[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 58 (Thursday, May 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4125-S4127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ATPA
Mr. DASCHLE. Let me respond briefly to the Senator from Arizona.
Nobody wants ATPA passed more than I do. I have attempted in many
different ways over the last several weeks to
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find the right formula to bring this about. I have talked about it,
literally, for months. I will work with the Senator from Arizona and
others. We are very aware of the May 16 deadline. I am very hopeful we
can find a way with which to accommodate that deadline and make sure
this job can be done.
We are sensitive to the tremendous economic repercussions that will
result if we are not successful. The stakes get higher with each
passing hour, which is why I have been frustrated in my effort to move
the process along all week.
We spent a lot of time on the farm bill. We spent a lot of time
waiting for some sort of negotiation when I think sometimes the best
thing to do is just offer amendments. That is what we do in the Senate
if there is a disagreement: At some point you offer an amendment, have
a vote, and move on to the next amendment.
There are those in the Senate who want the package to be just so,
prior to the time they even allow us to move forward on a package.
We will continue to work with those who have been in negotiation. I
hope we can resolve this matter soon.
Mr. LOTT. Will the Senator yield?
Mr. DASCHLE. I yield.
Mr. LOTT. We did vitiate the cloture, withdraw the first-degree
amendment, but I ask that we consider filing cloture on the underlying
amendment, just ATPA.
My cloture and amendment had been both trade promotion and Andean
trade. If we file cloture on just the Andean Trade Preservation Act,
that would ripen Monday night or Tuesday if we got an agreement, and it
would at least guarantee we would be able to get that issue resolved
and hopefully sent to the President by Tuesday or Wednesday, thus
dealing with this problem that Senator McCain addresses. If we don't,
we are going to have this deadline that we are facing.
I say this in a bipartisan, nonpartisan spirit. It would be one way
to make sure we get a vote on that. We could still get an agreement and
vitiate if we had to and get the trade promotion authority and trade
assistance also.
I might say that I understand we need to try to make progress. But we
have only spent about 12 hours on this bill and really only one serious
amendment has been offered.
I know you, Senator Daschle, would have liked to have had more
amendments offered. Certainly we assume that will occur, perhaps even
still. But we have not spent much time on the trade bill itself. I
would address the question--urge you to consider, even today, within
the next hour, filing cloture on the underlying ATPA. We could still
get progress on these other bills without prejudicing this particular
provision.
That is the kind of thing I think Senator McCain would like to see us
do. He is pressing me to file cloture on the underlying Andean Trade
Preference Expansion Act. Would you consider that as we proceed this
afternoon?
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we are trying to make the most of what
few days we have before the Memorial Day recess. That is an option. We
have entertained it in the past. We have talked about it in the past.
That would mean, of course, that TAA and TPA would fall if cloture is
invoked, and I am not sure we would be able to get to it again prior to
the Memorial Day recess, given all the other things we have to do. But
that is an option. So we will weigh that carefully and consider what
other choices we have, subject to some report from our colleagues. We
will continue to negotiate.
Mr. NICKLES. If my colleague will yield, I think Senator Lott and
Senator McCain have a good idea. I urge you to seriously consider that.
I hope it will not take cloture to pass any of the three bills. I
likewise tell the majority leader, I think you will find Members on
this side of the aisle--I think the majority leader has complicated his
process by trying to put three bills together.
Historically, we have passed Andean trade, passed trade promotion or
fast track, and we passed trade adjustment assistance--independently
and overwhelmingly, usually with 70-some votes. I believe there are
still 70-some votes. The Senate historically has pretty much favored
free trade.
I think we would be happy to assist the majority leader to pass all
three. We may have some differences, particularly on trade adjustment
assistance. Maybe we will have to have a few amendments on each side.
We will help you get a time agreement where we can pass all three bills
by the Memorial Day recess. Maybe by separating the three bills we can
accommodate the Andean countries that are in desperate shape. It would
be a shame if we imposed tariffs on those poor countries, a tariff
increase that they have not had for 10 years, if we do not get our work
done on that bill by next week, by the 15th or 16th.
Likewise, it would be a real mistake if this Senate doesn't pass
trade promotion and trade adjustment assistance, however this Senate
defines it.
I tell the majority leader, I think if he breaks the three up, we
could come up with time agreements and a limitation of amendments to
finish all three bills.
Mr. DASCHLE. I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for his generous offer
of assistance. I would love nothing more than to get time agreements.
I am told there is opposition to time agreements on both sides on
each bill. As we know, given the time it takes to get through a motion
to proceed if there is a filibuster, given the time it takes to get
through a bill itself, procedurally, if there is a filibuster--each
bill will take over a week if you did nothing more than move as
expeditiously as you can given our Senate rules.
Instead of doing three sequential filibuster-cloture, filibuster-
cloture, filibuster-cloture motions, we thought it might be better to
do one and accommodate all the procedural impediments at once.
That may or may not prove to have been the right strategy. But,
clearly, we know it will take a long time. If it is the case, we will
have to take these bills up sequentially, as I am told is the case
right now. Maybe time will prove Senators will reconsider and be
willing to move into a time agreement, at least on ATPA.
We will try to vet that and perhaps we can move that. I think we
ought to explore that possibility. But a sequential effort on each one
of these will take us well into the middle of June, and I am not sure
we have that kind of time.
I appreciate the Senator's interest in working with us.
Mr. NICKLES. If the Senator will yield a little further, I will be
happy to shop it on our side. I do happen to think there are
overwhelming majorities--probably on both sides of the aisle. We passed
TPA out of the Finance Committee 18 to 3. Andean trade passed
unanimously, I believe, in the Finance Committee. Trade adjustment
assistance was considered and, frankly, the trade adjustment assistance
that is in this bill never passed committee and some of us object to
that. We are willing to have amendments to it. We are willing to find
out where the votes are, if that is the way we have to go. Hopefully,
some of the negotiations that are taking place today can help solve
some of those problems. But we all know we need to move forward on all
three pieces of legislation. I urge our colleagues, let's do it.
I do question the wisdom of putting all three together.
Historically--I remember Senator Byrd and I having a big debate on
line-item veto and I used to say we should have a bill veto. Is it fair
to the President of the United States to submit all three bills, each
different, and say take it all or leave it all? He loses his Executive
power or ability to sign or veto individual pieces of legislation.
I hope we will consider trying to expedite this, come up with time
agreements, pass all three bills, and let's see if we can get all three
done by the Memorial Day break.
Mr. DASCHLE. If the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma will be
prepared to work with us on his side, we will see what prospects there
are for doing something like that on one or more of the bills in the
Senate in the next day.
I am happy to yield to the Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I think it sounds good to have some
cooperation with respect to time. But there is frustration on all sides
with respect to this legislation. The issue of trade promotion
authority, for example, came to
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the floor. Then we had to go off, I believe for 12 hours, debating the
Agriculture conference report, which took the better part of 2 full
days.
We have now, I believe, voted on only one amendment on trade
promotion authority. That was the amendment I offered. And that was
held over. We couldn't clear it after we had a tabling amendment. That
was held over several days in order to clear that.
Senator Dayton has an amendment. I have two additional amendments. I
know other colleagues have amendments to trade promotion authority, but
we have not been able to get at that, and my understanding was we had
people on the floor on the other side saying they were not going to let
us do anything until all of this gets negotiated to some successful
conclusion.
I think the way to legislate, I say to the majority leader, would be
to allow us to proceed with the amendments. If there are those on the
floor who are blocking it, perhaps the Senator from Oklahoma and the
Senator from Mississippi, if it is on your side, might help us remove
that block and let us get to the amendments and have votes on the
amendments.
Trade promotion authority is a reasonably controversial measure.
People will have a fair number of amendments, but we have had one so
far. It seems to me we ought to get at them and have votes on them.
Mr. LOTT addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader has the floor.
Mr. DASCHLE. I am happy to yield to the Senator.
Mr. LOTT. I will respond to that. I think that is what we should do.
That is what I just did; I offered an amendment. But because of concern
about the fact we were in morning business, I withdrew it.
I think that is the way to go. Hopefully, maybe we will come to an
agreement this afternoon that will allow us to move forward on all
three bills. If we do not, then what I urge we do is stay on the trade
bill, have amendments, and go forward.
I thank the Senator for yielding.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Mr. DASCHLE. Senator Byrd informed me, while he intended to speak as
in morning business today, he is going to postpone his speech on
Mother's Day until tomorrow. So the floor is open, I notify all
Senators.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Mr. REID. While the leaders are still on the floor, especially the
Republican leader, I want everyone to know that what he did was
entirely within his rights. What he did not know when he came on the
floor is my counterpart, Senator Nickles, and I had an agreement. The
majority leader had asked I keep us in a quorum call. That is what I
intended to do.
What Senator Lott did was in keeping with the rules of the Senate.
What he did following, to vitiate his request, is not in the rules of
the Senate. He did that because of the goodness of his heart, and I
appreciate that very much. We have to work here, recognizing that no
matter in what situation you may find yourself, it may not be one of
total understanding at the time you do it. I appreciate very much
Senator Lott withdrawing the cloture motion. I also appreciate his
withdrawing the amendment. He did not have to do that. No one could
have forced him to do that. We could have gotten into a procedural
situation where we would move to table his amendment and things of that
nature, but that would not have gotten us to the goal we wanted.
I also express my appreciation to my friend from Oklahoma who
expressed to the Republican leader what the arrangement was he and I
had.
Of course, I appreciate very much the majority leader working his way
through this. I think it will be better for us all that we approach it
in this manner.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
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