[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 25, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10984-S10986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COLORADO UTE SETTLEMENT ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2000
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of S. 2508.
Pending:
Campbell Amendment No. 4303, in the nature of a substitute.
Feingold Amendment No. 4326 (to Amendment No. 4303), to
improve certain provisions of the bill.
Mr. CAMPBELL. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Feingold and I
have 2 minutes to address the Senate before the vote on the motion to
table Feingold amendment No. 4326.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The
Senator from Wisconsin.
Amendment No. 4326
Mr. FEINGOLD. My amendment is supported by the administration because
it improves the bill. It actually makes the bill comply with Federal
reclamation and environmental laws. It makes it clear that only the
features of the latest version of the Animas-La Plata Project will be
constructed, and the result of that, my colleagues, will be a better
return for the taxpayers than the underlying measure. This is
important.
The Ute and Navajo tribes will have their claims settled and paid
for, even under my substitute, 100 percent by the Federal Government,
but the nontribal water recipients will have to repay their share of
the construction, fish and wildlife mitigation, and recreation costs.
That kind of repayment is only fair. It is what other water users and
other projects such as the California central valley and central Utah
have to pay.
If my colleagues will look at the fact, this is not unprecedented.
This is actually the way other water projects are handled now. The
water users have to pay these fair costs. This amendment not only does
not kill the bill, it just makes sure there is a fair opportunity for
court review. The bill does not undercut; the non-Native American users
actually pay their fair share.
Most importantly, this greatly expanded project that has now been
scaled down to a reasonable level does not somehow get put back into
this large wasteful project. It is both strong in terms of
environmental concern and very strong in terms of the taxpayers.
I hope by supporting this, my colleagues, the Senator from Colorado
could have this water project that he has worked on for so long, but
that it be done in a responsible way which the administration supports.
Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I am joined by Senator Bingaman, Senator
Domenici, and Senator Allard in asking the Senate to support our
version of the Animas-La Plata water project by voting to table the
Feingold amendment. In 2 minutes they will not have time to speak, but
I believe I am speaking for them.
Our version of S. 2508 is truly bipartisan. By the way, it is not an
expanded project. This is a much more reduced project. The Republican
Governor and the Democratic attorney general of Colorado strongly
oppose the Feingold amendment. By voting to table the Feingold
amendment, we will leave intact a bipartisan version of S. 2508,
supported by the administration, the States of Colorado and New Mexico,
the Ute tribes of Colorado, the Navajo nation, and rural and municipal
water users of southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico.
In doing so, we will be saving the taxpayers over $400 million by
downsizing the currently planned Animas-La Plata water project. If the
Feingold amendment is not tabled, most of those entities will withdraw
their crucial support
[[Page S10985]]
for the historic compromise and it will be dead.
If the Feingold amendment is adopted and the compromise collapses,
then our only option for satisfying the tribal water right claims will
be to build the entire huge Animas-La Plata water project as authorized
in 1968.
In addition to killing our bipartisan solution to a regional water
conflict, the Feingold amendment unfairly singles out rural water users
and small municipalities in both of our States to pay higher costs for
their domestic water supplies than the residents of big cities such as
Phoenix and Tucson that are served by the central Arizona and central
Utah projects, which were also authorized in 1968 at the same time the
Animas-La Plata Project was authorized.
As chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, the Feingold
amendment sends the wrong message by penalizing a region for
participating in historic water rights settlement. If the Feingold
amendment is not tabled, there will only be losers because the Indians
and non-Indians will be locked into needless and expensive litigation
and taxpayers will have to pay the costs of litigation on both sides.
Therefore, I ask my colleagues to join with me, along with Senators
Bingaman, Domenici, and Allard, to support our bipartisan effort in
voting to table the Feingold amendment.
I ask unanimous consent that the next votes in the series be limited
to 10 minutes each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CAMPBELL. I move to table the amendment of the Senator from
Wisconsin, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the motion to table amendment No.
4326. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr.
Ashcroft), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Burns), the Senator from
Tennessee (Mr. Frist), the Senator from Washington (Mr. Gorton), the
Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Grams), the Senator from North Carolina
(Mr. Helms), and the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Roth) are necessarily
absent.
I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from
Washington (Mr. Gorton) and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms)
would each vote ``yea.''
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), the
Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein), and the Senator from
Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 56, nays 34, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 281 Leg.]
YEAS--56
Abraham
Allard
Baucus
Bennett
Bingaman
Bond
Breaux
Brownback
Bunning
Campbell
Cochran
Conrad
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
DeWine
Domenici
Dorgan
Enzi
Gramm
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Johnson
Kerrey
Kyl
Landrieu
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McConnell
Miller
Moynihan
Murkowski
Murray
Nickles
Roberts
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Smith (OR)
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Voinovich
Warner
NAYS--34
Bayh
Biden
Boxer
Bryan
Byrd
Chafee, L.
Cleland
Collins
Dodd
Durbin
Edwards
Feingold
Fitzgerald
Graham
Harkin
Jeffords
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
McCain
Mikulski
Reed
Reid
Robb
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Schumer
Snowe
Specter
Wellstone
Wyden
NOT VOTING--10
Akaka
Ashcroft
Burns
Feinstein
Frist
Gorton
Grams
Helms
Lieberman
Roth
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the Campbell
substitute.
Without objection, the Campbell substitute is agreed to.
The amendment (No. 4303) was agreed to.
Mr. HATCH. I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that
motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment and third
reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read
the third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the
question is, Shall the bill pass?
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr.
Ashcroft), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Burns), the Senator from
Tennessee (Mr. Frist), the Senator from Washington (Mr. Gorton), the
Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Grams), the Senator from North Carolina
(Mr. Helms), and the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Roth) are necessarily
absent.
I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from
Washington (Mr. Gorton) and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms)
would each vote ``yea.''
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), the
Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein), and the Senator from
Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). Are there any other
Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 85, nays 5, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 282 Leg.]
YEAS--85
Abraham
Allard
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Breaux
Brownback
Bryan
Bunning
Byrd
Campbell
Cleland
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Edwards
Enzi
Fitzgerald
Graham
Gramm
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Leahy
Levin
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
Moynihan
Murkowski
Murray
Nickles
Reed
Reid
Robb
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Voinovich
Warner
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--5
Boxer
Chafee, L.
Durbin
Feingold
Lautenberg
NOT VOTING--10
Akaka
Ashcroft
Burns
Feinstein
Frist
Gorton
Grams
Helms
Lieberman
Roth
Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. ALLARD. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President. I rise today to congratulate my
colleague from Colorado, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, on the
passage of S. 2508, the Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000.
This important Indian water rights settlement would never have gotten
as far as it has in the Senate without the hard work and dilligence of
Senator Campbell. As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee and a member of the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee, I know how difficult it is to reach consensus on Indian
water rights settlements. It takes a great deal of knowledge,
dedication and downright hard work to get these kinds of bills through
committee and onto the Senate floor and while the work can be
frustrating, the rewards of a job well done are the appreciation of the
Tribe and the water users. Senator Campbell should reap those rewards.
This settlement has been a long time coming and I hope the House of
Representatives will look favorably on the hard work that has been done
here and
[[Page S10986]]
pass this bill expeditiously so that it will make it to the White House
and be signed into law.
My only regret is that this bill has taken so long to pass the
Senate. Fulfilling this commitment to the Colorado Ute Indian Tribes
and the Colorado water users never should have taken this long. The
settlement agreement was signed in 1986 and now--finally--after 15
years of foot dragging and outright obstruction by outside groups, a
bill to implement the agreement passes the Senate. The history of this
unfulfilled promise is not a good one. For the past 15 years, numerous,
and duplicative studies have been required, each of which resulted in
substantial reductions in water to be diverted and stored in the
Animas-La Plata project. The tribes, in order to get a project, have
agreed to substantial modification of their rights under the 1986
agreement and 1988 Settlement Act to make this proposal work. The cost
of the project has been cut by almost two thirds, yet opponents of the
project are still unhappy. I wonder what would make them happy--
complete and total derogation of the Federal Government's obligation to
the tribes? I know Senator Campbell would not let that happen and I
would certainly support him in his efforts.
This bill, as passed today, represents the best hope for the United
States to do right by the Colorado Ute Indian Tribes at this point and
I am pleased to vote for it. I again congratulate Senator Campbell.
____________________