[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7766-S7768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ORDER OF PROCEDURE

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding 
rule XXII, the Senate immediately adopt the motion to proceed to H.R. 
4733 and the cloture vote regarding the China PNTR immediately occur, 
and if cloture is invoked, the 30 hours postcloture not begin until the 
Senate resumes the motion in September.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. I further ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 
XXII, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 5, 2000, the Senate temporarily 
lay aside the China PNTR motion to proceed and begin consideration of 
the energy and water appropriations bill, and the consideration of 
these two measures continue throughout the week of September 4, 2000.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that just prior to the vote, the 
following Senators be recognized for the following times: Baucus for 5 
minutes, Hollings for 5 minutes, Moynihan for 5 minutes, and Roth for 5 
minutes.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the allotted morning business 
times ordered earlier today commence immediately following the rollcall 
vote, and the yet designated Republican slot be allocated to Senator 
Bob Smith for up to 40 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Let me explain, if I could, what just occurred.
  We will have 15 to 20 minutes of time now that will be used for 
Senators to speak, those I just mentioned. That will be followed by the 
vote on the China PNTR motion to proceed. Then there will be a period 
of morning business time to follow that.
  When we return in September, we will go during the day to the China 
PNTR debate. That will be laid aside at 6 o'clock, and we will do the 
energy and water appropriations bill. This is classically described as 
a double tracking. We will be doing the appropriations bill at night. I 
hope it won't take but a couple nights. It may take three. During the 
day, we will be debating the China PNTR.
  I have assured Senators on both sides of the aisle that we are not 
going to shove this through. Senators who need time, Senators who want 
to offer amendments on the China trade bill are going to have the 
opportunity to do that. I think that is the right way to do it. We are 
not going to do it in the wee hours of the night. We are going to do it 
in the day. This is a major international trade agreement, and it needs 
to be done carefully and with thought. The Senate has a long tradition 
of acting carefully and with dignity when it comes to important matters 
of this nature. That is the way we are going to treat it when we 
return. There will be no rush to judgment, but I do think the 
responsible thing to do is to begin to make progress toward an eventual 
judgment.
  I thank my colleagues, Senator Daschle and Senator Byrd, Senator 
Hollings, Senator Wellstone and all, for their cooperation on this.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for 
announcing this arrangement. I thank my colleagues for their 
cooperation on this complicated but very understandable schedule. The 
majority leader has announced there will not be any cloture

[[Page S7767]]

motions filed or any rush to judgment on this issue. People will have 
the opportunity to offer amendments. I will work with our colleagues to 
assure they have that opportunity throughout the week, for whatever 
length of time it may take. I do hope perhaps we might be able to reach 
some agreement on time for these amendments, and my colleagues have 
assured me they are not averse to considering a time factor as we 
consider the order of these amendments.
  As I understand it, that would then accommodate the opportunity for 
us to vote this afternoon. I would be interested if the majority leader 
could comment on when that vote might take place.
  Mr. LOTT. If the Senator will yield, that is correct. I indicated 
there would be 15 or 20 minutes of statements by the four Senators who 
were identified before that vote. So I expect this vote will occur at 
approximately 4:30.
  Mr. REID. If the Senator will yield, we have one Member who has to go 
to a funeral. The latest the plane leaves is at 4:30. I am wondering, 
under the unanimous consent that has already been entered, we have the 
four, and Senator Wellstone wishes to speak. Could we do it immediately 
after the vote? I am doing that for one of the Senators.
  Mr. LOTT. We certainly can have time for statements after the vote. 
Even if the time that was included in the agreement was used, it would 
only be 20 minutes. We would be ready to begin voting at 4:15 or 4:20. 
We will have morning business time or we can arrange for Senators who 
wish to speak to speak right after the vote. I would be glad to 
accommodate that.

  Mr. REID. May we add Senator Wellstone to that so there will be 25 
minutes after the vote?
  Mr. LOTT. The Senator is talking about having all of the statements 
made after the vote instead of before the vote.
  Mr. REID. Otherwise people are missing airplanes.
  Mr. LOTT. I have no objection to that, but part of the agreement was 
that these four would speak before the vote.
  Let me suggest this: In view of the request that has been made, Mr. 
President, I will ask an additional unanimous consent request, if 
Senator Daschle will yield me the time to do this. I ask unanimous 
consent, of those Senators who wish to speak immediately before the 
vote, that they agree to speak immediately after the vote in the order 
that we read them, 5 minutes each, and that be followed by Senator 
Helms for 5 minutes and Senator Wellstone for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, what was in 
the agreement that was entered into?
  Mr. LOTT. The agreement with regard to the vote this afternoon was 
that we would have the vote after statements by Senator Baucus, Senator 
Hollings, Senator Moynihan, and Senator Roth for 5 minutes each. Then 
we would go to the vote. I have now asked unanimous consent to amend 
that to add that the speeches be made immediately following the vote 
and to include Senator Helms and Senator Wellstone for 5 minutes. Those 
speeches would occur immediately following the vote.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Will the majority leader yield for a question?
  Mr. LOTT. I am glad to yield to Senator Feingold.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. I want to clarify one point. What I understood from our 
agreement, what I believe was said was that there would be no cloture 
motion filed during the first week we are back on China PNTR; is that 
correct?
  Mr. LOTT. Part of that agreement was that there would not be cloture 
during the first week of debate. I must say, I did not intend to do it 
that way.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. No cloture motion filed during the first week?
  Mr. LOTT. I will go ahead and make that commitment now. I won't file 
or have a vote that week. After all, it is going to be a short week, 
and we do have appropriations work to do. We will not file cloture the 
first week we are back on PNTR.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. I thank the leader.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, did Senator Byrd wish further clarification?
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I was not on the floor when the agreement 
was entered into. I want to know what was entered into while I was not 
on the floor.
  Mr. LOTT. Certainly, we want the Senator to have that information. I 
believe the Senator has it before him. If I could sum it up in laymen's 
language so the rest of us will understand it, we would have four 
speeches before the vote on the motion to proceed on China PNTR, to be 
followed by a vote on that motion to proceed; that we would then come 
back in on September 5. We would have debates on China PNTR during the 
day. At 6 o'clock on that Tuesday, we would turn to debate and action, 
perhaps, on the energy and water appropriations bill, and that we would 
continue the next day on China PNTR and continue that next Wednesday 
night on energy and water, if necessary. So, basically, it was to get a 
vote on this motion to proceed this afternoon, with some prior 
statements, and then we would work on debate on China PNTR during the 
day, as we should, and that we would double track and try to move these 
appropriations bills.

  I know Senator Byrd wants us to do our work and wants our 
appropriations bills to be done. I would like to have an agreement 
beyond this, but it is progress. We will get back on the energy and 
water bill, which was the next bill in order. I believe Senator Reid 
and Senator Domenici will finish that bill probably in a matter of 
hours.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, reclaiming the floor, let me add to the 
majority leader's comments by saying that I have indicated to him that 
we will work, if we cannot reach agreement on the Treasury-Postal, to 
take that up immediately following energy and water and other 
appropriations bills as well, keeping this order in line, the 
sequencing in line until we have accommodated the debate and votes on 
all of these remaining appropriations bills.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have had discussions with my own leader 
about PNTR and about getting on with appropriations bills. We had 
several discussions. I have had discussions with the minority leader's 
floor staff as to whether or not we could get back on those two 
appropriations bills, energy and water and Treasury-Postal Service. 
That was the reason why I wanted to know what had happened when I went 
off the floor, because I have had these several discussions. I had not 
finally agreed to this. The agreement that has been entered into, I had 
not finally agreed to that because I wanted some definite 
understandings about Treasury-Postal Service and energy and water 
before I agreed.
  Mr. LOTT. If Senator Byrd will allow me to comment on that, this does 
get us started back on the appropriations bills, with energy and water. 
It will be my intent, as soon as that is completed, to try to move to 
another appropriations bill. I will have to consult with the chairman 
and the ranking member. We still have Treasury-Postal Service, 
Commerce-State-Justice, Housing and Urban Development, VA, and DC. I 
want to do them all as soon as we can so they can move on to 
conference. That is four bills we need to get done as soon as we can.
  I will continue to try to move those, but it takes consent, or I have 
to file a cloture motion, which doesn't expedite the proceedings. But 
we will continue to work with Senator Byrd, Senator Stevens, and 
Senator Daschle to try to move on to the other appropriations bills. It 
is pretty obvious by now that I am very committed to that.
  Mr. BYRD. As I understand it, when we get back, we are going to 
operate daily on a double track, with PNTR on the first track and 
appropriations bills on the second track.
  Mr. LOTT. Yes, daily.
  Mr. BYRD. The two appropriations bills we are specifically talking 
about at the moment are energy and water and the Treasury-Postal 
Service.
  Mr. LOTT. Yes.
  Mr. BYRD. Those two. From there, we are going to try to move other 
appropriations bills as quickly as we can. I hope we do that. I hope we 
will push for that because I don't want to have the same old problems 
we have been having with appropriations bills; namely, to get down to 
conference and, at the last minute, Senators have plane reservations to 
go home and the administration comes in and is represented in the 
conference, and we have our backs to the walls and we end up

[[Page S7768]]

with one major bill, as we did in fiscal year 1999, with eight 
appropriations bills and one tax bill, a $9.2 billion tax bill--all on 
an unamendable conference report, and we don't know what it is all 
about, it has 3,980 pages in it, and we can't amend it.
  That is a poor way to legislate. If the people of these United States 
knew what was going on here in that kind of a situation, they would run 
us all out, or they ought to. I just don't want to have that occur 
again.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if Senator Byrd will give me the 
opportunity, I associate myself wholeheartedly with his remarks, and I 
would like my name to be followed right after his remarks on that 
subject. I agree with him. I have been through those experiences. They 
don't do the institutions any good. I think they do the people a 
disservice. I hope we can avoid that.
  Mr. DASCHLE. If I may regain the floor, that is the whole idea behind 
the sequencing arrangement we are working on today. I think we have 
made some real progress in ensuring that we are going to take this up 
in an orderly way.
  Mr. BYRD. Well, I will just add in the last moment here that we are 
almost at the complete mercy of the executive branch in situations such 
as that. The executive branch comes in and they want a bill or two 
added in the conference report, and I think we ought to avoid that. 
That is what I am trying to discourage here. I have no objection.
  Mr. LOTT. I thank Senator Byrd.
  Mr. President, I will withdraw my earlier unanimous consent request. 
In order to accommodate a Senator, and perhaps others, who are desirous 
of attending a funeral, we will move the comments to after this vote.
  I ask unanimous consent that the speaking order after the vote be as 
follows under the same time constraints: Senator Helms for 40 minutes, 
Senator Bryan for 40 minutes, Senator Bob Smith for 40 minutes, Senator 
Dorgan for 40 minutes, Senator Roth for 5 minutes, Senator Moynihan for 
5 minutes, Senator Hollings for 5 minutes, Senator Baucus for 5 
minutes, and Senator Wellstone for 25 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. BAUCUS. Reserving the right to object, I am curious. Before, I 
was going to speak earlier in the line up. Now it is close to last. 
What happened?
  Mr. LOTT. The other speeches by Senator Helms, Bryan, Smith, and 
Dorgan were speeches that had already been ordered immediately after 
the vote. So what we are doing is we are adding those who want to speak 
with relation to China PNTR to that list.
  Mr. BAUCUS. In an earlier request, I thought I heard my name at the 
top of the list.
  Mr. LOTT. Under the earlier request, you did.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I am asking what happened between then and now.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me modify my request to put Senator 
Baucus in the order after Senator Dorgan, to be followed by Senators 
Roth, Moynihan, and Hollings.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the modification of the 
unanimous consent agreement?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

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