[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 105 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9356-S9357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TREASURY AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thomas). Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of S. 2312, which the clerk will 
report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2312) making appropriations for the Treasury 
     Department, the United States Postal Service, and the 
     Executive Office of the President, and certain Independent 
     Agencies, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, and 
     for other purposes.

  The Senate resumed consideration of the bill.
  Pending:

       McConnell amendment No. 3379, to provide for appointment 
     and term length for the staff director and general counsel of 
     the Federal Election Commission.
       Glenn amendment No. 3380, to provide additional funding for 
     enforcement activities of the Federal Election Commission.
       Graham/Mack amendment No. 3381, to provide funding for the 
     Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
       Stevens amendment No. 3385, to provide for an adjustment in 
     the computation of annuities for certain Federal officers and 
     employees relating to average pay determinations.
       Campbell (for Grassley) amendment No. 3386, to protect 
     Federal law enforcement officers who intervene in certain 
     situations to protect life or prevent bodily injury.
       Harkin amendment No. 3387, to provide additional funding to 
     reduce methamphetamine usage in High Intensity Drug 
     Trafficking Areas.
       Kohl (for Kerrey) amendment No. 3389, to express the sense 
     of the Senate regarding payroll tax relief.
  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, yesterday I engaged in a colloquy with 
Senators Kohl and Moseley-Braun regarding the intent of report language 
in S. 2312 concerning tax standards for tax-exempt health clubs. In 
that colloquy, I stated that my expectation was that the report would 
``focus on adult fitness provided by tax-exempt organizations that 
serve only adults.'' However, both tax-exempt health clubs and for-
profit health clubs serve entire families including young adults and 
children. While I believe the report should focus on adult fitness 
provided by tax-exempt organizations, tax-exempt organizations also 
offer non-adult service. The fact that they offer service to non-adults 
does not qualify an entity for tax-exempt status. Therefore, to 
eliminate any entity that provides any level of services to non-adults 
would greatly restrict the usefulness of this report in providing 
guidance to Congress. Again, I want to emphasize that my intent here is 
only for the IRS to provide Congress guidance in this area.
  Therefore, I want to clarify that it is my expectation that the 
report will reflect the language in the report accompanying S. 2312 
with the input of yesterday's colloquies as well as this clarification. 
Again, I want to thank Senators Campbell and Kohl for their assistance 
on this and I look forward to working with them and all other 
interested Senators and parties on this issue.


                           Amendment No. 3388

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to ask unanimous consent 
that my name be added as a cosponsor to amendment number #3388 to the 
FY 1999 Treasury-Postal Appropriations legislation currently under 
consideration. This amendment is a combination of several amendments 
aimed at increasing support for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking 
Areas administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The 
Midwest HIDTA program has been extremely helpful to cracking down on 
drug trafficking in my rural state by coordinating federal, state and 
local law enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine trafficking. 
While the Campbell-Kohl amendment addresses HIDTA programs nationwide, 
the Midwest HIDTA will be increased by $3.5 million, bringing the total 
methamphetamine elimination funding to $13 million for the Midwestern 
States of South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas. The 
amendment will also add North Dakota to the Midwest HIDTA program which 
is crucial to tightening law enforcement's grip on meth traffickers in 
the area. I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues from Colorado and 
Wisconsin for recognizing that drug trafficking is not a uniquely 
coastal or urban problem, and that federal coordination and assistance 
is necessary for fighting drug use and trafficking nationwide.


                           denver courthouse

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I rise to discuss an important funding 
issue contained in the Treasury and General Government appropriations 
bill. This appropriations bill provides $84 million for construction of 
an annex to the Rogers Courthouse in Denver. The General Services 
Administration has included this project high on its list of 
priorities, at the recommendation of the Administrative Offices of the 
Courts. GSA and the AOC have provided me with detailed information on 
the costs of this courthouse and assured me repeatedly that these costs 
are prudent, practical and necessary to meet the future judicial needs 
of Colorado. I have also been assured that the renovated courthouse 
will be functional, but not extravagant. I have demanded this of every 
project on the list and will continue to work to ensure that this 
standard is applied to all new construction. Members of the Federal 
bench in Colorado have expressed gratitude that I have included 
construction money for the Rogers Courthouse. I am of course happy to 
help meet the needs of our federal legal system, especially in 
Colorado. In addition to the Rogers Courthouse, this bill contains 
fourteen other projects totaling almost $500 million. I believe that if 
Congress is going to pass laws, we'd better provide sufficient 
attorneys and judges to enforce those laws and adequate facilities in 
which those laws may be administered.
  I am aware of the growing federal caseload in other parts of 
Colorado. For example, the City of Grand Junction is experiencing rapid 
growth, and with that comes a need for more government attorneys and 
judges. Being from the West Slope, I appreciate the time and expense 
required to travel to Denver. Traveling 5 or 8 hours to get to a 
federal court can be a burden to all parties in federal lawsuits.
  While I am happy to accommodate the wish of the federal bench in 
Colorado to provide this money, I will continue to listen to members of 
the Colorado Federal Bar, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and 
other areas of the state that experience growing needs for judges and 
courtroom space to ensure that this appropriations bill accurately 
provides for the needs of the entire state.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the order, the hour of 2 o'clock having 
arrived, the Senate is to proceed to a sequence of votes on Amendments 
to the Treasury-Postal bill.

[[Page S9357]]

                     Amendment No. 3385, Withdrawn

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw 
amendment No. 3385.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3385) was withdrawn.
  Mr. STEVENS. 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.


                           Amendment No. 3379

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The first vote is on amendment No. 3379.
  Mr. STEVENS. Have the yeas and nays been ordered?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. They have been ordered.
  This is the McConnell amendment. There are 2 minutes equally divided.
  Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, I urged last night to put this on the 
table. This would really knock the socks off any election law 
enforcement over at the FEC. We oppose this very much. It would mean 
there would be a restriction on the FEC that is not on any other agency 
or department of government as far as their general counsel goes and 
their staff director.
  The efforts to oust him over there, I think, are unconscionable. He 
has been doing a good job. This just stands starkly opposed to our 
efforts for campaign finance reform.
  At the appropriate time I will move to table this, but I yield the 
remaining time to Senator Levin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, this amendment is directly aimed at the 
independence of the Federal Elections Commission. It is aimed at no 
other commission. Its purpose is obvious--to eliminate a general 
counsel who has taken an independent position, following the Federal 
Election Commission's decision relative to soft money and other issues. 
We should not muzzle them. We should not throttle them. We should not 
destroy their independence.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the amendment is really quite simple. 
The Federal Election Commission is like no other commission of the 
Federal Government. It has three Republicans and three Democrats. The 
general counsel, under the current system, could serve for a lifetime. 
All the McConnell amendment does is require that every 4 years the 
general counsel come up for reappointment and not be reappointed unless 
he can achieve at least four votes, thereby demonstrating to the full 
Commission, on a bipartisan basis, enough confidence to continue for 
another 4-year term.
  This guarantees that the general counsel will operate in a bipartisan 
manner, because a general counsel who, after 4 years, could not achieve 
votes from both parties, it seems to this Senator, clearly would fail a 
test of bipartisanship.
  This is not about the current occupant of the office. It is about 
ensuring that the Federal Election Commission continues to operate on a 
bipartisan basis. I hope the amendment will be approved.
  Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, I move to table the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the motion to table the 
McConnell amendment numbered 3379.
  Mr. GLENN. 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 motion to 
table amendment No. 3379. On this question, the yeas and nays have been 
ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Helms) is absent because of illness.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
North Carolina (Mr. Helms) would vote ``no.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). Are there any other 
Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 45, nays 54, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 246 Leg.]

                                YEAS--45

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Byrd
     Cleland
     Conrad
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Graham
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Torricelli
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--54

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Burns
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Frist
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Helms 
       
  The motion to lay on the table the amendment (No. 3379) was rejected.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                      UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we have had, obviously, extensive 
consultation about how to proceed to this point. There is disagreement 
about this particular amendment and how we can complete the Treasury-
Postal Service and other related agencies appropriations bill at this 
time.
  In the interest of Senators to have time to work on the substance, 
what we have agreed to do is to set this bill aside--I will ask 
unanimous consent to that effect in a moment--and we would go on to the 
Department of Defense appropriations amendments and continue to work 
progressively, with the idea of finishing the Department of Defense 
appropriations bill as early as possible--hopefully, even tonight--
which will allow us time to work on some nominations and allow Senators 
to attend the funeral tomorrow and adjourn for the recess at a 
reasonable hour tomorrow, or earlier if there is any way of doing it.
  I ask unanimous consent that the pending Treasury-Postal Service 
appropriations bill be laid aside, not to recur prior to September 1, 
unless agreement is worked out in the meantime. There is hope that 
could be done. Maybe we could act on it after the DOD appropriations 
bill is completed. If not, it would be September 1. And no call for the 
regular order serves to displace the treasury bill, when it is pending 
in September, in the status quo.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, just for 
purposes of clarification, this would lock into place the current 
situation. The pending amendment would be, of course, the McConnell 
amendment. Senators wishing to offer amendments in the second degree 
subject to recognition would be recognized as authors of amendments in 
the second degree.
  It is with that understanding that I do not object. I am sure the 
majority leader would clarify and would conform with that 
understanding.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, that is correct. Second-degree amendments 
would be in order. We are freezing everything in place. We would not 
take it up again before September 1, unless an agreement were worked 
out. When we do go back to it, we will be right where we are now, and 
second-degree amendments will be in order.
  Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I don't 
plan to object, I want to clarify, this would in no way affect the 
voting order we agreed to last night on other amendments?
  Mr. LOTT. Everything would be just like it is at this very moment on 
this appropriations bill.
  Mr. GLENN. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. I yield the floor.

                          ____________________