[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7300-S7301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NATIONAL SECURITY ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

  The bill (S. 2403) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2005 
for defense activities of the Department of Energy, and for other 
purposes, was considered, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
read the third time, and passed as follows:
  (The text of the bill will be printed in a future edition of the 
Record.)
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, with respect to H.R. 4200--Calendar Order 
No. 537--the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2005, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate turn 
to its immediate consideration; that all after the enacting clause be 
stricken and the text of S. 2400, as passed, be substituted in lieu 
thereof; that the bill be advanced to third reading and passed; that 
the Senate insist on its amendment to the bill and request a conference 
with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the 
Chair be authorized to appoint conferees; that the motion to reconsider 
the above-mentioned votes be laid upon the table; and that the 
foregoing occur without intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, we are not 
prepared to go to conference tonight. We will consult with some of our 
colleagues tomorrow morning, and we certainly have no intention of 
delaying conference. But it is our hope that we will have an 
opportunity to consult a little bit more about some of the issues we 
expect to be raised.
  For that purpose, I object to the portion of the request which would 
allow the conference to begin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Without objection, H.R. 4200, as amended, is passed.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, that concludes the matters addressing the 
bill. I thank the leadership of both sides, members of our committee, 
and the wonderful, fine staff we have, particularly my staff, Mrs. 
Ansley, and my good colleague over here, my partner for these 26 years 
we have been in the Senate. Guess we landed another one, not 
necessarily in record time. Our calculation is 16 legislative days. So 
perhaps we have set something of a record as the days were fairly 
consecutive.
  I thank the chief of staff sitting here.
  Thank you, Captain.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as always, the Senate is very much in the 
debt of our chairman, John Warner, an extraordinary human being and 
leader. This could not have happened without his leadership.
  My staff, Dick Debobes, and all of our minority staff deserve 
extraordinary credit for getting this done. It would have taken twice 
as long but for our staff. I don't know--16 legislative days. It would 
have been double that number of days but for our staff, Judy Ansley and 
her staff. We thank them. Our staff worked together on a bipartisan 
basis. The Nation and our men and women in the Armed Forces owe them a 
huge debt. It is our staff--they will never know the names of our 
staff, probably, but they will be safer, more secure, better trained, 
better equipped, and have better benefits because of the work of our 
staff and the members of our committee who worked on a bipartisan basis 
under the leadership of John Warner.
  Again, I take my hat off to our chairman. He has really done a 
wonderful job on this bill. It took a little longer than expected, but 
again we worked through a huge number of amendments, perhaps a record 
number of amendments.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank my friend. These many years we have worked, 
really, as partners, and achieved one of the highest degrees of 
bipartisanship in the discharge of our respective responsibilities, 
together with the staffs.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, we would not be at this point in our 
deliberations were it not for the extraordinary work and cooperation on 
a bipartisan basis of all of our committee members and all of our 
committee staff. Once again, our Committee and the Senate have put the 
interests of our country first and we all can be very proud of that.
  I take just a moment to acknowledge and thank the minority staff 
members of the Committee on Armed Services for their extraordinary work 
on S. 2400, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2005. You don't get to final passage of this massive and important bill 
without having staff who are willing to give hours and hours of hard 
work and make many personal sacrifices. The committee and the Senate 
are so fortunate to have men and women of their expertise and 
dedication so ably assisting us on this bill. Rick DeBobes leads our 
minority staff of seventeen. Though small in numbers, they all make 
huge contributions to the work of the committee each and every day. Mr. 
President, as a tribute to their professionalism and with my thanks, I 
recognize Chris Cowart, Dan Cox, Madelyn Creedon, Mitch Crosswait, Rick 
DeBodes, Brie Eisen, Evelyn Farkas, Richard Fieldhouse, Creighton 
Greene, Jeremy Hekhuis, Bridget Higgins, Maren Leed, Gary Leeling, 
Peter Levine, Mike McCord, Bill Monahan, and Arun Seraphin.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the names 
of staff printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                      Committee on Armed Services

       Judith A. Ansley, Charles W. Alsup, Michael N. Berger, June 
     M. Borawski, Leah C. Brewer, Alison E. Brill, Jennifer D. 
     Cave, L. David Cherington, Marie Fabrizio Dickinson, Regina 
     A. Dubey, Andrew W. Florell, Brian R. Green, William C. 
     Greenwalt, Ambrose R. Hock, Gary J. Howard, Jennifer Key, 
     Gregory T. Kiley, Thomas L. MacKenzie, Elaine A. McCusker, 
     Lucian L. Niemeyer, Cindy Pearson, Paula J. Philbin, Lynn F. 
     Rusten, Joseph T. Sixeas, Scott W. Stucky, Diana G. Tabler, 
     Richard F. Walsh, Bridget E. Ward, Nicholas W. West, and 
     Pendred K. Wilson.

  Mr. WARNER. I am happy at this time to yield the desk back to the 
majority leader. I hope I never see this again for another year.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I think the most recent tribute by each of the managers 
to each other is yet another illustration of the kind of bipartisanship 
that is so routinely achieved in the Armed Services Committee. Thanks 
for the extraordinary leadership and effort of

[[Page S7301]]

these two genuine patriots. I admire the work they do. They set a 
standard for the rest of us. I admire, especially, the manner with 
which they have managed this legislation. This has been one of the 
toughest jobs we have had in a long time. They have done it admirably. 
We owe them a debt of gratitude, not only for the work done but for the 
manner with which they have done it. I congratulate them both.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank the distinguished minority leader very much for 
his words.
  Mr. FRIST. I, too, congratulate both of the managers. It has been a 
long month. It has been 16 days, but since March 17 we actually started 
the bill. There was a lot in the background people did not see in terms 
of progress being made, setbacks along the way and negotiations and 
discussions, both inside each caucus as well as debate on the floor. It 
is a real privilege to be the leader of both managers and of both 
caucuses, working together to produce a bill that a few minutes ago we 
passed, a bill we can all be very proud of. I appreciate everyone's 
cooperation, participation, diligence, and focus throughout.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank our distinguished majority leader, truly a very 
gracious soul and of pure heart.
  Mr. FRIST. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________