Mark Warner

Then the distinguished Senator from South Carolina desires to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished Senator from Michigan relative to the amendments by the Senator from South Carolina. Am I not correct on that?

May I pause momentarily. Mr. President, I think our respective staffs can incorporate in the wrap-up document such that the Senator from Michigan and I will share equally the time before 4:30, after leadership, and in that way be able to…

I again thank all Senators. I thank our staff. I thank the professional staff of the Senate, who in many ways have made possible the completion of this bill. We are owing a debt of gratitude to many to get where we are.

If there is no objection. So once again I ask my colleague if we could voice vote this amendment?

I say to my good friend, we have worked with you in a most cooperative way. I would like to have the attention of my good friend. We have worked with you in a most cooperative way. What I am trying to do is convenience a number of Members…

Suppose we had a voice vote and you determined from the resounding ayes if it meets your specifications?

I worked on the amendment with the distinguished Senator from New Jersey. I have done so in consultation with my leadership and the leadership of the Intelligence Committee. I would like to make this offer to my good friend. We have a…

I see that the Senator from Kansas says 5 minutes, and the Senator from Massachusetts is indicating some time to help our colleague.

I believe that we are dealing with an important unknown; that is, the content of what the distinguished Senator from Delaware wishes to put on. May I make this suggestion, without any prejudice to this colloquy and honest effort to resolve…

We would need to examine the second-degree amendment by the distinguished Senator.

That is correct, but then, as we have with others, if it is desired by the three principals here, to do it in a side-by-side fashion. There is a parliamentary means to do that.

That is correct, I say to my distinguished colleague. The proposal, eventually is that you will have some sort of a----

I spoke with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld very early this morning on this issue. ____________________

Yes, Mr. President. This is a subject I have discussed with the administration and most specifically with the Secretary of Defense. I assure my colleague that it will not establish a pattern because to me the advice and consent process is…

We are making progress on this bill. It is the intention of the joint leadership, the majority leader, and the Democrat leader, that this bill be finished. Senator Levin and I are doing the best we can to accommodate all colleagues. The…

What I am trying to get at the moment is the amendments, and then we will try to splice in periods of time for our colleagues to speak to other matters on the bill.

We will try and package, for the moment, two items. The Senator from Massachusetts will now proceed on his amendment. We cannot predict how long it will take because we do not know of the potential for second degrees. That will take place…

Fine. Let's deal with the known quantities. The Senator from Massachusetts wishes to bring up an amendment which is within the 12 amendments of the Senator from Michigan. That is to be taken up now. We will proceed with that. There may…

Has the Senator put into the Record the name of the assistant he has worked with in developing this and explained about his background as having been there and participated? Because this is an extremely important segment of our debate that…

Tomorrow, we will complete action on the Defense authorization bill. I firmly hope that, as does Senator Levin, and our respective leaders. Senators can expect votes throughout the day and tomorrow and should plan accordingly. We will…

I must say to the distinguished Presiding Officer, the war reserves stockpile for Korea, I don't know if that includes me with it or not. I did spend a period of time over there in 1951 and 1952 in the winter with the Marines. Likely I…

We have this vote. We are making great progress on this bill. I will be consulting with the leadership. There is a possibility we would like to continue tonight, but with regard to further rollcall votes, we will have to consult our…

It is just a matter of minutes before we start the votes. Perhaps the distinguished Senator from Georgia would like to make some explanation about the vote coming up? Amendment No. 2433

I thank my partner, who has been most helpful in getting this bill passed. We are going to try and facilitate that.

I would propose to do it. I would have to check. There are three amendments, and actually the fourth is the pending amendment. I will see if he cannot possibly bring up his amendment right after the two votes.