[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11099-S11100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 4060

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I note there is a minority Member on the 
floor. I would not make this request if there was not.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the 
consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 4060; that 
there be 40 minutes for debate, with 30 minutes under the control of 
Senator Graham from Florida; and that the remaining 10 minutes be 
equally divided between Senator Reid of Nevada and myself, as ranking 
member and chairman, respectively, managers of the bill. I further ask 
unanimous consent that upon the conclusion or yielding back of time, 
the conference report be adopted and the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, on behalf of another Democratic Senator, I 
must respectfully object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I had hoped the Senator would have 
stated the name of the Senator, because he has already talked to us, so 
we all know who it is.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I say to my friend, he can mention the 
name because he knows more than I do. I don't know the name.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Distinguished Senator Harkin is the Senator who told me 
he is going to object. He is not here, so the Senator from Montana is 
objecting.
  I say to the Senate--in a way to the absent Senator Harkin--frankly, 
this is a completed conference report on one of the required annual 
appropriations bills. From what I understand, there is no objection to 
this bill. From what I understand, it passed the House 389 to 25.
  We are all engaged in trying to get the appropriations bills passed 
because that is our duty. We are supposed to have them finished before 
the fiscal year ends, and there are constant complaints that we don't 
get it done.
  Essentially, tomorrow is the end of the year. We worked very hard, 
Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate, to get this bill done, to 
meet it, have it within our allocation so it does not break the budget, 
to do it in the way that most probably will get a Presidential 
signature.
  The Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the entire 
Department of Energy, both defense and nondefense, the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission--they cannot help Senator Harkin. They are all in 
this bill. They should get their funding. They can't help Senator 
Harkin solve the problem of the labor, health, and human services bill, 
which the Senator from Iowa thinks needs a further allocation of 
resources in order to accomplish what he, as ranking member, thinks 
should be done.

[[Page S11100]]

  In addition, I suggest, at the request of the President, this bill 
includes a provision to resolve a dispute between the District of 
Columbia courts and the Public Defenders Office. We included that 
provision in the bill because this has to be enacted before the end of 
the current year. If that does not happen, then the public defenders--
the entire office, which defends those in the District who cannot 
afford their own lawyers, will not be able to meet its payroll.
  The leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee 
wanted Senator Reid and me to address that problem, and we were able to 
do that with the help of Chairman McDade and his ranking member, 
Representative Fazio from the State of California.
  I hope Senator Harkin will reconsider this objection and will let us 
adopt this conference report. All I can say is, in all honesty, Senator 
Harkin and those who feel like he does, holding this bill up is not 
going to help one bit resolve the problem that centers around how much 
money should Labor, Health, and Human Services have to spend this year 
on its annual appropriations. It is just not going to help.
  There is nobody suggesting the money ought to come out of this bill. 
There is nobody suggesting that the solution to the problem, which is 
raised by the Senator from Iowa, can be solved by this bill or by this 
Senator.
  It has to be resolved, if a problem exists, through the leadership 
here and the chairmen of both of the Appropriations Committees, and I 
assume maybe even the White House. Since all of that would be required 
to resolve the problem, I once again ask, What good does it do to hold 
this bill up? And I hope that will not be a long-lasting event.
  I thank the Senate for considering this.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BAUCUS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.

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