[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 22109]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--H.R. 4516

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed 
to the DOD authorization conference report following the 
reconsideration vote on H.R. 4516 on Thursday, and the conference 
report be considered as having been read and debated under the 
following time agreement: 2 hours under the control of the chairman of 
the Armed Services Committee, 1 hour under the control of Senator 
Gramm, 2\1/2\ hours under the control of Senator Levin, 30 minutes 
under the control of Senator Wellstone; That following the debate just 
outlined, Senator Kerrey be recognized to make a point of order and 
that the motion to waive the Budget Act be limited to 2 hours equally 
divided in the usual form.
  I further ask consent that following the use or yielding back of time 
on the motion to waive, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion and, 
if waived, a vote occur immediately on adoption of the conference 
report, without any intervening action, motion, or debate.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, I say to the majority leader 
we have no problem going to the bill. We have a problem with the time 
right now. There is one Senator over here trying to work something out 
with both majority and minority staff. We feel confident that can be 
done. But I think it would be to everyone's best interest if we stop 
the unanimous consent agreement after the word ``read'' on the first 
paragraph.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am sure there is a good faith effort being 
made here. So I will revise my unanimous consent request.
  But let me emphasize to all the Members that this is a very important 
bill. Some people think: We have passed the Defense appropriations 
bill, the military construction appropriations bill; what do we need an 
authorization bill for? This is the bill that makes the law that 
authorizes things for our military men and women, including an increase 
in pay, including the very important, laboriously worked out provisions 
with regard to health benefits for our active duty men and women and 
their families and our retirees. It also has the Department of Energy 
language in which the Presiding Officer has had so much interest. This 
is really a big bill and an important bill. So I hope we can get 
agreement. I believe we will.
  Also, I emphasize that by spending 6 hours on this bill, you know 
that is time we could be spending on the Agriculture appropriations 
conference report or other conference reports that may be ready by 
tomorrow afternoon. So I hope we can get this locked up soon.
  But, in view of the legitimate request that was made by the Senator, 
I modify my unanimous consent request and end it after the words 
``considered as having been read'' in the first paragraph.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I say to the 
majority leader, I think the work done by Senator Warner and Senator 
Levin on this bill has been exemplary. They worked well together. This 
is a very important bill. We on this side, the minority, understand the 
importance of this legislation. As we speak, we are working with one of 
our Members to get this worked out.
  Maybe before the evening is over we can get back and put in the time 
agreement. We just are not able to do that right now. But we want to 
make sure we underscore what the leader has said. This is an important 
bill. I really hope we can complete it before the end of the session.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I, first, thank the distinguished leader 
and distinguished Democratic whip, all of us who made this possible. We 
are within 1 millimeter of resolving this problem. It has just been 
addressed to me. This is the first time I heard it. I know the Senator 
very well and we are going to see what we can do to work this thing 
out. So I think the Senate can assume that what the leadership has 
presented here, this unanimous consent request, can be accepted in the 
course of the day.
  Mr. LOTT. OK.
  Mr. WARNER. This will be the 39th consecutive authorization bill for 
the Armed Forces of the United States by the Senate. And it is an 
absolute must piece of legislation, as our distinguished leader and the 
distinguished Democratic whip said.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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