[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14926-14927]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             SENATE AGENDA

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I want to talk about some of the bills 
that are coming up and what I see as a very important aspect of what we 
do here in the Congress. What we do, of course, is important. But let's 
have some reasoning about where we want to be over time so that the 
decisions we make as we go through our daily work will be implemented 
with a vision of where we want to go.
  Obviously, we have different views of what our role is here. I was 
listening to my friend from Nevada, who is concerned about balanced 
budgets because the Federal Government will not be able to spend 
enough. Others believe that maybe a balanced budget is where we ought 
to be and that there ought to be some limit on the size of government.
  The fact is that States and local governments are very important 
components. It makes a difference in where you see things down the 
road.
  I am specifically interested in what is happening in agriculture. We 
will have a bill before us today on supplemental funding for 
agriculture. Before long, we will have the 2002 appropriations for 
agriculture. More importantly, perhaps next year or even at the end of 
this year, we will have a new farm bill. That farm bill and the 
appropriations bills we are now dealing with will help us decide where 
we are going in agriculture.
  Those are the kinds of decisions in the longer term that we have to 
make. Of course, we have to deal with the necessary daily things, but 
we really ought to be asking where we want agriculture to be in 10 
years or in 15 years. These appropriations bills will have a great deal 
to do with where we go.
  I think the same thing is true with health care. We are in the 
process right now of seeking some revision of Medicare. It is needed. 
We are talking about how we are going to handle pharmaceuticals. What 
is it we want? How do we want health care structured over time? What do 
we think is the best way to serve the people of this country? Those are 
the kinds of decisions that I think too often we don't really give 
enough consideration to--where we are tied up with how we are going to 
get funding for this for next year and how we are going to keep this 
program at this level.
  Hopefully, we can step back and see with some vision. Maybe you call 
it 20/20. Where do we want to be over a period of time?
  The Senator from Alaska talked about energy. We are doing some things 
with energy. Here again, I think we ought to be talking about where we 
are and some of the things we want to have happen over time, with less 
dependency on overseas and less dependency on OPEC. At the same time, I 
am sure we want to be certain we have an adequate supply so that we 
will have a strong economy and so we can do the things we want to do--
reasonably priced--over the long range.
  One of the things we experience in my State, an energy-producing 
State, is boom and bust. All of a sudden, natural gas is worth $9 when 
it was $1.5 or $2. Everything goes up all of a sudden. Then the price 
comes down, and the economy comes down.
  We want diversity of fuel; we don't want to be dependent on one 
thing.
  Conservation: Obviously, we need to decide what to do. What do you 
want over time? We want conservation. Is that too much of a sacrifice? 
Can we do research so that conservation will allow us to use less fuel 
and still have the same kind of services? I think so, with renewables 
and new uses.
  I remember someone talking at an energy meeting in Casper, WY--where 
I live--saying we have never run out of a 

[[Page 14927]]

fuel. I suspect that is true. 
What do we do? We find new and better sources or we use them in a 
better way. I suspect that is what we ought to be thinking about in 
terms of applying our long-term efforts.
  What about agriculture? Obviously, we want sufficient food. 
Obviously, we would like to be able to supply food to foreign markets. 
We want clean food and safe food.
  I think most people would like to see family farmers remain on the 
farm so we don't become an entirely corporate body. Of course, we want 
to preserve open space. We want to preserve the lands that are being 
used--and farm communities.
  These are some of the things we really ought to measure against what 
we are talking about to see if they indeed have the best chance to 
produce those kinds of visions.
  Medicare: We want health care for everyone. We want to keep it in the 
private sector--at least some of us do. Sometimes that is a different 
point of view. We want to encourage research. We want to limit 
catastrophic costs so no one is saddled with unreasonable costs; and, 
of course, control utilization. How do you do that? Certainly, each of 
us has to have a little participation in the cost. We want top-quality 
care.
  My time has about expired. I want to make the point that we have some 
opportunities always, but particularly on those three bills. There will 
be others that will help shape the future. Education, of course, is 
another one. Where do we want to be over a period of time?
  I am hopeful that in addition to doing those things--obviously, in 
the short term--we will also measure what we do and how it will impact 
what we give when the time comes for us to deal with it in the future.
  I think my time has expired. I yield the floor and suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Dayton). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent I be allowed to 
speak for up to 5 minutes in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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