[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7356-S7357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am happy that the two leaders are in 
the Chamber because I wish to make an announcement to the Senate.
  Previously, I had stated I did not think it would be possible for me 
to make the commitment that when the Defense appropriations bill goes 
to conference this year it would not come back with the provisions in 
the House-passed bill pertaining to the debt ceiling. I have had a 
series of conversations through the evening last night and this morning 
and I now believe I can commit that when we come back from this 
conference we will not bring back a bill that contains the provisions 
that were in the House-passed bill pertaining to the debt ceiling 
issues that we must face sometime this year.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I compliment the distinguished chairman 
of

[[Page S7357]]

the Appropriations Committee for his statement and for the assurances 
that he is now prepared to give the Senate. He more than anyone--and I 
want to acknowledge as well our ranking member of the Appropriations 
Committee and the subcommittee for their extraordinary efforts to move 
this appropriations process along. They, more than anybody, understand 
how critical it is that we move these appropriations bills forward. The 
debt limit would have been extremely counterproductive and would have 
prevented us from completing our work.
  With the assurances given by the manager and our chairman, I am 
prepared to commit to him that we will do all we can to finish our work 
on this bill today. I believe we can finish it today. I would 
anticipate some amendments, but there is no reason why, given what he 
has just committed in terms of the conference, that we cannot finish 
this today and look forward to other bills as soon as we come back 
after the Fourth of July recess.
  I thank him for that commitment and pledge my support and partnership 
in working with him and our ranking member today to complete our work 
on time.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, does the Senator from West Virginia wish 
to be recognized? I will be happy to yield to him.
  Mr. BYRD. Yes. I thank the distinguished chairman.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. First of all, he is my friend and nothing as far as I am 
concerned will ever mar that friendship, but I have to say that my 
blood boiled last Monday evening when I learned that the House 
Republican leadership, with the support of Senate Republican leaders, I 
believe, had decided to put a placeholder amendment into the Defense 
appropriations bill that could be used in conference to increase the 
$7.4 trillion statutory debt limit perhaps to a level of $8.1 trillion, 
the level needed for 2005. That placeholder language meant that the 
House and the Senate conferees would be free to slip in language to 
increase the statutory debt limit by an untold amount, maybe $690 
billion, maybe more, without either body of Congress ever having to 
vote in public on the matter.
  This is a tough vote. I can understand how the Republican leadership 
in the House, the Senate, and downtown, the White House, would like to 
see that limit slipped into this bill in conference.
  Again, the chairman of this committee has steadfastly shown great 
knowledge and great determination in his efforts to bring forth to the 
Senate for its consideration all 13 appropriations bills. That has been 
tough for him. I thank him for his commitment with respect to the 
Defense appropriations bill and the conference report which will be 
coming along. I thank him for that. He is a legislator in the true 
sense of the word.
  Also, in 2002, when I was chairman of the Appropriations Committee, 
the House Republican leaders tried this same trick on the fiscal year 
2002 supplemental appropriations bill. I refused. I steadfastly refused 
to include such language in the conference report. Instead, the Senate 
took up, debated, and passed a freestanding bill to increase the debt 
limit. The House then voted to approve the measure with a one-vote 
margin. That is the responsible way to increase the debt limit. We owe 
this to the American public. We should not cloak the debt increase in 
the camouflage uniform of a Defense appropriations bill.
  So I thank Senator Frist and Senator Stevens for making a commitment 
today that the Defense appropriations conference report will not 
include an increase in the statutory debt limit. The Senate should vote 
on this issue on a freestanding bill.
  I would like to ask the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee--I had hoped the leader would be here so I could ask him--is 
he making a commitment and is the leader making a commitment that when 
the Senate considers the debt limit increase it will be on a 
freestanding bill and that it will not come to the Senate on any other 
appropriations conference report or in any other unrelated conference 
report? Can the committee chairman make that commitment?
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, who has the floor?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham of South Carolina). The Senator 
from West Virginia has the floor.
  Mr. STEVENS. I will be back to answer that when I get the floor.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I will respond to my friend from West 
Virginia by saying the so-called Gephardt rule is not within the 
control of this Senator, nor the leaders. If the House chooses to take 
up the Gephardt rule and use it as it was used several times before, 
including, I believe, by Senator Mitchell when he was the leader, then 
that will be an issue that others will have to pursue. I am not in a 
position to make that commitment, and I do not think the leader is in a 
position to make that commitment.
  I do want to proceed with the bill and I would hope my friend would 
accept that as being the position we are in now. I am in the position 
to make the commitment I have made with regard to this bill. I hope we 
can proceed on this bill.

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