[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10042-S10043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENSION OF MORNING BUSINESS
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that morning
business be extended to the hour of 11 a.m.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.
Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield, just so I can enter into a colloquy
with my friend?
Mr. WELLSTONE. I am pleased to yield.
Mr. REID. I say to Senator Stevens, the problem we are having on this
side, as I know you are having on your side of the aisle, is whether
there is going to be any votes this morning. Would you be able to
determine that quickly from your leader, as to whether or not there is
going to be a vote? We have a number of Senators, with the holiday
coming up, with places to go. We need to know whether there is going to
be a vote this morning.
Mr. STEVENS. I say with due respect to my friend--and despite words
at times, he is my friend--I believe the Senator from Arizona would
have to answer that. It is our intention, once the papers are here, to
move to proceed to that conference report. That is not a debatable
item. There would be a vote immediately. After that, the conference
report would be before the Senate, I would ask for the yeas and nays,
and it would be a matter of time, how much time the Senator from
Arizona wishes to debate the bill.
I know of no other speakers.
Mr. REID. I have spoken to my friend from Arizona and there is no
question he is going to want to speak for more than a half-hour or an
hour.
Mr. STEVENS. I would expect that. I honor his right to do so. It
would be my predilection that you should address that to the leader.
The question is how late in the day would the Senator from Arizona
finish his brief comments?
Mr. REID. If, in fact, he would finish today.
Mr. STEVENS. That is for the Senator from Arizona to determine.
Mr. REID. I guess my question to the Senator from Alaska is, if we do
not vote on that, does the majority leader want us to vote on something
else today? I hope in the next few minutes there could be a
determination made as to whether or not, around 11 o'clock when we
finish morning business, there will be a vote on something other than
the Transportation appropriations bill.
Mr. STEVENS. I might say to my good friend from Nevada, and to the
Senate as a whole, it has been my request to the leader that we proceed
with appropriations bills and only appropriations bills so we can get
them to the President. We have been doing that. We do have other
appropriations bills on the move now. The Agriculture conference was
finished last evening. I do not think we can get to that today. But I
do believe we should try to finish the Transportation bill today if we
can and take up Agriculture appropriations next week.
We have three other conferences that are going forward and we do, I
understand, have an agreement now--nearly an agreement on how to handle
the VA-HUD bill. So we should be voting on several bills early next
week. But I do not know of any other bill that we can get before the
Senate today in the form of a conference report. I do think we could
handle the VA-HUD bill if we could round up that agreement. It is still
waiting for one clearance. I doubt we will finish that one today. We
should take that up early next week, however.
Mr. REID. It sounds to me it is fairly safe to assume there will not
be any votes on appropriations bills today. As I said, I have spoken to
my friend from Arizona.
Mr. McCAIN. If my friend will yield, I am seeking agreement to take
up this legislation on which American lives are at stake--not money but
safety and lives of Americans. I am seeking an agreement to take that
up. If we could get agreement to get that bill up, with relevant
amendments, then I will be more than happy to not impede the work of
the Senate.
I do not know of a higher priority than to take up legislation about
a compelling issue that has to do with the lives of the American
people. So I hope we could get an agreement to take up that
legislation, either now or in the next several days. Then I would
certainly remove my objections to proceeding with an appropriations
bill. Apparently, that is not the case because there are ``rolling
holds'' on this legislation. I think that is really quite remarkable.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as the Senator from Arizona knows, I am a
member of the conference committee, and I support the legislation he
mentions. But I also know portions of it are in this bill and were
agreed to by the Transportation conference committee, and the matter he
suggests is a leadership issue. I am in no position to negotiate on
when the bill, that I also support, would come up. But I do believe our
problem is trying to get this bill on its way. We cannot flood the
White House with bills, appropriations bills, and expect to get answers
in time.
We are trying to get them down day by day so we can get some timing
and get some response. If the President wishes to veto them, we will
have to come back and deal with those, too.
But we are trying to move this bill. This bill is ready to go. The
Transportation bill is ready to go. It contains a portion of the bill
the Senator from Arizona has mentioned--not all of it but a portion of
it. It is not negative, but it is not totally positive.
I do believe the issue he reaches, whether or not the Senate will
allow the consideration of the bill--that is under consideration now in
the House--at any particular time, is a matter for the leader to
determine, not for me. I would like to move forward with this
Transportation bill. I urge my friend to allow us to do that because it
is a significant bill, one of the most significant Transportation bills
on which I have been privileged to work. It sets a new process for
trying to reduce the increasing numbers of drunken drivers on our
highways.
If there is a safety problem out there that is greater than the one
the Senator from Arizona mentioned, it is alcohol. I do not want to see
this bill delayed. I would like to see it get to the President. I am
informed the President will sign it. I hope he will. We could get
[[Page S10043]]
it to him today if the Senator from Arizona will allow us to do that.
But for now, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
Mr. WELLSTONE. No, no.
Mr. STEVENS. Pardon me. I do thank the Senator for yielding. I
apologize and yield back to the Senator from Minnesota.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my understanding the Senator from
Minnesota has the floor?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota has the floor for
10 minutes.
Mr. REID. The Senator from Minnesota has the floor. I know his
urgency, being able to speak for up to 10 minutes, but there are a
number of Senators who are concerned about whether or not we are going
to have a vote. It appears, based on what the Senator from Alaska said
and interchanges with the Senator from Arizona, we are not going to
have a vote on appropriations bills today. That seems very clear. So
unless there is a vote on some other issue, or on a motion to proceed
to it, I don't think we will have a vote.
Mr. McCAIN. If the Senator will yield, I am still hoping the
leadership will agree to take up this bill. The chairman of the
Appropriations Committee says he is not in the leadership. I have seen
the Senator from Alaska have significant effect on the leadership from
time to time. What I am hoping is we can get this issue resolved and
move forward with the Transportation appropriations bill.
Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield further? Without question, there
will be a vote on the motion to proceed to the Transportation
appropriations bill today--without any question.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in a period for morning business
to end at 11 a.m. The Senator from Minnesota has the floor for not to
exceed 10 minutes.
Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, one has to keep a twinkle in one's eye,
I guess. I am glad we are going to vote on something. I do not mind
being here Monday early or Friday late as long as we are working.
Sometimes it is a little maddening when there are other things you want
to do back in your State that you think are important and you do not
know if we are going to have a vote.
I am glad we are going to vote on something and move forward.
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