Malcolm Wallop

I had thought when I announced that I was not going to run for reelection, that it would be a sad moment for me. Mr. President, I have decided that it was perhaps the wisest decision of my political career.

I hope that somehow or another we can find a way to come to our senses, because it is not a responsible thing to do to acquire more and more land without the means of caring for it. I know ranchers who do that, and the condition of those…

I say the other side of that coin to the chairman of the committee is Secretary Babbitt who had said that he would force them to accept whatever offer he makes or remain inholdings forever. The other side of that coin is the arrogant abuse…

I would. But there is no reason it has to be. They hunt in the Grand Teton National Park. It does not stop anything from going on there. Hunting can be eliminated under that status, as well. It is not an issue between hunting and mining…

Is the Senator aware that my amendment adopts all her findings and, therefore, the mining issue, to the extent it exists, exists in yours as well as mine? We do not permit mining, just valid existing rights, which yours does. So mining is…

I did not say 3,700 people had been taken out. I said if you look at budget projections, it is 3,700 people. Personnel by which the National Park Service will be reduced over the next 5 years. I did not say they had been. What has taken…

Last, Mr. President, I very much wish to thank the Senator from California for accepting the law enforcement provisions. I think it is in all of our intent that we do not provide a pipeline in the interstate highway system out of Mexico…

The Senator from Arkansas and I have looked at this amendment of the Senator from Maine with regard to reinstating the policy of the 1965 act and find it very useful. The minority is at least prepared to accept it.

I have spoken my piece. I have the belief, as I have stated, that the legislation is ill-founded and unwise. It has passed the committee. It will most certainly probably pass the Senate. But my opinion on it is now recorded.

I will say to my friend from Kentucky that I have not seen the bill, but I am inclined to be on it with him. I see all over the place signs that we are going to start charging for unimproved access to various recreation forests, national…

I say to the Senator, I agree with him. We are seeing signs of it all over our State. I am seeing signs of it in various published statements around and about. I think it is time for Congress to speak to it. It is well and good to spend…

One of the rationale that has been proffered for S. 4 is to improve American competitiveness, and this does.

It is not here anymore. And my question is, what is it about ruling that makes governments resist management? If the excuse was that the Bush administration stopped the Senator from doing it, well, that administration is gone.

It is my hope that the Senate will see fit to adopt this amendment. It has been bipartisan and has been the subject of Small Business Committee hearings. The Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Bumpers], has been in favor of it. I do not see him…

And it is, if anything, more specific. So the pattern is running in the direction that causes the Senator anxiety.

Is it not also the case that at no time within this Presidency is the debt decreasing; that it continues to increase over the 5-year budget period? We often get confused with the concepts of deficit and debt. When we discuss declining…

Is it not also true that, whether we use OMB or CBO's figures, the deficit begins to rise dramatically after 1996?

So this is what we are hearing from downtown, despite the credibility given by the President to CBO in its first State of the Union?

I would like to direct a few questions through the Chair to the Senator from Oklahoma. One, is it not the case that President Clinton said we were going to have honest figures for a change and we were going to use CBO figures?

I say to the Senator from Montana, that is the only conclusion you can draw from the arguments raised against it. The whole argument that we are taking from Congress the power of the purse is nonsense. We will still have the power of the…

In addition to the public report, the confidential report. This is a third report sent to the Justice Department, entirely different from what some of us have had access to. Second, in a meeting with the inspector general, when I asked to…