[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 80 (Monday, June 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5623-S5624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, today we have the opportunity to file 
amendments on the antiterrorism legislation. The last 2 weeks have been 
very productive in the Senate. We completed the very big, important, 
supplemental appropriations bill providing for many important things, 
not the least of which is, because of September 11, homeland security.
  The work done--I have said this on the floor on a number of 
occasions--by the Appropriations Committee, led by the President pro 
tempore and Senator Stevens, is a hallmark piece of legislation. I 
certainly hope we can get this out of conference in basically the same 
form that it left the Senate. It is very important legislation, 
important for the country. Not only does it take care, as I have 
indicated, of the homeland defense measures, but it also gives 
additional support to our troops. And there is money there for some of 
the other things we are doing in international relations. We ran out of 
money for disabled veterans. There are many things there that need to 
be done.
  In addition to that, we were able to get up the hate crimes 
legislation. We on this side are terribly disappointed the minority 
would not allow us to go forward on that. We thought we were 
threatened. I guess they, the minority, followed through on their 
threat that they were going to basically kill this bill by offering all 
kinds of amendments. They were unable to do that, but they did prevent 
cloture from being invoked.
  The debt limit is now out. It is important. I am disappointed that 
the country has turned on its head basically. Last year at this time, 
we had a $4.7 trillion surplus. We now are basically spending in the 
red. That is too bad. But we had to extend the debt limit. We did that. 
It was the responsible action. I hope the House will follow suit 
without games being played there.
  We were able to dispose of the estate tax. I was interested. I 
listened on public radio Saturday to Bill Gates's father, Mr. Gates, 
talking about why he believed the estate tax was an important part of 
America. Remember, this is Bill Gates's father. He basically said he 
wanted his children well taken care of, and he wanted his grandchildren 
well taken care of, but it wasn't right to have no tax on an $85 
billion estate. That is basically what his son has. We were able to get 
rid of that.
  Finally, we were able to have a good debate on the terrorism 
legislation dealing with the insurance aspect of it. Now, in the 
morning at 9:45, I feel confident we will invoke cloture on that very 
important legislation. We have been trying to move forward since last 
year in December.
  We have had a productive time. After this week, we have 1 week prior 
to going out for the Fourth of July recess. The leader announced on 
Friday that as soon as we complete the antiterrorism insurance 
legislation, we are going to go to the Defense authorization bill. That 
is also extremely important. Senators Levin and Warner have worked very 
hard on that legislation. It is always a bill where there are lots of 
amendments. I think this year will be no different. But it is something 
we will finish prior to the July 4 recess.
  We have our work cut out for us. I hope those people who have 
amendments to offer on this legislation will do so.
  As I have indicated, there will be no votes today. The vote will 
occur tomorrow morning on cloture. All first-degree amendments must be 
filed before 4 p.m. today. All second-degree amendments must be filed 
before 9:40 a.m. tomorrow.

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