[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.
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