Mike Levin

When you go to (c), which is what the Senator says we should do, what (c) says is that in certain circumstances underlying laws are going to govern. And here is what he says. Here is what the bill says. ``If scientific, technical or…

No. I think the question I asked though is a simple one. Where there is a conflict, where there is a conflict between the underlying statute's criteria and the criteria in this statute, the question is what governs? Now, we have been…

The question is this. Let me just read who it is that signed this before I ask the question. Secretaries of Labor, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Treasury, Interior, EPA, OMB have…

It is a rather unusual thing we are doing. We are adopting an amendment which we are saying later on we know needs to be modified, and it is the intent of the makers to modify it. I would think it would be better to modify it before we…

The more that point is clarified, the less of a favor we are doing for small business in this amendment. Let me explain why. ... To preclude a small business from taking advantage of what is learned during the comment period so it can…

Is it the intent of the sponsors of this bill, and the Senator indicates the sponsors of this amendment, to preclude judicial review at the end of anything which can be raised by interlocutory appeal at the beginning?

Of course, that is what judicial review is all about. There is presumably an incentive to do the process right. That is why there is judicial review at the end. And you do not wipe out judicial review at the end in any event. You still…

I introduced today a bill on behalf of myself, Senator Nunn, and Senator Inouye to strengthen Congress' ability to investigate terrorism. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that Congress has the tools needed to investigate…

In this box is a part. It is a universal joint. I bought it on Main Street America yesterday, Main Street, Royal Oak, MI. It costs $11.47. In Japan, this part would cost over $100. What does it mean, this differential? It means fewer jobs…

This morning Samuel Pisar, a distinguished survivor of the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Leonberg, and Dachau delivered the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of…

I do not think we ought to have an open question in a constitutional amendment, because this is a life and death matter.

I understand. But my question is not that, because this section 2 does not say that limit of the debt of the United States shall not be increased unless three-fifths vote. The sponsors have gone over the words very carefully. This is an…

No. But my question to the Senator from Illinois--by the way, it is not that clear. But assuming for the moment it is clear as to what is meant by ``publicly held debt,'' assuming for a minute it is clear--I do not think it is; I will…

I will simply say that last year we were told any amendment to last year's bill would be viewed as a bill killer. That is what we were told by the National Governors Association, the legislatures, and counties. Last year's bill had a…

I have no time to yield to myself and comment on that other than to simply say that this is a new estimate, the likes of which has not been made before, involving costs indefinitely into the future on 87,000 local governments. That is very…

And is it the intention then, for instance, if somebody offers an amendment and it has an estimate in it but nobody knew that amendment was going to be offered, and then somebody wants to come and offer a second-degree amendment and then…

Well, the amendment is $20 million, and $20 million is under the $50 million threshold.

Then the bill would have to be amended to provide that the Budget Committee would get involved prior to the markup of the bill in committee. Because as I understand it, it is CBO that makes the estimate and the Budget Committee does not…

I thank my friend. This is a very different process, may I say. The CBO would never have to determine whether or not there was a mandate that applied to local government, what year it is effective, and it was never required to create with…

Is it then the intent of the Senator from Ohio that if the range estimate is made by the CBO, that that would be the same as no estimate?

The other possibility, if I may ask the Senator to yield, is that we are overfunding. We do not want to be appropriating more money or requiring the appropriation of more money than is needed to do the job. They are both unacceptable…

But if a range is going to be permitted, then it seems to me the bill must be explicit as to what will be that magic, specific amount upon which a point of order is going to either lie or not lie. I must say, I do not see any logic in…

The committee is concerned about and recognizes the difficulty of making outyear estimates, particularly beyond the 5-year window. The committee notes that the new enforcement procedures are based on thresholds being exceeded. However, if…

If we could work out enough of these amendments, I would like to vote for this bill. I can assure my friend from Idaho that I supported the bill last year because I wanted to do something about these mandates. But we have to do it in a way…

I may offer an amendment to basically have an inflation factor built in so that we would reestimate every few years what that $50 million or $100 million or $200 million is to the nearest $10 million. I have reserved a number of…