[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3108-S3109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999

  The Senate continued with the consideration of the bill.


                           Amendment No. 130

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is now 6:45. By unanimous consent, the vote 
occurs on the tabling of the Murkowski amendment.
  The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. Parliamentary inquiry.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. HARKIN. There is a vote now. What is the sequence of the votes 
that will take place?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is the only vote ordered, the motion to 
table the Murkowski amendment.
  Mr. HARKIN. Further parliamentary inquiry. After that vote is taken, 
then the floor will be open for further discussion on the Kosovo issue?
  Mr. STEVENS. We still have pending amendments, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. After that vote is taken, we will be on the 
Lott amendment, amendment No. 142.
  Mr. HARKIN. Which is open for discussion?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is debatable.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on 
agreeing to the motion.
  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 Mississippi (Mr. 
Cochran) is absent because of a death in the family.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber who desire to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 40, nays 59, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 56 Leg.]

                                YEAS--40

     Baucus
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Bryan
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Collins
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Harkin
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Snowe
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--59

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bond
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Enzi
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Voinovich

                             NOT VOTING--1

      
     Cochran
      
  The motion to lay on the table the amendment (No. 130) was rejected.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I urge adoption of the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 130) was agreed to.

[[Page S3109]]

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senate is not in order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will please come to order. There is 
a pending motion to reconsider.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. If the Senate will give us just a few minutes here, I 
ask unanimous consent that I may be allowed to yield to the Senator 
from Texas for 3 minutes to discuss her amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senator from Texas is 
recognized for 3 minutes.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Thank you, Mr. President.


                       Amendment No. 81 Withdrawn

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, the amendment that is the regular 
order is my amendment on Kosovo. A lot has happened since I offered 
this amendment early last week, because my amendment actually asks the 
President to come forward and tell us what he was going to do in 
Kosovo. This assumed a peace agreement. It assumes that we would have a 
plan put in place before we would take action in Kosovo.
  Unfortunately, time has bypassed this amendment. Unfortunately, the 
President made up his mind, I think, before he ever talked to Members 
of Congress that we would bomb Kosovo. I think we are taking a very 
important step and one that I hope everyone will take seriously.
  Bombing a sovereign country that has not threatened the United States 
of America is a very serious step. I think we also need to look at the 
NATO mission. We are changing the mission of NATO without debate, 
without a vote of Congress. We are turning NATO from a defense alliance 
to an alliance that has now decided it is going to take an offensive 
action against a country that is not in NATO. This is unprecedented.

  So I do think the President needs to come to Congress with a plan. If 
we are going to take step 1, we need to know what step 2, 3, and 4 are. 
We need to know what could happen and what circumstances would cause us 
to have more commitments in the Balkans.
  Mr. President, I think it is premature for us to be doing what we 
apparently are going to be doing. But I think my amendment has been 
bypassed by time. So I am going to withdraw my amendment and let the 
supplemental appropriations bill go forward on the promise from our 
leadership that we will take up a bill on Kosovo that will have teeth, 
that will have an up-or-down vote, as Congress is required to do when 
we have this kind of action by our military forces.
  So, Mr. President, I withdraw my amendment. I look forward to the 
debate. I look forward to Congress exercising its responsibility under 
the Constitution that if there is going to be a war declared, that it 
will be Congress that will declare it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is withdrawn.
  The amendment (No. 81) was withdrawn.


                      Amendment No. 142 Withdrawn

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent to withdraw 
amendment No. 142 that I submitted on behalf of the leader.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. That 
amendment is withdrawn.
  The amendment (No. 142) was withdrawn.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, third reading.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall it pass?
  The bill (S. 544), as amended, was passed.
  (The bill will be printed in a subsequent edition of the Record.)
  Mr. REID. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Is there not an order already entered that holds this 
bill now for the receipt of the bill from the House on the same 
subject?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. STEVENS. Therefore, we are finished with the supplemental, 
correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. BIDEN. I send an amendment to the desk.
  Mr. WARNER. Will the Senator yield so I can speak on behalf of the 
majority leader?
  Mr. BIDEN. Sure. I withhold.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.

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