E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 104 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 142 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1996 No. 12 Senate The Senate met at 11 a.m., and was Wednesday with the expectation that Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I called to order by the President pro the session will be largely devoted to ask unanimous consent that the order tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. morning business, and rollcall votes for the quorum call be rescinded. would not be anticipated on Wednes- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without PRAYER day. objection, it is so ordered. The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John Senators should be aware that on If the Senator from Alaska will with- Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: Thursday the Senate will be attending hold for a moment? Dear God, we say with the author of a joint meeting of Congress starting at Mr. MURKOWSKI. Certainly. Hebrews, ‘‘This hope we have as an an- 11:45 a.m. to hear an address by French chor of the soul.’’—Hebrews 6:19. President Jacques Chirac. Following f Thank You for the anchor of hope in that joint meeting, the Senate is ex- You we have for the storms of life. We pected to debate and vote on cloture on lower our anchor and it holds in the or in relation to the Lugar-Dole farm RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME bedrock of Your faithfulness in spite of bill. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the billows of adversity and the blasts Additional votes could occur during the previous order, the leadership time of conflict. We can ride out the storms the day on Thursday, and even possibly is reserved. of difficulties and discouragement be- on Friday. As we get additional agree- cause we know You will sustain us. We ments or information on that, we will f share the psalmist’s confidence, ‘‘I wait advise the Members. for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His f word I do hope. For in You, O Lord, I MORNING BUSINESS MEASURE READ THE SECOND hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.’’— The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under TIME—S. 1541 Psalms 130:5, 38:15. the previous order, there will now be a Our hope is not in the reliability of Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I under- period for the transaction of morning people, the predictability of cir- stand there is a bill on the calendar business until the hour of 1 p.m., with cumstances, or the security of human that is due for its second reading, the time equally divided between the power. Our hope is in Your grace and which is the farm bill. two leaders. truth. You will neither leave nor for- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The The Senator from Alaska. sake us. Keep us anchored today so we Senator is correct. may not drift from our commitment to The clerk will read the bill for the serve You. We claim Your destiny for second time. f our Nation. Throughout this day may The assistant legislative clerk read we feel the tug of the anchor and know as follows: AMTRAK’S DECISION TO CHANGE that we are secure. In the name of our A bill (S. 1541) to extend, reform, and im- TRAIN NAMES Lord. Amen. prove agricultural commodity, trade, con- Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I servation, and other programs, and for other f am a bit of a railroad buff, and there purposes. have been some recent changes relative RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I object to to the operation of Amtrak that I MAJORITY LEADER further consideration of this matter at would like to bring to the attention of The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The this time. my colleagues this morning. able acting majority leader, Senator The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. I think it is fair to say that it is im- LOTT, is recognized. INHOFE). Objection having been heard, portant that we consider our tradi- f the bill will be placed on the calendar. Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, there will tions, and how our traditions have SCHEDULE probably be some action that will be really brought us together as a nation Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today suggested or offered with regard to the and preserved the fabric of our culture. there will be a period for morning busi- farm bill in a few minutes. It has been 30 years ago that we ness until the hour of 1 p.m., with the At this time, I suggest the absence of switched our telephones from exchange time equally divided between the two a quorum. names to all-digit dialing. I think it is parties. No rollcall votes are expected The PRESIDING OFFICER. The fair to say that while it increased the during the day today. clerk will call the roll. efficiency, it lost some of its person- For the information of all Senators, The assistant legislative clerk pro- ality. I recall we had Black 789, White the Senate is expected to reconvene on ceeded to call the roll. 243, Green 910. We had an operator who ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S543 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:26 Jun 20, 2008 Jkt 041999 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 J:\ODA16\1996_F~1\S30JA6.REC S30JA6 mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS S544 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 30, 1996 would occasionally talk to you if you U.S. SENATE, interest cost would be. And this inter- had a problem. Yet, this change was Washington, DC, January 29, 1996. est has to be paid because the individ- necessary because of the expansion of Mr. THOMAS DOWNS, uals who hold Treasury notes, instru- telephone service and it produced eco- President, Amtrak, 60 Massachusetts Avenue ments of debt issued by the Govern- NE, Washington, DC. ment, have to be paid not only prin- nomic efficiencies. DEAR MR. DOWNS. The Thursday, January However, Mr. President, I note with 25 edition of the Wall Street Journal reports cipal but interest. But to suggest that sadness the decision of Amtrak to stop that Amtrak has decided to stop using the we are currently paying an effective using the historical and traditional traditional names for train service in the rate of somewhere between 5 or 6 or 6.5, names for train service in the North- Northeast corridor. In conversations with or thereabout—the fact is that interest east corridor. Last week, the Wall Amtrak officials, my staff has confirmed rates could rise as they have in the Street Journal reported that Amtrak that Amtrak has decided that the ‘‘Yankee past, which would have a disastrous ef- Clipper,’’ ‘‘The Mohawk,’’ ‘‘Mayflower,’’ had decided that, for the Yankee Clip- fect on the economic vitality of this ‘‘Connecticut Yankee,’’ the overnight to Bos- Nation. per, along with the train called the Mo- ton, ‘‘The Night Owl,’’ and nearly all the hawk, the train called the Mayflower, So, if we look at the accumulated others, will no longer be used. debt that we are carrying, the $4.9 tril- the train called the Connecticut It appears that nearly all of Amtrak’s lion, recognizing that each year we Yankee, the overnight train to Boston, Northeast corridor trains will be referred to spend more than we generate in reve- the Night Owl, and nearly all the other as ‘‘Northeast Direct’’ followed by a number nues, and add to that, we are faced traditional names will no longer be such as 142 or 147. Quite frankly, I cannot un- derstand this decision. with the reality that within a rel- used. In their place, nearly all of Am- A spokeswoman for Amtrak was quoted as atively short period of time we are trak’s Northeast corridor trains will be saying that these names were colorful, but going to have to increase that the debt referred to as the Northeast Direct, fol- not helpful. According to this spokeswoman, ceiling. We are going to have to in- lowed by a number such as 142, 147, 148. ‘‘if you hear ‘the Catskill,’ it doesn’t really crease that authorization somewhere, I really cannot understand this deci- tell you where you’re going.’’ That may be we are told, of up to $5.3, or $5.4, or $5.5, sion because I cannot see where it nec- true. But certainly, Northeast Direct 147 tells travelers even less. At least, the Con- or $5.6 trillion for a term of perhaps 18 essarily affects the efficiency or serv- months, and then we are going to have ice to the public. necticut Yankee suggests the train is headed to New England. Northeast Direct 147 tells to do it again. A spokeswoman for Amtrak was you nothing. So my point is we are continuing to quoted as saying these names are a Mr. Downs, I urge you immediately recon- increase the indebtedness of this Na- colorful part of the past but really not sider this decision. These names are part of tion. I am told that for a person being helpful today. According to the spokes- tradition. And it is a tradition that is par- born today, his or her share of the debt woman, ‘‘If you hear ‘the Catskill,’ it tially a public trust. It is nearly equivalent is somewhere in the area of $150,000, to doesn’t really tell you where you’re to having the Interior Department redesig- $175,000. That is going to increase un- going,’’ and that may be true, but cer- nate Yellowstone and Yosemite National less we do something drastic and turn Parks as Western Parks 1 and 2.