[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 110 (Wednesday, August 1, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8534-S8536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ORDER OF PROCEDURE
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent the
majority leader may, after consultation with the Republican leader,
turn to the consideration of the export administration bill, S. 149,
but not before September 4, 2001; further, that the Senate now turn to
the consideration of H.R. 2620, the VA-HUD appropriations, and Senator
Mikulski be recognized to offer the text of the Senate bill, S. 1216,
as a substitute amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there is objection?
Mrs. MURRAY. Reserving the right to object, and I will not object,
but if I could just have 2 minutes before we go to VA-HUD for some
final cleanup on the Transportation bill?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. TORRICELLI. Reserving the right to object, could I have 2 minutes
after Senator Murray?
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask that be part of the unanimous
consent request.
Mr. McCAIN. Reserving the right to object, I reserve 2 minutes after
the Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. DASCHLE. I add that one, too.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the request?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Unanimous Consent Agreement--Executive Calendar
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous
consent that immediately following the next rollcall vote, the Senate
proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Asa
Hutchinson to be Administrator for Drug Enforcement, that there be 30
minutes for debate equally divided among Senators
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Leahy, Hatch, and Hutchinson, that at the conclusion of that debate the
Senate vote on the confirmation of that nomination, the motion to
reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately
notified of the Senate's action, any statement thereon be printed in
the Record, and the Senate return to legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. LOTT. Reserving the right to object for two purposes, first of
all, let me clarify. In the middle of this request it says that there
be--is it 10 minutes each for Leahy, Hatch, and Hutchinson, as opposed
to 2 minutes for debate as has been earlier indicated? You put it at 10
minutes each for those 3; is that correct?
Mr. DASCHLE. That is correct, 30 minutes of debate equally divided
among three Senators, 10 minutes each.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I was going to reserve on behalf of Senator
Thompson, but I see that he is present. I withdraw my reservation so
Senator Thompson can make this request himself.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, reserving right to object, I wanted to
ask whether or not the unanimous consent request covered the
consideration of the Export Administration Act.
Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator is correct. The Export Administration Act is
part of the unanimous consent agreement that we entered into a moment
ago. It allows the majority leader to call up the bill on September 4.
I say to my colleagues, and especially to my colleague from
Tennessee, that this is an agreement he and I discussed prior to
entering into the agreement. It acknowledges that we would have at
least 2 full days of debate that would accommodate the interest of the
Senator from Tennessee in discussing this issue prior to the time I
would file a cloture motion. I confirm that for the Record, and fully
expect that those 2 full days of debate will be immediately following
the time we come back.
Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, my understanding was that there would be
2 full days of debate on the bill and amendments. Does the Senator
state in the unanimous consent as to when the bill would be taken up?
Would it be September 4 or is that left open?
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I indicated in the unanimous consent
request that it would be at the discretion of the majority leader, but
we did list September 4 as the anticipated date for the beginning of
the consideration of the bill.
Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, if I may inquire, I believe we also
discussed that the 2 full days--if that be the case--would be September
5 and 6. Cloture would not be filed before September 7. Is that
correct?
Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator is correct.
Mr. THOMPSON. I have no objection.
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I thank the
majority leader for his willingness to move a large number of nominees
forward and to work with Senator Nickles also and Senator Reid to bring
us the number we have today. I trust that some can move tomorrow out of
committee, and possibly by Friday we will even advance a good many
more. But I must tell you that there are others hanging in committee--
some that have been there since April and May.
I must tell you that I was very frustrated when the chairman of the
Judiciary Committee asked about one nominee in particular and said we
might get to him sometime next year. I do not know how to read that
statement. But I will tell you, if I read it the way I thought it was
intended, that is unacceptable. He has not had a hearing. And I know
the chairman of the Judiciary Committee talked about the frustration of
timing. But he has been before the committee since May 24.
Things change around here substantially. All of us know that and
accept that. But to suggest that we will not get to one of our
President's important nominees for 1 year nearly after he is nominated,
if that were to happen, September is going to be a pretty difficult
month around here for all of us. I don't say that as a threat. I don't
threaten. We know that. We don't do that in the Senate. But we cannot
accept those kinds of statements coming from key chairmen of committees
who have a responsibility to deal in a timely fashion with these
nominees. If there is a problem, have the hearing, bring him out and
vote him down. But don't suggest to him or to the administration that
sometime next year we will have this happen.
I was inclined to object. But thanks to Senator Nickles and also
Senator Reid, and the work done here and the majority leader's
willingness to advance it, I will not.
But there are other opportunities. There is a very clear timeline to
get an awful lot of work done in the Senate. I hope I am sending a
message to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee that those kinds of
statements and those kinds of actions cannot stand. Most importantly,
if he chooses that, then vote him down and tell the administration that
they have picked the wrong person--or people--and there are other
nominees or someone who is more acceptable to that chairman and to the
committee and to the Senate as a whole.
As you know, I talked to the leader about the pure human side of
this. People need to move their kids by August to get them in school. I
think the majority leader has been sensitive to that. I mean that most
sincerely, because the majority leader is moving a large number now,
and that will allow them time to do what they need to do in the human
sense.
But it will be a real tragedy, if this Senate becomes part of a
limiting factor on any administration's ability to bring together its
team and execute the responsibility of the executive branch.
I have spoken enough. I think my feelings are very clear. I must tell
you that there will be an increasingly concerted effort, if those kinds
of remarks and actions that follow are ones that will not move
nominees, or give them their day, or vote them down and move on so we
can fill these very important decisionmaking positions for our
Government.
I will not object. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is
so ordered.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Idaho. I feel I
may need to call an ambulance. I think I just bit off my tongue.
I will say in all sincerity that I think he just gave the speech that
I have repeated probably 25 or 30 times over the last 6 years,
verbatim. I can't tell you how many people languished for not days or
weeks but years. But I have said on this floor repeatedly that we will
not engage in payback. We will not engage in that kind of practice
because I don't believe in it. But I must say the record so far speaks
for itself.
Since assuming the majority--and we have only been able to deal with
nominations since we came back. Prior to that time, we didn't have
Members on committees. Since the organizing resolution passed, we have
held hearings on 114 Presidential nominees. This last week Democrats
reported favorably out of committee 17 nominees. In addition, during
the 17-day period when Democrats won the majority in January, 13
hearings were held on Cabinet level appointees. During the brief time
since the organizing resolution was passed, four judicial nominees have
already had hearings before the committee, 100 percent more than were
held before Senator Leahy became chairman. The majority has already
confirmed three judicial nominees. President Bush has been slow to send
the necessary documentation on some of the nominees. As of July 24, 34
percent of the 132 nominees announced by the administration have not
had their paperwork sent to the Senate.
I guess my point is that we are trying to accommodate all of those
nominees whose paperwork has been sent. I think today again
demonstrates the sincere desire to continue making progress just as
quickly as the committees report out their work. We have confirmed 110
nominations since taking the majority, with an agreement on one more as
soon as Mr. Hutchinson has been confirmed.
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, will the leader yield?
Mr. DASCHLE. I am happy to yield to the Senator.
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader. I mean this
most sincerely. We are about at the status quo between what Republicans
were
[[Page S8536]]
able to do and what Democrats were able to do for President Clinton and
what the majority leader is now doing. But I must tell you because the
gentlemen and/or ladies have languished in these committees since April
and May and their paperwork was there, there is something amiss.
That was my objection. Obviously, the majority leader has now
expedited them. We have worked with the majority leader, and I
compliment him for that. I think that is important.
But if there is a problem, let us not suggest that the gentleman
doesn't get heard before next year. Let's send the right message
instead of that kind of a statement. If there is a problem, what is the
problem? If this person is unacceptable, hold the hearing, vote on him,
and move him out or move him down.
That is my point. We need to get on with the business of allowing our
President to have his people in place to govern. We made a major step,
and I thank the majority leader for that.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Idaho for his
comment. There clearly will be nominees who will face challenges. We
see that in the Commerce Committee as we speak. There will be others.
But we will do our level best. That does not mean we are going to roll
over and rubberstamp every nominee who comes forward because that isn't
why we are here.
We have an obligation to ask questions, to review the data, and to
make a decision. We are going to do that. But to whatever extent
possible, we are going to be fair, and we are not going to reciprocate,
even though I must say there are sometimes temptations that are fairly
powerful. I hope we will continue to make progress on the nominations.
I also thank my colleagues, Senator Reid and Senator Nickles, for
moving us along on the nominations, and Senator Lott in particular for
his work in trying to reach an accommodation.
My desire now is to work relatively late into the evening so that we
might be able to get some of these amendments disposed of tonight. I do
not think we will finish the bill tonight, but there is a lot of work
to be done on the VA-HUD bill. We still have the Ag appropriations
legislation left to do. So there is much to be done. Today is Wednesday
afternoon, and we still have a day and a half, or 2, 3, 4, or 5 days
perhaps, to do our work. But it is going to get done before we leave.
We will move now to the VA-HUD bill after the Senators who sought
recognition are allowed to speak.
I yield the floor.
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