[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 48 (Thursday, April 25, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3420-S3422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       NATIONAL LABORATORIES PARTNERSHIP IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2001

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I want to take a moment to 
congratulate, first, the extraordinary effort made by the Chair of the 
Energy Committee, Senator Bingaman. I think he has put more time on the 
floor in the last few weeks than anybody in recent times. Were it not 
for his patience and extraordinary willingness to work with all of us, 
we would not be celebrating the successful conclusion of this work 
today.
  I know I speak for all Senators and congratulate him and commend him 
for the work and leadership he has shown and for the tremendous 
contributions he has made to public policy in energy today. I am 
grateful for his friendship, but I am especially appreciative of his 
leadership, and I think that ought to be recognized.

  I also congratulate the ranking member, the Senator from Alaska, for 
his efforts as well. I know there may not be any more important 
legislation from the Senator from Alaska than this one. He has 
demonstrated a resolve and an extraordinary persistence, and were it 
not for his efforts and the work he has done, especially in recent 
weeks, we would not be here as well. So he also deserves special 
commendation and recognition for the remarkable job he has done.
  Finally, as is the case in so many instances, the distinguished 
assistant Democratic leader deserves recognition. He does not like it 
when I do this, but I do think it is important for the historical 
record to note that his constant presence on the floor, his willingness 
to work with Senators in working through the amendment logjams on so 
many occasions was absolutely invaluable. So I thank him as well for 
his constant effort on the floor, but in particular on this bill.
  I thank all of our colleagues, and I appreciate very much the work 
that has been done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, before the majority leader leaves, let 
me return the compliment. This was the Daschle-Bingaman bill we passed 
in the Senate. It was his leadership that was absolutely essential in 
getting this to the floor and his continuing leadership in keeping it 
on the floor. He has devoted 6 weeks of Senate floor time to this bill, 
and at many crucial points he made absolutely essential decisions to 
get us to closure.
  Let me also indicate what everyone in the Senate knows, and that is 
without the superb work that Senator Reid, our assistant floor leader, 
does, without his tremendous effort, we could not possibly have 
completed this work. He was present every day, every hour, moving this 
bill forward, working with

[[Page S3421]]

Senators on both sides of the aisle. To the extent we have succeeded, 
he deserves the lion's share of the credit.
  Let me also acknowledge the great work Senator Murkowski has done. He 
has been committed to getting an energy bill through the Senate for a 
very long time. He had strongly held views on certain aspects of that 
bill, with which we are all familiar. He was very committed also, 
though, to work with those of us on this side of the aisle to see to it 
that we got a bill through the Senate. So I compliment him.
  I did want to also thank and compliment the excellent staff we had on 
the Energy Committee. First, I thank Bob Simon, who is the staff 
director for the Democratic side in the Energy Committee. He did a 
superb job working on every aspect of this.
  I have a long list of folks to thank. I will run through the list. I 
acknowledge the tremendous contribution each one has made: Vicky 
Thorne, who is central to our activity, John Watts, Bill Wicker, Patty 
Beneke, Jonathan Black, David Brooks, Shelley Brown, Mike Connor, 
Deborah Estes, Kira Finkler, Sam Fowler, Amanda Goldman, Leon Lowery, 
Jennifer Michael, Shirley Neff, Malini Sekhar. All of those staff 
people on our Energy Committee did an absolutely superb job. My 
personal staff, James Dennis, John Epstein, and John Kotek, all made a 
great contribution.
  The floor staff the cloakroom staff did a tremendous job, Lula and 
Marty and all the others who have worked on this bill. They work day in 
and day out on the floor and do a superb job. I appreciate their good 
work.
  Senator Daschle's staff, Eric Washburn, Peter Umhofer, and Senator 
Reid's staff, Peter Arapis, all did a wonderful job, and I appreciate 
the good work. Those of us who are elected to these jobs get to take 
the credit, but we know who actually does the work.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Briefly, I note the contribution of our staff. As is 
always the case, we could not do what we do were it not for them. On 
this particular bill, I think their contribution will never be fully 
calculable, but it was invaluable. I thank our floor staff profusely 
for their effort. As Senator Bingaman noted, Eric Washburn from my 
staff has been a remarkable contributor to our effort. Were it not for 
his daily counsel, I would not have been able to accomplish what we 
have.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the majority leader for his comments, and I 
thank my good friend Senator Bingaman. I think it is noteworthy that we 
are at the end of a long road towards a comprehensive energy policy. I, 
too, want to thank all of those who worked so tirelessly on the 
legislation that helped make this momentous achievement possible. I 
think it was nearly 7 weeks that we have been on this bill. We have 
lost a little track of time.
  Indeed, the staffs of both the majority and the minority of the 
Energy Committee have done a tremendous job, and we owe them a debt of 
thanks. I think we have had over 400 amendments we have reviewed and 
dispensed with over the course of this period of time.
  I, of course, thank my own team for their dedication and work. To 
those on the other side, I thank them as well for their work, their 
cooperation, their professionalism, and that of the professional staff. 
They can be very proud of their efforts.
  I am appreciative of my relationship with Senator Bingaman and his 
commitment to proceed with this bill. He has truly proceeded as a 
gentleman during the debate.
  I think the recognition of Senator Reid is most noteworthy because 
Senator Reid has been very cooperative in moving this process along, 
and Senator Daschle, without his overall support and commitment to stay 
with the bill, the bill may have been pulled at previous times or 
anywhere along the way. That was not the case. I think we both 
recognize that this bill came about in a rather unusual manner, but I 
think we worked diligently through the amendment process to come up 
with something of which we can be proud.
  So I congratulate everyone on a job well done. I think it is fair to 
say that the passage of this bill culminates my almost 22 years in the 
Senate. It is not all I had wished for, but, by the same token, the 
glass is either half full or half empty. Today, as far as the Senator 
from Alaska is concerned, it is a little more than half full. Around 
here sometimes those are pretty good odds.
  We did get the gas line provision in; we got a heavy oil provision, 
both of which are very important for my State as well. So as we look to 
the conference and the conferees, we look to proceeding with the work 
ahead.
  I also thank the Republican leader, who has been with us in this 
entire matter. Senator Lott, at the beginning of the 107th Congress, 
declared that getting an energy bill passed would be one of the 
Republicans' top five priorities. He stood by us side by side at the 
extended press conferences that we have had for over a year. He has 
always been supportive. Once the energy bill came to the floor this 
year, the leader established an energy task force and held daily 
meetings directing our efforts each morning at 9 a.m. I am not sure 
where we will go at 9 a.m., we are so programmed.

  He promised, although we had reservations, it was our ticket to 
conference and we would work to improve it on the floor and get to 
conference. That is what has happened. Now, hopefully, the report will 
be forthcoming and we will get a bill to the President. We thank 
Senator Lott for his leadership.
  We made significant progress in many aspects. They speak for 
themselves: CAFE, electricity, renewables, and so forth.
  I recognize the efforts of our Commander in Chief, President George 
W. Bush. Today is a great victory for George W. Bush and his programs. 
We all recognize the world is a different place today than it was when 
the effort started more than a year ago. We have seen the tragic events 
that reshaped our national focus. But we underscore the need for a 
national energy policy. Now more than ever we need an energy policy 
with solutions, solutions that begin at home.
  The administration's national energy policy has served as a 
legislative blueprint for the energy debate that has taken place in the 
Congress. This is what we have had. We have had a committee process 
more or less on the floor of the Senate. We have made it work. Between 
the House-passed H.R. 4 and the Senate bill, nearly every one of the 
President's initiatives have been adopted. The President has been a 
true leader on this issue. Today marks a great victory for him. I am 
pleased to have been a part of this success.
  Our work is not done. There is more to do. The Senate goes into 
conference with NASA programs dealing with ethanol, renewable portfolio 
standards, the Alaska gas issue, electricity, climate change, and ANWR 
is in the House bill. These provisions will have to be worked out in 
what will likely be a very difficult conference. We are up to the 
challenge and we look forward to working with our House Members and 
Chairman Tauzin. I believe the House leadership and the administration 
certainly are up to it. Working with our colleagues on the other side, 
I think we can get a bill to the President this year.
  In closing, remember, we must get a plan to the President not because 
it is the President's legislation or his priority, and not because it 
is the Senate's legislation or the Senate's priority, but because it is 
the people's priority. That is our obligation--reliable affordable 
energy supply that powers this Nation. It is up to us to deliver this 
comprehensive bill. Without such a stable energy supply, our security 
is threatened, whether it is economic security, personal security at 
home, at work, or our national security on the world stage. Energy 
means security.
  I thank the staff director, Brian Malnak, for his tireless work; Jim 
Beirne, chief counsel; Bryan Hannegan, staff scientist. I thank staff 
assistants Dan Kish, Christine Drager, Mike Merge, Howard Useem, 
Colleen Deegan, David Woodruff, Joe Brenckle, Frank Gladics, Jack 
Phelps, Jim O'Toole, Josh Bowlen, Julia Gray, Shane Perkins, Jared 
Stubbs, Macy Bell, and Dick Bouts; our personal office staff: Alexander 
Polinsky, Joel Gilbertson, Chuck Kleeschulte, Charles Freeman, Isaac 
Edwards, Chris Eyler, Kristin Daimler, Julie Teer, Sarah Berk,

[[Page S3422]]

Carrie Lehman, and Jerry Ritter. They have done a magnificent job.
  If I left anybody off the payroll, I apologize.
  I congratulate my good friend, Senator Bingaman, and Senator Reid for 
making this possible.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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