rental assistance for 
very low income families.
  I regret to say that Republican conferees from the other body 
demanded these cuts to move forward on this emergency bill. They chose, 
once again, to try to use Americans who have seen their lives torn 
apart by tornadoes or floods, who have lost homes and businesses, as a 
tool to attack the poor, to pursue their cruel ideological agenda.
  I am incapable of understanding, Mr. President, what sense it makes 
to take away one man's home to pay for another's. It makes no sense to 
me whatsoever. Every year--year-after-year--this Congress raids the 
housing budget to pay for other programs.
  Of course the House Republican Leadership has offered ``assurances'' 
that these funds will be restored. Who will pay for those? Will that 
money come from health care for veterans? From crucial environmental 
programs? From our children's education? That, Mr. President, is only a 
shell game, and the victims, regardless of which ones are chosen, would 
be the disadvantaged and powerless. That is nothing short of shameful.
  There are 400,000 families who will lose their housing assistance if 
these funds aren't restored next year. The

[[Page S3912]]

Department of Housing and Urban Development just released a report 
revealing that 5.3 million families already live on the brink of 
homelessness. Without rental assistance, that number will grow 
dramatically.
  Mr. President, I also am terribly disappointed that the Republican 
Majority has chosen to play politics with two other vital matters: 
funding to pay our arrearages to the United Nations, and funding for 
the International Monetary Fund. The President, the Secretary of State, 
the Secretary of the Treasury, numbers of other senior government 
officials, and hundreds of international business leaders, economists, 
and foreign policy experts have pleaded with the Congress to take the 
responsible step of meeting our obligations in these two key respects.
  Our continued failure to pay our bills to the United Nations--an 
organization which helps reduce conflict in the world, and which we as 
a nation press into service for such vital national security objectives 
as isolating Saddam Hussein in order to halt his diabolical adventurism 
and to prevent him from developing and using weapons of mass 
destruction--not only threatens the ability of that institution to 
survive and function as designed and as we depend on it to function. 
Our failure sullies our leadership and announces to the world community 
of nations that we are too good, too mighty, too righteous to be 
bothered by the responsibilities of world citizenship. The thought that 
we can do this perpetually and retain our influence for good; the 
thought that we can do this and retain the ability effectively to 
insist that other nations meet their obligations to the world 
community, is nothing less than preposterous.
  Similarly, Mr. President, it appears that there are many in the 
Congress who are somehow both willing and able to play ostrich--to 
pretend either that the effects of the economic collapse that has 
rippled through the nations and economies of the Pacific Rim are and 
will remain wholly confined to that region of the world, or that the 
world's most powerful economic engine--that of the United States--need 
play no significant role in the international effort to help the 
buffeted Asian nations regain economic stability before the disarray 
makes itself felt very uncomfortably among Americans.
  We should not be surprised, if we repeatedly insist on placing 
ourselves above the responsibilities and obligations recognized by the 
rest of the developed world, if the rest of the world begins to isolate 
and ignore us and our wishes. We then may find ourselves paying a 
terrible price for our obstinacy and arrogance in a world where, 
increasingly, our objectives must be met by diplomacy and persuasion 
rather than by force.
  Mr. President, this bill contains essential funding. This funding is 
needed to help the victims of disasters in a number of areas of our 
nation. It is needed to pay the costs incurred by our armed services to 
operate the humanitarian mission in Bosnia without cannibalizing funds 
needed to maintain the readiness of our forces across the board. I am 
distressed that my colleagues and I are presented with an all-or-
nothing vote where, if we reject this bill for what it should do but 
fails to do, such as paying our U.N. arrearages and infusing funds into 
the IMF, and what it irresponsibly does, which is to steal desperately 
needed funds from efforts to meet the housing needs of our nation, we 
necessarily will reject what it does for disaster victims and to 
replenish the defense funding accounts that have been used to meet the 
costs of our Bosnia activities.
  I will vote for this bill, but I will do so with the strong 
reservations I have set forth. I hope the American people will take 
note of what has been done here, and will respond appropriately.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I urge adoption of the conference report.
  Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Before we move to adoption of the conference report, two 
colleagues have asked for a very short time frame to express themselves 
on a particular provision. And I ask they be accorded that time before 
we go to a final vote.
  Mr. STEVENS. Could we have a time on that?
  Mr. DASCHLE. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Durbin and Senator 
Boxer both be accorded 2 minutes prior to the time we have a final vote 
on the conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I do support the passage of this emergency 
supplemental, but I want to point out to my colleagues something very 
important that happened in that committee. There is the presence of a 
rider in this particular bill. I think you ought to know about it, 
because you are going to get asked about it.
  It will hurt American taxpayers. It will take literally $5.5 million 
a month out of their pocket and put it into the pocket of big oil 
companies.
  Now, what is this about? I will tell you in my remaining time.
  The Mineral Management Services spent 2\1/2\ years working on a rule 
to figure out the best way to collect royalty payments from oil 
companies. What are royalty payments? They are payments that go to the 
taxpayers when the companies drill on public lands.
  In this particular emergency supplemental bill is a rider that never 
was part of the House bill, was never part of the Senate bill. We had 
10 minutes to discuss it. And it stops this rule from going into 
effect. So every month that this new rule is stopped from going into 
effect, $5.5 million--
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, could we have order in the Chamber?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order. The Senator from 
California.
  Mrs. BOXER. So every month this rule is stopped from going into 
effect, American taxpayers are shorted $5.5 million. Now maybe that 
doesn't sound like a lot to the folks who put in this rider, but I can 
tell you the folks in your States are going to wonder why we did this, 
as it were, in the dead of night, because we really couldn't debate it 
as much as we should have.

  Although my chairman was very generous and allowed me to make my 
comments, I still believed that that rider should not have been placed 
there when it was not part of either the House or Senate bill.
  I yield the remainder to my colleague from Illinois.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me rise and first thank the 
Appropriations Committee for the work on this bill.
  I will not be able to vote for it for two reasons. First, I find it 
interesting that after a week of debate in this Chamber and a lengthy 
discussion about America's role in world leadership, we follow this 
historic vote on the enlargement of NATO with an appropriations bill 
which fails to appropriate funds for our Nation's obligation to the 
United Nations. It is a source of embarrassment to our Nation that 
Congress continues to fail to meet its responsibility to the United 
Nations. A great nation should pay its bills.
  Let me also add to what the Senator from California said. If you look 
at this bill on page 69, section 3009, you will find a provision that 
has never been in a House bill and never been in a Senate bill that 
comes in here at the last minute on an emergency spending bill. It is a 
rider which will give to oil companies some $65 million in breaks for 
oil and gas that they are taking off of public lands--lands owned by 
taxpayers.
  Last year, we passed a budget agreement with a provision in it for a 
$50 billion tax break for tobacco companies. We went back home and were 
embarrassed by it, came back and rescinded it. I'm afraid we are 
returning home to face more embarrassment for this provision which, 
unfortunately, provides a break to oil companies at the expense of 
taxpayers.
  For the fiscal conservative listening, this money is not set off by 
any cuts in spending. This gives to the oil companies, pure and simple, 
$65 million out of the Treasury, at taxpayers' expense.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  Mr. STEVENS. I yield 1 minute to the Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. SANTORUM. I want to bring a rider to the attention of Members.
  In conference, a rider was added, not debated on this floor or in the 
House, that extended for 2 months the period

[[Page S3913]]

of time in which Secretary Shalala and the Department of Health and 
Human Services--for regulations on organ donation policy to be 
implemented.
  The organ donation policy advocated by patient transplant 
organizations, to have a much more equitable system of organ donation, 
was put forward on a bipartisan basis support.
  The Senator from Louisiana put in an amendment to delay the 
implementation for 2 additional months over the objections of the 
administration. People will be dying as a result of this. Sick people 
who need organs are not going to get those organs as a result of this 
delay.
  We should not allow this to continue. I'm going to vote against this, 
and I hope that we will not continue this kind of delay.
  Mr. BREAUX. Which Senator from Louisiana is he referring to?
  Mr. SANTORUM. I was referring to the chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee in the House.
  Mr. BREAUX. Thank you.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, there are provisions in this bill that 
extend regulations. None of the provisions overrule regulations. There 
is an additional period of time in three instances for regulations to 
be reviewed by Congress. We did not meet at night; only during the day. 
But this is a very serious matter to get this bill passed to assure 
that men and women of the armed services get the support they need to 
continue their training and also to meet the disasters that have 
occurred to this country during this year since we passed a 1998 
appropriations bill.
  I 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 is on agreeing to the conference 
report.
  The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kyl), is 
necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 11, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 118 Leg.]

                                YEAS--88

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Allard
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Sarbanes
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--11

     Ashcroft
     Bumpers
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Gramm
     Inhofe
     Kohl
     Moseley-Braun
     Nickles
     Santorum
     Smith (NH)

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Kyl
       
  The conference report was agreed to.


                            Thanks to Staff

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I would like to take a brief moment to 
thank some of the incredibly qualified staff we have here. I don't know 
whether the public realizes, but some of the young, and in the case of 
some of my staff not so young, women and men are incredible assets to 
this country. There are more Rhodes scholars, Marshall scholars, 
Ph.D.s, professors, former professors, and incredibly talented people 
who sit here in these seats, not only on treaties, but on every major 
thing we do and advise us.
  On Chairman Helms' staff, as always, Admiral Bud Nance, a retired 
Admiral in the U.S. Navy, and close friend of the chairman's and a 
close advisor, did a terrific job in directing the entire staff and 
working closely with our staff, as did a man who was kind enough to 
stay with me, a man who is a significant and capable lawyer, as well as 
a staff director for the minority, Ed Hall. These two guys run that 
operation in a way, I say to the leader sitting here, that was almost 
like the bipartisan days, the old days, in large part because they get 
along so well and they trust each other so much.
  Bud Nance is a gentleman who has already given decades of service to 
his country in the U.S. Navy, and continues to serve the chairman in 
his role as staff director.
  Additionally, I thank Steve Biegun, Beth Wilson, and Alex Rodriguez, 
as well as Marshall Billingslea, of the majority staff, who did a 
first-rate job in pulling together our hearings last fall and in 
helping draft the resolution of ratification.
  On my staff, I will start with this man. I worry about these guys who 
have one doctorate, but this guy has two. He came to me from a 
distinguished career as a professor, as well as working in the Library 
of Congress, Dr. Mike Haltzel. He is the minority staff member for 
European affairs. He traveled with me throughout the European capitals 
and to Russia in preparation for the hearings, and he wrote the major 
portions of the remarks given and rebuttals during this debate. It was 
a pleasure to have him at my side.
  During this process, he has been ably assisted by Mark Tauber, a 
Pearson Fellow from the State Department; Ed Levine, the committee's 
arms control expert; and Erin Logan, a Javits Fellow who has honored 
the memory of our former colleague by her service to the committee.
  In addition, Marnie Davidson, Ursula McManus, Dawn Ratliff, Mike 
Schmidt, and Marc Mellinger provided considerable assistance behind the 
scenes.
  Finally, I thank my counsel on the committee, a young man who came to 
me out of Auburn, NY, 20 years ago to stay for a ``few days'' and 
stayed on, and while with me, he graduated from law school, clerked, 
and then came back and is the legal director for the committee, Brian 
McKeon.


                         Thanking Art Rynearson

  Lastly, I thank Art Rynearson, who is a senior legislative counsel 
and has served the Senate and the Foreign Relations Committee for over 
two decades. I know him as Art. I have known him all these years as 
Art. He is one of those guys behind the scenes, the legislative counsel 
here, who we take so much for granted, and who did an incredible job. 
In the 105th Congress, the committee has placed a lot of demands on 
Art, starting with the Chemical Weapons Convention, the CFE Flank 
Document, and then on the State Department authorization bill.
  On NATO enlargement, he was enormously helpful, as he always is, in 
helping us draft the resolution of ratification.
  Over the past few months--indeed over the past 15 months --Art has 
worked tirelessly in assisting the Foreign Relations Committee with its 
busy agenda. I would like to thank him for his competent 
professionalism and for always being there to help the committee staff.
  Lastly, let me thank my colleagues. I believe it is not a presumption 
to say that the level of debate and the competence that they 
demonstrated was impressive. I have great respect for those who voted 
negatively on this because they thought about it long and hard.
  I also find, I say to the President, in my 25 years here that when 
the very big, important issues are before us, almost everyone steps up 
to the ball, no matter what side they come out on, on those big issues. 
It is always a consequence of very thoughtful consideration and very 
engaging debate. It was an honor to be associated with the staff of the 
majority and the minority.
  I thank, lastly, the minority leader for doing what he has been kind 
enough to do with me since he has been leader--entrusting to me the 
tactics, if not the strategy, of how to proceed on a major piece of 
legislation. I thank him for that. I thank him for his confidence.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader is recognized.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will yield the floor in just a moment. 
But let me, while he is on the floor, congratulate the distinguished 
Senator from Delaware for his magnificent

[[Page S3914]]

leadership over the course of the last several days. I said to him 
privately, and I will say it at this point for the Record, that this 
was one of his finest hours. This was a time when we needed his 
leadership, when we needed his expertise, when we could count on him to 
guide us through this very difficult period. He has done so, as he does 
on so many occasions, with eloquence, with passion, with expertise, and 
with a degree of credibility that I think suits this Senate and suits 
him extraordinarily well. I congratulate him on his achievement.
  I congratulate the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
and others who have had so much to say with regard to our achievement 
tonight. This, indeed, is a very historic moment. I am honored to be a 
part of it. I am honored to serve with colleagues who led us so well 
during this debate.
  I again congratulate each and every one of them.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ENZI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, in executive session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's 
action with respect to the NATO enlargement treaty.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________