[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6931-S6934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2003

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader, pursuant 
to the unanimous consent agreement previously entered into, and after 
having consulted with the Republican leader, I ask unanimous consent 
that Calendar No. 486, H.R. 5011, the military construction bill, be 
called before the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 5011) making appropriations for military 
     construction, family housing, and base realignment and 
     closure for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2003, and for other purposes.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, before the Senators start discussing this 
bill, Senator McCain has asked for 5 minutes in the morning rather than 
having his 20 minutes now.
  I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate resumes consideration of 
H.R. 5011 on Thursday, there be 15 minutes of debate time with the time 
divided as follows: 5 minutes each for Senators Feinstein, Hutchison, 
and McCain; that upon the use of that time, without further intervening 
action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, 
with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all after the 
enacting clause is stricken and the text of S. 2709 is inserted in lieu 
thereof.
  The Senator from California is recognized.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my ranking 
member, Senator Hutchison of Texas, to bring the Fiscal Year 2003 
Military Construction Appropriations bill to the Senate for 
consideration. This is a balanced, bipartisan bill intended to meet 
some of the most pressing infrastructure requirements of our military 
forces.
  This bill provides $10.6 billion in new budget authority. It 
represents an increase of less than one tenth of one percent over last 
year's $10.5 billion military construction bill. But it is nearly 10 
percent more than the President's 2003 budget request.
  The 2003 budget request submitted by the President severely 
underfunded the Guard and Reserves. The request was 52 percent below 
last year's request. Congress is left to make up the shortfall. As all 
Members know, the Defense Emergency Response Fund funded all projects 
identified by the President as necessary for the war on terror. While 
it may be tempting to blame the decrease in military construction 
funding on the costs of fighting a war on terror, the fact is that the 
war on terror is fully funded through the Defense Emergency Response 
Fund.
  This bill was coordinated carefully with the Armed Services 
Committee, and each project in this bill is included in the National 
Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate. All of the projects in 
this bill meet the stringent standards for military construction 
funding set by the Senate. Every project we funded is in the Services' 
Future Years Defense Plans, and every project is a top priority of the 
installation commanders.
  Mr. President, the bill was unanimously reported out of the 
Appropriations Committee on June 27. The package before the Senate 
today includes technical and conforming changes in the bill and report, 
as authorized by the full Committee. These changes include 
clarification of report language as needed and, in one instance, a 
correction in the tables to delete an unauthorized project that was 
inadvertently included in the committee print.
  The bill provides $5.6 billion--53 percent of the total--for military 
construction for active and reserve components. Included in this 
funding is $1.1 billion for barracks; $26 million for child development 
centers; $137 million for hospital and medical facilities; $159 million 
for the Chemical Demilitarization Program; and $610 million for the 
Guard and Reserve components.
  An additional $4.23 billion, or 40 percent of the total bill, goes to 
family housing. This includes $1.33 billion for new family housing 
units and improvements to existing units; and $2.9 billion for 
operation and maintenance of existing units.
  This bill also includes two new military construction initiatives. 
The first is the Army and Air Force Transformation Initiative, which 
sets aside funding for the Army and the Air Force to be used for 
infrastructure requirements.
  For the Army, the funding is allocated for construction related to 
the Interim Brigade Combat Teams. The Interim Brigades, which were just 
recently renamed Stryker Brigades, are essential to the Army's effort 
to become a lighter, more mobile, more effective fighting force. Army 
officials testified before the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee 
earlier this year that current levels of military construction funding 
are not adequate to meet the Army's time line for these brigades.
  Likewise, the Air Force is in need of additional funding to move 
forward quickly with the beddown of aircraft associated with its Air 
Mobility Modernization Program. The Air Force is facing a serious 
shortfall in airlift capability. The Air Mobility Modernization 
Program, which encompasses the acquisition and upgrading of C-17s, C-
5s, and C-130s, is urgently needed.

  Simply put, the timetables for Army and Air Force transformation that 
were in place prior to September 11 are no longer adequate. The war on 
terror has placed pressing new demands, not only on personnel and 
equipment, but also on infrastructure. The large increase in defense 
funding that has occurred since September 11 reflects those demands. 
Under the transformation initiative, the committee has made $100 
million available each for the Army and Air Force to be used for 
infrastructure requirements of the Stryker Brigades and C-17 Air 
Mobility programs, as determined by the Services.
  The second major initiative in this bill is the BRAC Environmental 
Cleanup Acceleration Initiative. This initiative provides an extra $100 
million above the fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate the 
cleanup of dangerous contaminants at military bases that have been 
closed or realigned as part of the BRAC process. Until the 
environmental cleanup process is completed, these closed bases are the 
equivalent of giant white elephants. The services no longer need them, 
but the communities cannot complete the conversion of them to 
productive use. In some cases, the lengthy cleanup process presents a 
problem far worse than just an economic drain on the Services and the 
communities--in some cases, the contaminants polluting the soil of 
closed military bases present a serious hazard to human health and the 
environment.
  In my home state of California, for example, plutonium contamination 
at McClellan Air Force Base continues to present a hazard to the 
community and to impede progress towards profitable reuse of the 
property. In Texas, toxic groundwater that has migrated to nearby 
neighborhoods from the former Kelly Air Force Base has raised fears 
among residents that the pollution could be causing health problems. 
These are only two of many examples. The fact is, we have a 
responsibility to the American people to clean up the buried ordnance 
and hazardous wastes that contaminate many of our closed or realigned 
military installations. And I believe that we have a responsibility to 
act expeditiously. Although the President requested only $545 million 
for BRAC environmental cleanup, the Services, at the request of the 
Committee, identified another $237 million in environmental cleanup 
requirements that could be executed in 2003 if funding were made 
available. We could not provide the full $237 million needed, but the 
extra $100 million we recommended will help to speed the cleanup 
process. Simple common sense indicates that the military should finish 
the cleanup from the first four rounds of BRAC before diverting scarce 
resources and creating additional cleanup costs in another round of 
base closures.

[[Page S6932]]

  I want to point out that all the projects added to military 
construction authorization and appropriations bills that are not part 
of the President's budget request are carefully screened and vetted by 
the Services. They are the priorities of the men and women who live and 
work on military installations throughout the country, and sometimes 
those priorities differ from the priorities of the Pentagon. 
Installation commanders are uniquely attuned to the needs of their 
bases, whereas the budget officers at the Pentagon and the Office of 
Management and Budget are focused on the corporate needs of the Defense 
Department as a whole. In some cases, a child care center or a barracks 
may be essential to the well-being of a base, but may not score high 
enough at the Pentagon to make it into the President's budget. In other 
cases, a worthy project may be programmed for funding down the road 
when it is urgently needed now.
  Mr. President, this bill meets many military construction needs--all 
of the projects are authorized, are in the military's Future Year's 
Defense Plan, and are the base commander's priority. I urge my 
colleagues to support it. I would like to thank my ranking member for 
her support in developing this bill. It is a privilege and a pleasure 
to work with Senator Hutchison. I also thank Chairman Byrd, Senator 
Stevens, and Senator Inouye for their guidance and support in 
developing this package. And I thank the staff of the subcommittee for 
their dedication and hard work in putting this package together.
  I thank my ranking member for her support in developing this bill. I 
also thank Chairman Byrd, Senator Stevens, and Senator Inouye for their 
guidance and support in developing this package.
  I also thank the staff, specifically Christina Evans, B.G. Wright, 
and Matt Miller on the Democratic side, and Sid Ashworth, Alycia 
Farrell, and Michael Ralsky on the Republican side.
  I reserve the remainder of my time and yield to the ranking member, 
Senator Hutchison from Texas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Miller). The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I thank the Senator from California, the chairman of 
the committee. We certainly have worked together on this bill, and 
Senator Feinstein outlined some of the problems we faced in trying to 
make up for some of the shortfalls in the budget that we had before, 
particularly in the environmental cleanup and Guard and Reserve 
accounts.
  We have been able to address the major issues for the Department of 
Defense and also try to stay on the course that we set to improve the 
quality of life for our military personnel.
  In 2001, when President Bush took the oath of office, he made a 
promise to America that we would see a transformation of our military. 
He wanted to take a 25-year look at what our military needs would be, 
and he appointed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who has the most 
experience of any Secretary of Defense, having been Secretary of 
Defense before, to do that very job.
  After 9/11, of course, our priorities immediately changed because we 
then became immediately involved in a crisis, a war on terrorism. Now 
we are prosecuting a war on terrorism at the same time that we still 
are trying to look to the future needs of our national defense.
  Our bill for military construction attempts to address the top 
priorities of the Department of Defense. It is a balanced bill and is 
quite bipartisan.
  I am particularly pleased to see that we are going to put a large 
part of this bill, $1.17 billion, in barracks and dormitories for our 
military quality of life; $4.23 billion for family housing. We are 
asking so much of our military today. Our military personnel on active 
duty know that they may well be deployed overseas and perhaps on 
dangerous missions. So we want them to have a quality of life for 
themselves and for their families that will allow them to serve, 
knowing that their families will be taken care of in good housing and 
with good health care. Our part is housing, and we are fully funding 
the new barracks, dormitories, and family housing.
  In recent years, we have made real progress in improving housing for 
single servicemembers and for families. We are also trying to improve 
workplaces. We have funding in this bill for the upgrading of the work 
facilities, the battalion headquarters, and the units where they are 
working. It is my hope that in future budgets we will see sufficient 
resources to continue this effort to modernize, renovate, and improve 
our aging defense facilities and infrastructure.
  The effects of sustained inattention by the Department and the 
military services to basic infrastructure are certainly apparent on 
nearly every military installation in our country. This will continue 
to have long-term implications as facilities continue to age 
disproportionately without sustained investment in maintenance and 
repair.
  This bill also provides $599 million for the Reserve components, 
which is a substantial increase over the President's budget request 
primarily because of the increased use of the Guard and Reserve since 
September 11. These are important increases that signal a renewed 
commitment to upgrading and rebuilding the infrastructure that is truly 
the backbone of our Nation's military, which has so long been 
neglected.
  Guard and Reserve members have stepped up to the plate for our 
country, even before 9/11, but more so after. These are men and women 
with full-time civilian jobs. They answer the call when our country 
asks, and their employers sacrifice, too. We are asking a lot, and they 
always come through. That is why we are trying to upgrade the 
facilities and the equipment they need to do their jobs well.

  The bill also addresses several key Department of Defense 
initiatives. First are the Army and Air Force transformation 
initiatives. We have provided $100 million for critical infrastructure 
needed to support the Army's interim brigade combat teams and $100 
million for the Air Force's aircraft mobility programs.
  Senator Feinstein discussed those programs earlier. These programs 
are essential to ensuring that the Army and Air Force have the 
infrastructure in place to move forward with the transformation efforts 
over the next several years. Without this assistance, they would not be 
able to meet their established milestones.
  The committee report also includes a $100 million increase over the 
President's budget request for environmental cleanup at military 
installations that have been closed as a part of the base realignment 
and closure effort. This additional funding is necessary to enable the 
military to accelerate the cleanup of dangerous contaminants at closed 
and realigned bases throughout the Nation.
  Senator Feinstein mentioned my home State of Texas where Kelly Air 
Force Base is one of those that were closed and where there are very 
significant reported health problems that many believe--and there is 
evidence to support--are caused by environmental contaminants at that 
closed base. Certainly California is experiencing similar problems. We 
are going to try to do what we said we would do for the people in the 
communities where we have closed bases.
  I support this bill. It is exactly what we need to address the 
infrastructure problems that will support our military and Department 
of Defense budget.
  I thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Senator Feinstein, for her 
leadership in crafting this bill. She and her staff--Christina Evans 
and B.G. Wright--have done an excellent job in putting together a 
bipartisan bill.
  I also thank my staff--Sid Ashworth, Alycia Farrell and Michael 
Ralsky--for their invaluable work on our Committee on Appropriations 
every year. Michael Ralsky has done a wonderful job for me and will 
soon be going over to the Pentagon where we know he will contribute his 
expertise, gained from working in the Senate for so many years.
  Their support has been really terrific, and we appreciate that. I 
appreciate that Senator Feinstein also thanked Senator Inouye and 
Senator Stevens for their work. They do the Department of Defense 
budgets, and we certainly dovetail with them in our military 
construction budgets. I cannot think of any two people who are more 
committed to our strong military than Ted Stevens and Danny Inouye,

[[Page S6933]]

two veterans who have served our country in the military and who would 
never, ever walk away from our responsibility to take care of our 
military personnel. They have been so supportive of this military 
construction effort that Senator Feinstein and I have put together.
  I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it when we vote 
tomorrow.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Again, I thank my ranking member. It was great to 
work with her, and I think she knows that. I think we have a very good 
bill.


                           Amendment No. 4306

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
  The Senator from California [Mrs. FEINSTEIN], for herself, Mrs. 
Hutchison, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Biden, Mr. 
Carper, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Frist, and Mr. Thompson 
proposes an amendment numbered 4306.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec.    Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the 
     heading ``Military Construction, Army'', $8,000,000 may be 
     provided for a parking garage at Walter Reed Army Medical 
     Center, District of Columbia.
       Sec.    Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the 
     heading ``Military Construction, Army'', $3,000,000 may be 
     provided for a Anechoic Chamber at White Sands Missile Range, 
     New Mexico.
       Sec.    Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the 
     heading ``Military Construction, Air Force'', $7,500,000 may 
     be provided for a control tower at Dover Air Force Base, 
     Delaware.
       Sec.    Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the 
     heading ``Military Construction, Army National Guard'', 
     $9,000,000 may be provided for a Joint Readiness Center at 
     Eugene, Oregon.
       Sec.    Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the 
     heading ``Military Construction, Air National Guard'', 
     $8,400,000 may be provided for a Composite Maintenance 
     Complex, Phase II in Nashville, Tennessee.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, Senator Hutchison and I authored this 
amendment on behalf of Senators Thurmond, Domenici, Bingaman, Biden, 
Carper, Wyden, Gordon Smith, Frist, and Thompson. The amendment would 
include in the military construction bill five projects that were 
authorized by the Senate during consideration of the National Defense 
Authorization Act. These projects include a parking garage at Walter 
Reed Medical Center in the District of Columbia; an Anechoic testing 
chamber at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; a control tower at 
Dover Air Force base in Delaware; a Joint Readiness Center at Eugene, 
OR; and a composite maintenance complex in Nashville, TN.
  All of these projects have been authorized. They meet all the 
requirements of the military construction program, and I urge my 
colleagues to adopt the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the amendment?
  If not, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 4306.
  The amendment (No. 4306) was agreed to.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I 
move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to thank 
Senator Feinstein for her stewardship of the Military Construction 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003. Her work on this bill will 
provide billions of dollars in funding to support our Nation's defense 
efforts, and I support those efforts wholeheartedly.
  My colleague from New York, Senator Clinton, and I would like to take 
a moment to engage our colleague in a colloquy.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank my colleague for his kind words and would be 
happy to engage in a colloquy with the Senators from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Last month, Senator Clinton and I had the special honor 
of joining in the welcome-home celebration of the men and women of the 
10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. From fighting in Afghanistan to 
peacekeeping in Kosovo, our troops help make the world safe for people 
who cherish freedom. These soldiers were prepared for whatever 
obstacles came their way in Afghanistan precisely because of the 
training they received at Fort Drum. As we look to transform our 
nation's military to fit the needs of 21st century warfare, Fort Drum-
trained soldiers are exactly the kind of troops we need.
  Mr. CLINTON. In April, I had the privilege of visiting the Walter 
Reed Army Medical Center, where other soldiers from the 10th Mountain 
Division were recuperating from wounds suffered in battle in 
Afghanistan. I know that all American feel the same pride for these 
distinguished service men and women as Senator Schumer and myself. It 
is no coincidence that when the initial troops were called into 
Afghanistan, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were among the 
first ones in. As one of the most frequently deployed missions in the 
U.S. Army, these flexible, mobile forces are a powerful weapon.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is my under standing that contained in 
the House version of the Military Construction Appropriations Act for 
fiscal year 2003 is an additional $18.3 million in military 
construction funding that will support the construction of two projects 
vital to the continued functioning of Fort Drum, located in upstate New 
York.
  Mrs. CLINTON. The first of the two projects is a parallel taxiway at 
Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield, WSAAF at Fort Drum. This project will 
construct a new concrete taxiway parallel to the main runway to support 
operations at the airfield. The taxiway is required to enhance the 
capability, safety, and efficiency in the deployment of troops and 
equipment for the 10th Mountain Division, LI, and other fully 
functional units ready for combat from the installation. Fort Drum has 
experienced an increase in the number of air training missions and 
deployment operations in support of training, contingency, and NATO 
support missions. This construction project is necessary to keep the 
fort operating.
  Mr. SCHUMER. The second project is the one- plus-one DIVARTY barracks 
expansion. This project consists of construction of a two-story 
barracks building with a 100-room unaccompanied enlisted personnel 
housing facility to include a built-in soldier community building. The 
project will upgrade the current barracks to meet the new Department of 
Defense enlisted personnel housing standards. The project is required 
to support the DIVARTY housing facilities for personnel in grades E1 
through E6 to meet the one-plus standard. My colleague and I feel that 
this project is vital to New York as well as a number of States in the 
Northeast.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Now more than ever, we must remain resolute in our 
defense of America's values, interests and security. Our safety at 
home, as well as abroad rests on the strength of our military response, 
and Fort Drum is an absolutely essential component. Senator Schumer and 
I plan to work with my colleagues to ensure that Fort Drum and the 10th 
Mountain Division continue to play a large role in defending our 
Nation.
  Mr. SCHUMER. We are aware that there are many priorities that the 
Senate is considering, but would just like to bring to our 
distinguished colleague's attention that these projects would not be 
included in the Senate Bill because they were not authorized in 
accordance with Senate authorization criteria. This same criteria is 
not applicable in the House. We trust that the chairman looks favorably 
upon these construction projects and is willing to take the steps 
necessary to support the House's appropriation allocation.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I appreciate the remarks of the Senators of New York 
and assure them that we will do our best to retain these projects in 
conference.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise to offer for the Record the Budget 
Committee's official scoring for S. 2709, the Military Construction 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003.
  The Senate bill provides $10.622 billion in discretionary budget 
authority,

[[Page S6934]]

all classified as defense spending, which will result in new outlays in 
2003 of $2.771 billion. When outlays from prior-year budget authority 
are taken into account, discretionary outlays for the Senate bill total 
$10.12 billion in 2003.
  Despite the bipartisan support of 59 Senators, the Senate was blocked 
on procedural grounds last month from approving a 302(a) allocation for 
the Appropriations Committee. Consequently, the Appropriations 
Committee voted 20-0 on June 27 to adopt a set of non-binding sub-
allocations for its 13 subcommittees totaling $768.1 billion in budget 
authority and $793.1 billion in outlays. While the committee's 
subcommittee's allocations are consistent with both the amendment 
supported by 59 Senators last month and with the President's request 
for total discretionary budget authority for fiscal year 2003, they are 
not enforceable under either Senate budget rules or the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act.
  For the Military Construction subcommittee, the full committee 
allocated $10.622 billion in budget authority and $10.122 billion in 
total outlays for 2003. The bill reported by the full committee on June 
27 is fully consistent with that allocation. In addition, S. 2709 does 
not include any emergency designations or advance appropriations.
  I ask unanimous consent that a table displaying the budget committee 
scoring of this bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         S. 2709, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2003
  [Spending comparisons--Senate-reported bill (in millions of dollars)]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Defense   Mandatory    Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate-reported bill:
  Budget Authority.....................    10,622   .........    10,622
  Outlays..............................    10,120   .........    10,120
Senate committee allocation: \1\
  Budget Authority.....................    10,622   .........    10,622
  Outlays..............................    10,122   .........    10,122
House-passed: \2\
  Budget Authority.....................    10,083   .........    10,083
  Outlays..............................    10,052   .........    10,052
President's request: \2\
  Budget Authority.....................     9,663   .........     9,663
  Outlays..............................     9,996   .........     9,996
 
   SENATE-REPORTED BILL COMPARED TO:
 
Senate committee allocation: \1\
  Budget Authority.....................  .........  .........  .........
  Outlays..............................        (2)  .........        (2)
House-passed:
  Budget Authority.....................       539   .........       539
  Outlays..............................        68   .........        68
President's request:
  Budget Authority.....................       959   .........       959
  Outlays..............................       124   .........       124
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Senate has not adopted a 302(a) allocation for the
  Appropriations Committee. The committee has set non-enforceable sub-
  allocations to its 13 subcomittees. The table compares the committee-
  reported bill with the committee's allocation to the Military
  Construction Subcommittee for informational purposes only.
\2\ The cost of the House-reported bill does not include $6 million in
  2003 outlays estimated by CBO to occur as a result of the House-passed
  2002 supplemental. Outlays from the 2002 supplemental will be added
  after completion of the conference on that bill.
\3\ The President requested total discretionary budget authority for
  2003 of $768.1 billion, including a proposal to change how the budget
  records the accrual cost of future pension and health retiree benefits
  earned by current federal employees. Because the Congress has not
  acted on that proposal, for comparability, the numbers of the table
  exclude the effects of the President's accrual proposal.
 
Notes: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Totals adjusted
  for consistency with scorekeeping conventions. Prepared by SBC
  Majority Staff, 7-16-01.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I believe that completes the military construction 
bill.
  Mr. President, I yield back all my time. It is my understanding the 
vote will be tomorrow at 10:30.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the substitute 
amendment, as amended, is agreed to.
  The amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, was agreed 
to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment of the 
amendments and third reading of the bill.
  The amendments were ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.

                          ____________________