{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11828", "2000-12-15", 106, 2, null, null, "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\"}]", null, "146 Cong. Rec. S11828", "Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S11828-S11829]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                      UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT\n\n  Mr. LOTT. With that, I do understand the Senate will shortly receive\nfrom the House the appropriations bill containing the final\nappropriations measures. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding\nreceipt of the papers, the Senate proceed to vote immediately on\nadoption of the conference report and, following passage, there be 40\nminutes of explanation to be equally divided between the two leaders,\nwith 20 minutes additional under the control of Senator Byrd, 45\nminutes under the control of Senator Graham of Florida, and 10 minutes\nof Senator Lott's time to be controlled by Senator Specter.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.\n  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I want to, before the majority leader\nleaves the floor, thank him.\n  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could confirm, the unanimous consent\nwas agreed to?\n  Mr. DASCHLE. Reserving the right to object.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. No objection was heard. I recognized the\nSenator from Delaware thinking he wished to object.\n  Is there objection?\n  Mr. BIDEN. No, I beg your pardon, I do not wish to object or seek\nrecognition.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under parliamentary procedure, the Senator\nfrom New Jersey has the floor. He yielded it to the majority leader and\nthe Democratic leader for the conduct of certain items of business.\nFollowing that point, Senators seeking to speak will have to receive\nthe approval or approbation of the Senator from New Jersey.\n  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I ask the Senator to yield me a very brief\ntime.\n  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I thank the Chair for that\nrecollection. I will be happy to yield to our friend from Delaware.\n  Mr. BIDEN. Before the majority leader leaves the floor, I want to\npersonally thank him. I want to thank the minority leader, the\nDemocratic leader, and I guess most of all I want to thank Senator Byrd\nand Senator Stevens as well.\n  I have been here for 28 years. I have never once come to the floor to\nthreaten to engage in an extended debate on a matter. I did that this\nmorning in our caucus. I am not suggesting my colleagues responded\nbecause I did that. I am suggesting that I believed my colleagues who\nare on their feet felt extremely strongly about what was about to\nhappen; that is, Amtrak cannot make it through the year 2001 and meet\nthe obligation that has been imposed upon it without being brought up\nto speed, figuratively and literally, in terms of equipment, track, and\nthe like.\n  When this proposal that had 56 cosponsors and passed in another\nvehicle with 60-some votes and with 260-some votes in the House was not\ngoing to be included in this omnibus bill, I must tell my colleagues, I\nwas very upset.\n  In light of the fact that the leadership of the Appropriations\nCommittee of the Senate as a whole and of the Commerce Committee, at\nleast on one side of the Commerce Committee, have indicated to me they\nwill introduce and move rapidly, as best they can, funding for Amtrak--\nI will not take the time to go into what it all does and what it\nmeans--then that is good enough for me. I will withdraw any attempt to\ndelay consideration of this final bill.\n  Also, I know Senator Moynihan and Senator Lautenberg are leaving.\nSenator Lautenberg has been Mr. Amtrak. Senator Lautenberg, since he\nhas been here, in large part because of his disposition and in no small\npart because of the particular position of authority he occupied on the\nAppropriations Committee, has been--I ride a train every day and people\nsay to me: You know, Joe, thanks for defending Amtrak.\n  I say: No, don't thank me, call Senator Lautenberg. I literally say\nthat because it is true.\n  Also on the floor is a Senator who is Mr. Transportation. He has\ngiven us all a lesson, as only he can, for the past 18 years on the\nnecessity of Amtrak not merely in the Northeast corridor, but there is\nno alternative in this Nation to not have a mass transit interstate\nsystem.\n  I want everybody to understand--again, I will put something in the\nRecord; I won't take the time now--this is not just parochially\nimportant to the Senators from Delaware, New Jersey, Vermont,\nMassachusetts, all of whom are on the floor. This is important to\nFlorida; it is important to the Southeast corridor; it is important to\nOregon, Washington, Nevada. This is the only alternative we have.\n  It seems to me, after discussion with the men I have named today--the\ndistinguished Senator from West Virginia, the Senator from Mississippi,\nthe Senator from North Dakota, and others--that we are all singing from\nthe same hymnal now. There seems to be for the first time in my\nrecollection, I say to my friend from New York who is standing, a\ngenuine acknowledgment that there is no transportation scheme in\nAmerica that will serve America without a major component of it being a\nrapid transit interstate system for passengers.\n  I am looking forward to this being the first bipartisan effort next\nyear. I sincerely hope the incoming President will understand our\nregional needs.\n  I conclude by saying I thought federalism was about one section of\nthe\n\n[[Page S11829]]\n\nNation helping other sections of the Nation that, in fact, had needs\nbut needed additional assistance. There would be no water flowing in\nArizona were it not for the people of Massachusetts, the people of New\nYork, the people of New Jersey, Delaware, and other States subsidizing\nthat water extensively to the tune of probably somewhere above $16\nbillion over time, and we should do that.\n  Mr. MOYNIHAN. The Arizona project.\n  Mr. BIDEN. We should do that. I get the feeling--maybe because it is\nthe Christmas season and I want to believe it--there is a growing\nrecognition that rail service in our neck of the woods, as well as\nother parts of the country, are as essential to our interests as water\nis to the far west. It is as essential.\n  I thank my colleagues for their commitment and absolutely close by\nsaying to Senator Byrd that I appreciate the fact that he understands,\nmaybe better than anyone in this place, when another colleague cares\nabout an issue that he believes is absolutely indispensable for his\nregion. I thank him for acknowledging that.\n  I thank him for his--it is no new commitment; he has always been\ncommitted to Amtrak--acknowledgment of that and for his continued\npledge of commitment to Amtrak. With this combination of the majority\nleader, the Democratic leader, the chairman of the Appropriations\nCommittee, the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, and the\nranking member of the Commerce Committee, if we cannot get it done,\nthen shame on us.\n  I thank all of my colleagues. Sorry to have taken so much time, but\nas my colleagues said all day, this is a big, big, big, big deal to me\npersonally, to my State, and I think to the Nation.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the current situation, the Senator from\nNew Jersey has the floor. He has yielded to the majority leader and the\nDemocratic leader to conduct business. If they are through with their\nbusiness, the Senator from New Jersey is recognized.\n  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, with their indulgence, we do have a couple\nmore consent requests, plus we may need to modify the earlier\nagreement.\n  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I am happy to yield to the majority\nleader for conducting further business provided, of course, that the\nrecognition continues. I thank the Presiding Officer for being so\ncareful in his statement.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11828"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.3402210101485252, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}