E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 143 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1997 No. 151 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 1997, at 10:30 a.m. Senate MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1997 The Senate met at 12 noon, and was day's activities, today the Senate will The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The called to order by the President pro be in a period of morning business until clerk will call the roll. tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. 2:45 p.m., with Senators permitted to The legislative clerk proceeded to speak therein for up to 10 minutes call the roll. PRAYER each. (Mr. GRAMS assumed the chair.) The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John At 2:45, the Senate will proceed to ex- Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unan- Ogilvie, offered the following prayer. ecutive session to consider the nomina- imous consent that the order for the Gracious God, thank You for this mo- tion of Charles Rossotti to be Commis- quorum call be rescinded. ment of prayer in which we can affirm sioner of the Internal Revenue Service. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Your call to seek unity in the midst of Under a previous order, there will be 3 objection, it is so ordered. differences in parties and politics. So hours of debate on that nomination, Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I may take often we focus on what separates us with a vote occurring at the expiration just a few minutes longer than 10. I ask rather than the bond of unity that of that time. Therefore, Members can unanimous consent that I may be rec- binds us together. We are one in our anticipate the first rollcall vote at ap- ognized for such time as I may require. calling to serve You and our Nation proximately 5:45 p.m. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without The Senate may also consider and and in the belief that You are the ulti- objection, it is so ordered. complete action on any or all of the mate and only Sovereign. You are the Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair. following items: D.C. appropriations magnetic and majestic Lord of all who bill, FDA reform conference report, the f draws us out of pride and self-serving intelligence authorization conference attitudes to work together for You. We FAIRY TALES OF FAST TRACK: report, and any additional legislative find each other as we join our hearts in THE MYTH OF TRADE NEGOTIA- or executive items that can be cleared TIONS PARALYSIS gratitude for the privilege of leading for action. Therefore, there may be ad- our Nation. Keep us so close to You and ditional votes following the 5:45 p.m. Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I wish to so open to one another that we will vote. speak this morning on the subject: the have a week of great progress. Help us As a reminder to all Members, on ``fairy tales of fast track: the myth of to work expeditiously and with excel- Friday, cloture was filed on both H.R. trade negotiations paralysis.'' lence for Your glory and our Nation's 2646, the A-plus education savings ac- It has been said that if one wants a good. Through our Lord and Saviour. count bill, and the motion to proceed lie to stick, just keep repeating it, Amen. to S. 1269, the fast-track legislation. keep shouting it, until it just seems to f Those cloture votes will occur on Tues- become a reality. On the matter of day morning at a time to be announced fast-track procedures for congressional RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING later today. Therefore, all first-degree handling of trade agreements, we have MAJORITY LEADER amendments to H.R. 2646 must be filed a whopper being shouted from the The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The by 1 p.m. today. Needless to say, all housetops in congressional testimony able acting majority leader, the distin- Senators should expect rollcall votes and on the op-ed pages of our leading guished Senator from Minnesota, is during every day of the session this newspapers by people who surely ought recognized. week as we attempt to complete action to know better. An example of what I f on the very important issues before the am talking about appears in the Wash- Senate. ington Post today, authored by our es- SCHEDULE Mr. President, I see no other Sen- teemed former colleague and former Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, on behalf ators on the floor, so I suggest the ab- Senate Republican leader, Mr. Bob of the majority leader, to outline to- sence of a quorum. Dole, who engages in vacuous, vapid · This ``bullet'' symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S11577 S11578 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE November 3, 1997 vaporings in insisting that other na- I do not think it hurts American lead- short indeed and the Founding Fathers tions will not play ball with us on ership for our trading partnersÐsome were not at all enamored with the idea trade if they think Congress is going to of whom are trading adversaries when of a President of the United States take a close look at what is negotiated, they do not implement in good faith gathering authority unto himself like and, Heaven forbid, even have an op- the agreements they sign with us and they had experienced with King George portunity to consider amendments to continue to restrict access to their III of England. So this exclusive power trade agreements negotiated by the ad- markets for American goodsÐto know was not centered on the legislative ministration. that the U.S. Senate is looking over branch by whim or by fancy. There Here is what Mr. Dole says, in part: their shoulders. It could be useful bar- were weighty considerations of a sys- The fate of fast-track legislation this fall gaining leverage, and if I were nego- tem founded on carefully balanced may determine whether the President ever tiating an agreement I certainly think powers. will negotiate another trade agreement. it would be advantageous to have the Therefore, let's not get stampeded by Let us take a look again at that pro- weight of future Senate scrutiny to all the alarm bells, all of the Roman found statement by Mr. Dole: dangle over the head of a tough bar- candles, all of the fire crackers of lost The fate of fast-track legislation this fall gainer on the other side of the table. American leadership, of preposterous may determine whether the President ever The third point that our good friend assertions about the behavior of our will negotiate another trade agreement. Mr. Dole makes is that somehow our trading partners if we don't steer our Now, there is an assertion. One might trade negotiators are cooling their constitutional system further in the di- get the idea that fast-track consider- heels and waiting for the Senate to rection of executive power. The scare- ation of trade agreements is normal give assured protection to their prod- mongers say that the Sun rises in the practice, and that it is the normal ucts before beginning their negotia- west. I don't believe it. I don't believe practice in considering trade agree- tions. Mr. Dole says: the Sun rises at the western end of ments, Mr. President. But, fast-track Some may ask why it matters whether Constitution Avenue. If it does, that's consideration of trade agreements is as other countries beat us in securing trade a very recent phenomenon. rare as hen's teeth. It has been done all pacts with developing nations. What are we If our trading partners truly want to of only five times since the first very waiting for? make market arrangements for new limited fast-track authority was grant- Now, there is a profound question: flows of goods and services with the ed by the Congress in 1974. So, in near- What are we waiting for? Mr. Dole sug- United States, we certainly have ly a quarter of a century, we have used gests that the Senate is holding up ne- learned that they will do so, even in fast-track consideration all of five gotiations. And nothing could be fur- the reality of scrutiny of the Congress times on this floor. ther from the truth. The administra- over those deals. That has not stopped Can anyone guess how many trade tion already has authority given to it any country or group of countries from agreements have been negotiated in in law to negotiate trade pacts. This negotiating with us to date. So why that quarter of a century? The answer negotiating authority was most re- should it happen now? Let us not short- is, of course, hundredsÐhundreds. We cently provided by the Congress in the change ourselves. Don't belittle our- have had fast track on this Senate 1994 GATT agreement, or Uruguay selves. Let's not lose confidence in our- floor five times in a little over 23 years, round, and it is good into the next cen- selves. This is America, the engine of but in the meantime, hundreds of trade tury. world growth; the largest market, the agreements have been negotiated. And I do not notice any crippling of the most coveted market in the world! It is the Clinton administration, as a mat- administration's negotiating authority embarrassing and it is wrong to say ter of fact, is quite fond of boasting of or of its ability to successfully con- that the role of the Congress is stand- its record of entering into some 200 clude trade agreements without the use ing in the way of success, damaging to trade agreements, none of them subject of fast track.