[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 27136-27137]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Mr. LOTT. With that, I do understand the Senate will shortly receive 
from the House the appropriations bill containing the final 
appropriations measures. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding 
receipt of the papers, the Senate proceed to vote immediately on 
adoption of the conference report and, following passage, there be 40 
minutes of explanation to be equally divided between the two leaders, 
with 20 minutes additional under the control of Senator Byrd, 45 
minutes under the control of Senator Graham of Florida, and 10 minutes 
of Senator Lott's time to be controlled by Senator Specter.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I want to, before the majority leader 
leaves the floor, thank him.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could confirm, the unanimous consent 
was agreed to?
  Mr. DASCHLE. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. No objection was heard. I recognized the 
Senator from Delaware thinking he wished to object.
  Is there objection?
  Mr. BIDEN. No, I beg your pardon, I do not wish to object or seek 
recognition.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under parliamentary procedure, the Senator 
from New Jersey has the floor. He yielded it to the majority leader and 
the Democratic leader for the conduct of certain items of business. 
Following that point, Senators seeking to speak will have to receive 
the approval or approbation of the Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I ask the Senator to yield me a very brief 
time.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I thank the Chair for that 
recollection. I will be happy to yield to our friend from Delaware.
  Mr. BIDEN. Before the majority leader leaves the floor, I want to 
personally thank him. I want to thank the minority leader, the 
Democratic leader, and I

[[Page 27137]]

guess most of all I want to thank Senator Byrd and Senator Stevens as 
well.
  I have been here for 28 years. I have never once come to the floor to 
threaten to engage in an extended debate on a matter. I did that this 
morning in our caucus. I am not suggesting my colleagues responded 
because I did that. I am suggesting that I believed my colleagues who 
are on their feet felt extremely strongly about what was about to 
happen; that is, Amtrak cannot make it through the year 2001 and meet 
the obligation that has been imposed upon it without being brought up 
to speed, figuratively and literally, in terms of equipment, track, and 
the like.
  When this proposal that had 56 cosponsors and passed in another 
vehicle with 60-some votes and with 260-some votes in the House was not 
going to be included in this omnibus bill, I must tell my colleagues, I 
was very upset.
  In light of the fact that the leadership of the Appropriations 
Committee of the Senate as a whole and of the Commerce Committee, at 
least on one side of the Commerce Committee, have indicated to me they 
will introduce and move rapidly, as best they can, funding for Amtrak--
I will not take the time to go into what it all does and what it 
means--then that is good enough for me. I will withdraw any attempt to 
delay consideration of this final bill.
  Also, I know Senator Moynihan and Senator Lautenberg are leaving. 
Senator Lautenberg has been Mr. Amtrak. Senator Lautenberg, since he 
has been here, in large part because of his disposition and in no small 
part because of the particular position of authority he occupied on the 
Appropriations Committee, has been--I ride a train every day and people 
say to me: You know, Joe, thanks for defending Amtrak.
  I say: No, don't thank me, call Senator Lautenberg. I literally say 
that because it is true.
  Also on the floor is a Senator who is Mr. Transportation. He has 
given us all a lesson, as only he can, for the past 18 years on the 
necessity of Amtrak not merely in the Northeast corridor, but there is 
no alternative in this Nation to not have a mass transit interstate 
system.
  I want everybody to understand--again, I will put something in the 
Record; I won't take the time now--this is not just parochially 
important to the Senators from Delaware, New Jersey, Vermont, 
Massachusetts, all of whom are on the floor. This is important to 
Florida; it is important to the Southeast corridor; it is important to 
Oregon, Washington, Nevada. This is the only alternative we have.
  It seems to me, after discussion with the men I have named today--the 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia, the Senator from Mississippi, 
the Senator from North Dakota, and others--that we are all singing from 
the same hymnal now. There seems to be for the first time in my 
recollection, I say to my friend from New York who is standing, a 
genuine acknowledgment that there is no transportation scheme in 
America that will serve America without a major component of it being a 
rapid transit interstate system for passengers.
  I am looking forward to this being the first bipartisan effort next 
year. I sincerely hope the incoming President will understand our 
regional needs.
  I conclude by saying I thought federalism was about one section of 
the Nation helping other sections of the Nation that, in fact, had 
needs but needed additional assistance. There would be no water flowing 
in Arizona were it not for the people of Massachusetts, the people of 
New York, the people of New Jersey, Delaware, and other States 
subsidizing that water extensively to the tune of probably somewhere 
above $16 billion over time, and we should do that.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. The Arizona project.
  Mr. BIDEN. We should do that. I get the feeling--maybe because it is 
the Christmas season and I want to believe it--there is a growing 
recognition that rail service in our neck of the woods, as well as 
other parts of the country, are as essential to our interests as water 
is to the far west. It is as essential.
  I thank my colleagues for their commitment and absolutely close by 
saying to Senator Byrd that I appreciate the fact that he understands, 
maybe better than anyone in this place, when another colleague cares 
about an issue that he believes is absolutely indispensable for his 
region. I thank him for acknowledging that.
  I thank him for his--it is no new commitment; he has always been 
committed to Amtrak--acknowledgment of that and for his continued 
pledge of commitment to Amtrak. With this combination of the majority 
leader, the Democratic leader, the chairman of the Appropriations 
Committee, the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, and the 
ranking member of the Commerce Committee, if we cannot get it done, 
then shame on us.
  I thank all of my colleagues. Sorry to have taken so much time, but 
as my colleagues said all day, this is a big, big, big, big deal to me 
personally, to my State, and I think to the Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the current situation, the Senator from 
New Jersey has the floor. He has yielded to the majority leader and the 
Democratic leader to conduct business. If they are through with their 
business, the Senator from New Jersey is recognized.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, with their indulgence, we do have a couple 
more consent requests, plus we may need to modify the earlier 
agreement.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I am happy to yield to the majority 
leader for conducting further business provided, of course, that the 
recognition continues. I thank the Presiding Officer for being so 
careful in his statement.

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