congressional_record: CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11828
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11828 | 2000-12-15 | 106 | 2 | UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT | SENATE | SENATE | SCONSENTAGREE | S11828 | S11829 | [{"name": "Trent Lott", "role": "speaking"}, {"name": "Joseph R. Biden Jr.", "role": "speaking"}, {"name": "Thomas A. Daschle", "role": "speaking"}, {"name": "Frank R. Lautenberg", "role": "speaking"}, {"name": "Daniel Patrick Moynihan", "role": "speaking"}] | 146 Cong. Rec. S11828 | Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000) [Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)] [Senate] [Pages S11828-S11829] From the Congressional Record Online through the 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 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 [[Page S11829]] 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. ____________________ |