[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 124 (Friday, September 21, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9588-S9589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 1450

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we are now at a point where I can 
propound this unanimous consent request.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to 
S. 1450, the aviation assistance and security bill; that no amendments 
or motions be in order to the bill; that there be 1 hour for debate 
equally divided between the two leaders, or their designees, with an 
additional 15 minutes under the control of Senator Byrd and 10 minutes 
for Senator Kennedy and 5 minutes for Senator Specter; that at the 
conclusion or yielding back of the time, the bill be read a third time, 
and the Senate vote, without intervening action or debate, on final 
passage of the bill.
  I further ask unanimous consent that when the Senate receives from 
the House its companion bill, it be immediately considered, read a 
third time, and passed, provided it is identical to the Senate-passed 
bill.
  I further ask unanimous consent that once the bill has been enacted 
into law, provided it is identical to the Senate measure, then action 
on the Senate bill be vitiated and the measure then be indefinitely 
postponed.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I do 
not intend to object, for clarification, is the specific time within 
the bill, within the 1-hour total?
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, those would be in addition to the 1-hour 
total as is propounded.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I will 
not object, I ask I be given 5 minutes out of the minority leader's 
time.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I so amend the request, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. It will be included in the request.
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I ask for 
2 minutes.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I so amend the request.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there any objection?
  Mr. NICKLES. Reserving the right to object, parliamentary inquiry: 
Are the times that were mentioned outside of the 1 hour?
  Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. NICKLES. I want to clarify that because I think we need to be at 
least on equal footing as far as additional time is concerned. I 
understand there is a time request by the Senator from Illinois and 
others on this side, so we ought to try to be equitable in the time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, we have a 
commitment to Senators who wish to be heard, such as Senator Kyl and 
Senator Fitzgerald, that they will be yielded time out of the one half 
hour on our side. Of course, Senator Hutchison will be my designee to 
handle the time on our side, and she will speak also, but I urge the 
Senators to speak within the allowed time and hopefully keep the total 
time under an hour.
  Mr. SPECTER. That is agreeable to me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mrs. CARNAHAN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, our 
Nation's airlines are clearly suffering as a result of last week's 
terrorist attacks, and I express my appreciation to the distinguished 
majority leader for his efforts to craft a comprehensive package of 
financial assistance for the airlines. I am confident the leader's 
efforts will ensure that the attackers who took down our buildings will 
not succeed in taking down the airline industry, too. I look forward to 
supporting this measure.
  I also believe we must act to bolster the airline industry. We must 
demonstrate our commitment to supporting the men and women who 
represent the industry's heart and soul.

[[Page S9589]]

 The tens of thousands of workers who before September 11 were flying 
our planes, building our planes, keeping our airports open, and serving 
the flying public are now facing unemployment. They will need financial 
assistance to be sure they can continue to pay their mortgages. They 
may need retraining so they can find jobs in a new industry. And we 
ought to be sure they and their families are not put in the scary 
position of being without health care coverage. As we have done for the 
airlines, the Federal Government must take the lead in supporting these 
workers.
  I inquire of the leader as to his thoughts on the prospect for 
enacting a benefit package for displaced workers in the near future.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me thank the distinguished Senator 
from Missouri for raising the issue and commend her for her active 
involvement on this matter now for some time. She spoke eloquently 
about it in the caucus, and she has addressed this issue on a number of 
occasions. I share her conviction and her strong belief that we must 
address the impact on employees as well.
  Over 100,000 employees are now out of work as a result of this 
extraordinary economic problem we are facing, and we have to address 
it. I indicated my caucus this morning that it is my strong view that 
this is the first installment of a series of efforts that must be made 
to put our economy back on track and to address the myriad other 
economic challenges we face, especially those involving workers and 
their families. So we are going to continue to work and find ways in 
which to do that.
  I emphasize I see this only as the first installment. We will have to 
go back and address other issues, especially those involving families. 
I thank the Senator for raising the issue.
  Mrs. CARNAHAN. As always, I thank the leader for his guidance. I look 
forward to working with him next week, and I do not object.
  Mr. LOTT. Reserving the right to object, and I will not object, but I 
ask that Senator Nickles get 20 minutes so we will have a balance of 
the time. I urge all Senators to not feel they must use all of the 
time.
  I inquire of the Chair, with that change, has the question been put?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________