11122 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 152, Pt. 8 June 14, 2006 what Secretary Rumsfeld told us. We I will proceed to conclude the debate I want to single out two other sub- are up to $318 billion and counting. It is on the conference report and let every- committee staff members. All of the time that Secretary Rumsfeld and this body work out their differences on who clerks worked hard because almost administration start making some speaks next and for how long. every subcommittee had a role to play tough decisions about what they can I am pleased we were able to get a bi- in shaping the final outcome. But on cut out of the Pentagon’s bloated an- partisan agreement on this conference the Defense Subcommittee, Sid nual budget in order to fund the war in report. Senate conferees worked to- Ashworth, who is the clerk, Charlie Iraq. gether, Republicans and Democrats, to Houy, who is the Democratic counter- Quite frankly, we know there is a lot identify the priorities, to have sugges- part on that committee, are so depend- of waste, fraud, and abuse going on in tions fully considered and fairly con- able and so experienced and dedicated Iraq. It has to end. As long as we keep sidered. I am proud of the work product to their jobs, it reflects great credit on having emergency supplemental appro- of our Committee on Appropriations in the Senate for people such as those I priations, we will never eliminate the the Senate. I am particularly grateful have mentioned today who worked so waste, fraud, and abuse. for the support of the distinguished hard on this conference report. I am de- We all strongly support our troops. I Senator from West Virginia, who is the lighted to be associated with them and will vote for this bill because it con- ranking member of the Committee on honored to chair the committee. They tains funding for the troops, for avian Appropriations. He cooperated in every make my job so much more easy than respect in terms of scheduling hear- flu, and other items, but it is time that could possibly be imagined because of ings, working to make sure that our the war in Iraq only comes through the their skill and their professionalism committee had all the facts we needed regular appropriations process. It is and the hard work they turned in to to proceed to making a decision on the time for us to start getting our troops achieve the result we did, not just to out of there by the end of this year. President’s request. Our staff members are the very best. pass this bill but to serve the interests The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of our country. of the Senator has expired. We are very fortunate in the Senate to have the benefit of the services of I am happy to recommend this con- The Senator from Mississippi. ference report to the Senate. I yield Mr. GREGG. Will the Senator yield? Keith Kennedy, who is staff director of the Appropriations Committee, and his back the remainder of the time avail- Mr. COCHRAN. I am happy to yield able under the order. to the Senator from New Hampshire. counterpart on the other side, Terry Mr. GREGG. Will the Senator allow Sauvain, is equally dutiful and depend- f me to propound a unanimous consent able in his efforts on behalf of our com- NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZA- request for the purpose of getting mittee. Chuck Keiffer managed much TION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007 of the floor activity and was at the time? I ask unanimous consent that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- upon all time being yielded back or all markup session that we had that ran way past midnight the night we were ator from Virginia. time being used relative to the supple- Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, under completing action on this conference mental, that I be recognized for 15 min- the standing order, is not the Senate report. He was very supportive of the utes under morning business. now to return to the annual authoriza- efforts and the needs of our committee. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there tion Defense bill? Senator TED STEVENS, former chair- objection? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The man of the full committee, is chairman Without objection, it is so ordered. clerk will report the pending business. of the Defense Appropriations Sub- Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, may I The legislative clerk read as follows: ask what the unanimous consent re- committee. He and his counterpart, A bill (S. 2766) to authorize appropriations DAN INOUYE, are two of the finest Sen- quest was? I couldn’t hear. for fiscal year 2007 for military activities of The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ators who have ever served in the Sen- the Department of Defense, for military con- ator requested 15 minutes as in morn- ate. Their responsibility was to deal struction, and for defense activities of the ing business at the conclusion of the with the request relating to defense Department of Energy, to prescribe per- debate on the supplemental. issues. This was mainly a Defense ap- sonnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Mr. HARKIN. I reserve the right, propriations request the President sub- Armed Forces, and for other purposes. only if I could ask that the same 15 mitted for the war on terror. But there Pending: minutes be allotted to the ranking were other provisions as well related to Levin (for Lautenberg) amendment No. member of our Budget Committee, the that conflict and our effort to defend 4205, to provide a temporary prohibition on Senator from North Dakota. our security interests. There were an increase in copayments required under The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there State Department accounts involved. the retail pharmacy system of the pharmacy objection? We had the benefit at the hearings of benefits program of the Department of De- Mr. GREGG. I withdraw my request, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary fense. then. I find that to be a request that of State, the Chairman of the Joint Warner amendment No. 4211, to name the has very little relevance. Chiefs of Staff, all talking about the CVN–78 aircraft carrier the USS Gerald Ford. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The re- needs for funding of our activities to Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we are quest is withdrawn. protect our country’s security. ready to proceed. The work achieved The Senator from Mississippi. The chairman of the subcommittee yesterday resulted in unanimous ac- Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, it is that has responsibility for those ac- ceptance of a bipartisan amendment not my intention to use all of the time counts in the State Department and sponsored by the Senator from Virginia available to this side. I have had no re- foreign operations is MITCH MCCON- and the joint leadership. We then pro- quests for speaking time for any Sen- NELL, who is a distinguished Senator ceeded to an amendment under an ar- ator on our side on the conference re- from Kentucky and our assistant lead- rangement whereby the minority was port. So the disagreement can be obvi- er. He turned in yeoman work, along able to offer an amendment by Senator ated very quickly with my assurance with his counterpart on the other side, LAUTENBERG. I had the opportunity to that I am going to speak for no more PAT LEAHY of Vermont. These are ex- speak briefly with him this morning. than 3 or 4 minutes, and then I was amples of how the committee came to- There was some indication that he going to yield back all the time re- gether, Republicans and Democrats, would be willing to accept a proposal I maining under this conference report and made the decisions that had to be had to make a slight modification, in under my control. I advised the Sen- made, negotiated hard and diligently which case I would hope we could pro- ator from New Hampshire of that. That with the House to work out differences ceed to either an acceptance by voice is why he made the request, because it between our two bills and considered vote or schedule a vote at a time so de- was not going to infringe on anybody’s every request the administration made sired by the leadership of the Senate. time, considering the order under of the Congress for these appropria- I assume at some point in time I will which we are operating. tions. be able to obtain information on that VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:37 Mar 24, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\BOUNDRECORD\BR14JN06.DAT BR14JN06 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE June 14, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 152, Pt. 8 11123 point. Absent that, I see my distin- administration wants to put the costs ment, our soldiers and their families guished colleague, the Senator from on the backs of our men and women in will be asked to pay an additional $200 Michigan. I was advising the Senate uniform and their families. I strongly million next year for their medicine. that the pending amendment is the oppose that policy. I was fortunate enough to spend Me- Lautenberg amendment. On another The President’s budget proposed in- morial Day with our troops in Iraq and committee where we were together in a creasing the prescription drug copays saw firsthand, as so many of my col- markup session, there was some indica- for our troops and their families, al- leagues have, their dedication and tion that he would be amenable to a most doubling copays for both generic courage under incredibly difficult cir- modest modification to bring his and brand-name drugs.