[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 117 (Friday, September 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                             2000--RESUMED

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pending business is the Interior 
appropriations bill, H.R. 2466, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative assistant read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2466) making appropriations for the Department 
     of the Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Gorton amendment No. 1359, of a technical nature.
       Hutchison amendment No. 1603, to prohibit the use of funds 
     for the purpose of issuing a notice of rulemaking with 
     respect to the valuation of crude oil for royalty purposes 
     until September 30, 2000.

  Mr. LOTT. What is the pending business now, Mr. President?


                           Amendment No. 1603

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pending business is the Hutchison 
amendment No. 1603.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk on the 
pending amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative assistant read as follows:


                             Cloture Motion

       We the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on amendment No. 
     1603 to Calendar No. 210, H.R. 2466, the Interior 
     appropriations bill:
         Trent Lott, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Gordon Smith, Thad 
           Cochran, Larry E. Craig, Bill Frist, Mike Crapo, Don 
           Nickles, Craig Thomas, Chuck Hagel, Christopher S. 
           Bond, Jon Kyl, Peter Fitzgerald, Pete V. Domenici, Phil 
           Gramm, and Slade Gorton.

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again, so Senators will know when to expect 
the vote, it will occur Monday, September 13. So on Monday, with the 
two cloture votes and a vote or two on Federal judicial nominations, we 
can expect three or four votes in a stacked sequence on Monday 
afternoon beginning at 5. I ask unanimous consent that this vote occur 
immediately following the cloture vote regarding S.J. Res. 33 and the 
mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I will note also this is an unusual 
procedure. Let me just explain. We are on the Interior appropriations 
bill. There is an amendment pending. Because the Senator from 
California, Mrs. Boxer, is concerned she may lose on a vote on the 
amendment, it is being filibustered, or there is the threat of a 
filibuster. I think that is unusual.
  We do have disagreements sometimes on how to proceed to a bill or 
whether or not to even take up a bill, but it is a little unusual to 
have this occur on an individual amendment.
  Senator Daschle and I quite often talk about how we prefer not to do 
this sort of thing to each other, at least on amendments. What we try 
to accommodate each other on is a debate, vote, somebody wins, somebody 
loses, and we move on. Sometimes individual Senators can exercise their 
right, and they have that right.
  I hope we will not get into a pattern of doing this. It will make an 
already cumbersome process even more difficult to complete important 
work. The Interior appropriations bill, as all appropriations bills, is 
very important for our country. It has a lot of important provisions, 
all the way from parks to land management, that we need to get 
completed. We certainly will work to do that, and that is why I filed 
this cloture motion.

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