[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 74 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5642-S5643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the supplemental appropriations conference report and there 
be 3 hours for debate, to be equally divided in the usual form, and 
that it be in order for Senator Gramm to raise a point of order against 
the conference report, and at that point there be 30 minutes equally 
divided in the usual form on the motion to waive.
  I further ask that following the conclusion or yielding back of time 
and the disposition of the motion to waive the Budget Act, if 
successful, the Senate proceed to vote on adoption of the conference 
report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I wish to 
amend the consent agreement to allow me to offer a bill immediately 
following the adoption of the conference report regarding an across-
the-board cut in nondefense discretionary spending to offset the 
supplemental appropriations conference report. I understand that the 
conference committee has been disbanded since the House of 
Representatives has voted to adopt the conference report. Therefore, I 
understand that it will require unanimous consent for the conference 
report to be amended.
  Having said that, I now ask unanimous consent that following the 
adoption of the conference report, I be recognized to offer a bill that 
would call for an across-the-board cut in nondefense discretionary 
funding to offset

[[Page S5643]]

the supplemental appropriations conference report, and there be 30 
minutes for debate on the bill, to be equally divided, and no 
amendments or motions in order.
  I further ask consent that immediately following the use or yielding 
back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, 
without any intervening action or debate.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader has the floor.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe we are proceeding under a 
reservation of the right to object. Senator Enzi was explaining his 
reservation, and he is asking to be recognized to offer a bill that 
would call for an across-the-board cut in the appropriations process in 
order to pay for the additional funding here. Is that the gist of the 
Senator's reservation of the right to object?
  Mr. ENZI. Yes. There are a few questions we want to ask in regard to 
reserving this.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, further reserving the right to object, 
I want to note my support for what Senator Enzi is stating, and that I 
am concerned that what we have in the underlying bill is not paid for 
and we ought to have appropriate offsets to this supplemental. It is an 
important supplemental bill, but I am reserving the right to object and 
I am saying that we should pay for this. It should be offset with other 
cuts in nondefense discretionary and domestic spending.
  We have a $15 billion supplemental appropriations bill. We are asking 
in the nondefense areas that there be offsets to that. This is not a 
major thing for us to do. I think it is fully appropriate that we move 
forward and have offsets taking place in this supplemental bill. There 
is important spending taking place in the supplemental that I think is 
appropriate. There is some for my home State and the disaster we had. 
But let's pay for it. That is why I am reserving the right to object.

  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, also reserving the right to object, I 
share Senator Enzi's concern and making this UC request to introduce a 
bill that would allow us to have offsets. We have an appropriations 
bill, as so often is the case with these emergency spending bills that 
come before us, traveling like a freight train. The ``freight train'' 
has little stowaways hidden all through it. So in the very short period 
of time that I began to look at some of the little stowaways hidden on 
this ``freight train,'' I found $1.8 million for safety renovations of 
the O'Neill House Office Building, $1.9 million for the Northeast 
Multi-Species Fishery, $250,000 for the L.A. Civic Center, $1.5 million 
for the University of DC, and $3.76 million for the House page 
dormitory. These may all be good things, but they are certainly not 
going through the right process.
  There is $100 million for aid to Jordan; $77 million to the Census 
Bureau, Postal Service, USTR, et cetera. The Office of the Special 
Trustee for American Indians gets $22 million. I don't see how that can 
be termed an emergency coming before us. There is $8 million dollars 
for an access road to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. On and 
on go these little stowaways. There is a high school, White River High 
School, which receives $239,000.
  The point is, Mr. President, we have a process that is being 
perverted, a process that is being circumvented.
  Mr. DORGAN. Regular order, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The regular order has been called for.
  Is there objection to the request of the majority leader?
  Mr. GRAMS. Reserving the right to object, I also rise in strong 
support of Mr. Enzi----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has no right to reserve the right 
to object when the regular order has been called for. Is there 
objection?
  Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. LOTT. In light of the objection, I renew my request for time 
agreements on the supplemental conference report, as stated earlier in 
my remarks, with 15 minutes of the Democrats' time under Senator Dorgan 
and 10 minutes of the Republican time under Senator McCain.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, what we have now--if I could explain it to 
the Senate--we have set aside the juvenile justice bill for now. We are 
going to do the supplemental appropriations bill. We have a 3-hour time 
agreement with some specific time set up for individual Senators. We 
also have a waiver of a point of order, with 30 minutes of time equally 
divided on that.
  So there will be a vote on that point of order and, I presume, the 
vote on final passage. At that point, it is our intention to go back to 
the juvenile justice bill.
  I say to the Senators who reserved their right to object, I certainly 
understand why they are doing it. I appreciate it and I want to support 
their effort. There is no question that more of this bill should have 
been offset. I know the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who 
is probably in the vicinity, does not agree with that. But I have 
indicated all along I thought there should be more offsets. To Senators 
Enzi and Brownback, Hutchinson, Grams, and perhaps Sessions--and I am 
not quite sure if Senator McCain is here to raise that concern also--I 
certainly am sympathetic, but there was objection heard from Senator 
Dorgan.
  Mr. DORGAN. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. LOTT. I will yield to the Senator.
  Mr. DORGAN. I want to observe that the unanimous consent proposal 
offered by the Senator from Wyoming had not been cleared on our side. 
We were constrained to object. I also observe, if we are going to 
establish an order for legislation to be brought to the floor following 
disposition of the supplemental, for example, we may want to bring to 
the floor the proposed amendment that died in conference committee by a 
14-14 vote dealing with the agricultural fund.
  Our point was that there are other priorities as well. But the 
unanimous consent request had not been served on our side. That is why 
we were constrained to object.
  Mr. LOTT. I wonder if other Senators want me to yield.
  I yield the floor.

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