[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 8, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1300-S1301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WENDELL H. FORD AVIATION INVESTMENT AND REFORM ACT FOR THE 21ST 
                 CENTURY--CONFERENCE REPORT--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the hour of 5 p.m. 
having arrived, the Senate will now vote on adoption of the conference 
report accompanying H.R. 1000.
  There are 2 minutes equally divided for debate. The Senator from 
Washington.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, this bill provides a generous contribution 
to the future of aviation in the 21st century. It significantly reforms 
the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration. It represents 
the collective wisdom of the chairman and the ranking minority member 
of the Commerce Committee, the chairman and the ranking minority member 
of the Subcommittee on Aviation, and the majority and minority leaders 
of this Senate. We do not have many bills such as this. I commend it to 
my colleagues for passage.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. We have known a long time we have been underfunding 
our aviation system as a whole, particularly our air traffic control 
system, reforming the FAA--all the rest of it --building airports.
  Overall, aviation funding is increased by 25 percent in this bill. It 
is a start. FAA operations funding is increased. Airport money is 
increased by 33 percent; air traffic control modernization is increased 
by 40 percent.
  This is the first shot we have at making the airways safe for the 
American people. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. President, I note Senator Lautenberg wanted to have 1 minute in 
opposition, but I do not see him on the floor. I do not know what to 
add further to that.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, we are about to vote on a bill that 
purportedly takes care of the problems of the FAA. I have to say, this 
bill guarantees funding increases in a manner that is grossly 
imbalanced. It threatens to cut funding from Amtrak, from the Coast 
Guard, from highway safety, and the NTSB in order to provide an 
aviation entitlement.

[[Page S1301]]

  Investments in aviation do have to be made, but it has to be in a 
balanced way if we are going to avoid gridlock. You cannot ignore the 
rail system or highway safety and only focus on aviation.
  The agreement seeks to guarantee a 64-percent increase in airport 
grants and a 37-percent increase in modernization funding. Tight budget 
caps mean either cuts in transportation appropriations--including the 
Coast Guard or Amtrak--or cuts to other discretionary programs, such as 
education, health care, veterans' benefits, or agriculture.
  Further, it does not provide for the kinds of funding that operations 
will need to put on more controllers to man this larger system. It does 
not provide money for the continued training of new controllers.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator from New Jersey has 
expired.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the conference 
report to accompany H.R. 1000. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The 
clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain) is 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Voinovich). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 82, nays 17, as follows:

                       {Rollcall Vote No. 35 Leg.

                                YEAS--82

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Bunning
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee, L.
     Cleland
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Gorton
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--17

     Bayh
     Burns
     Craig
     Crapo
     Edwards
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Gramm
     Grams
     Gregg
     Kyl
     Lautenberg
     Moynihan
     Nickles
     Robb
     Sessions
     Voinovich

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     McCain
       
  The conference report was agreed to.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. BENNETT. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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