A bill to extend the suspension of duty on hexanedioic acid, polymer with 1,3-benzenedimethanamine.

Mr. President, the annual Armed Forces authorization bill will soon be the subject of further debate in the Senate at a time to be decided upon by the distinguished majority leader in consultation with the distinguished Democratic leader. I wish to thank each of them for their long, consistent, and arduous effort to bring this bill up for what I anticipate will be a successful resolution to the bill, with final passage in this Senate in coming weeks. Senator Levin and I have been on this committee for some 27 years together. We are ready.

Given that the unanimous consent was accepted by the Senate, both committee staffs are actually at this time working on amendments and other

matters in preparation for the future consideration of this bill by the Senate. I urge Senators who might wish to have amendments discussed, first, to listen to the terms of the unanimous consent agreement and study those. Flexibility is given to the managers to reach a joint agreement for Members that have amendments not covered explicitly in the numerical amounts in the unanimous consent.

The committee staffs are working. I urge Senators to bring to Senator Levin and myself such matters as they may be interested in, and we will do our very best to accommodate Senators.

This Nation is at war. Each day we find in our hearts compassion for those we have lost, those on the battlefields today--not just in Iraq and Afghanistan but all throughout the world--and their families at home.

I thank our leaders for passing that unanimous consent, and I encourage Senators to submit their amendments and bring them to our attention.

The committee met this week. We reported out the intelligence authorization bill. That, hopefully, will be a joint referral to the Committee on Government Operations. There is provision in that bill which was clearly within the jurisdiction of that committee. I am very fortunate to have on the Committee on Armed Services both the chairman, Chairman Collins, and the ranking member, Senator Lieberman, as well as, of course, Senator Roberts. During the course of our deliberations yesterday, we quickly recognized it would be appropriate to be referred to that committee the intelligence bill with regard to that provision. That is progress we have made this week.

I am also pleased the committee pointed out a number of nominees for important civilian posts and, indeed, military posts in our Department of Defense. I understand some have been worked on today, and I will check to see whether other nominations can be cleared.

I am proud to say the Committee on Armed Services was very active this week. We have a charter now. We are back in business. I am very pleased that the prospects are we will pass our legislation.

Mr. President, I turn to another matter.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to extend the temporary duty suspension for imports of Nylon MXD6, hexanedioic acid, polymer with 1,3-benzenedimethanamine. This product, which is not manufactured in the United States at this time, serves as the favored option for food packaging and other multifunction packaging due to its tough, transparent properties.

It is customary for the Congress every few years to consider relatively minor technical changes to certain trade proposals as one omnibus bill. The most recent of these bills was the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Changes Act of 2004. For a proposal to be included in the legislation, the House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and International Trade Commission all have to conclude that the proposal is noncontroversial. As one of the determining factors for a duty suspension request to be considered noncontroversial, no domestic production of the commodity may exist, or it may not be at a sufficient level to satisfy domestic demand.

As I mentioned before, Nylon MXD6 is not produced in the United States, and as a result, a temporary duty suspension was awarded to imports of Nylon MXD6 under the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. However, this suspension is due to expire on December 31, 2006. While this sunset may sound far from now, no domestic production is expected to exist by then nor is it expected to exist for a few years afterwards, causing uncertainty for future production.

The current duty suspension for this import has been a key element in lowering the costs of domestic production of commodities containing Nylon MXD6. The bill I introduce today would extend the current suspension through December 31, 2008, which will provide manufacturers the certainty they need to plan for their future.

In closing, I hope my colleagues in the Senate will join with me in support of this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill for the City of Saco, ME that concerns the town's ability to allow the mooring of boats on the Saco River. The bill changes the turning basin into an anchorage while managing a 50 foot channel within the anchorage. The town was not aware that it was in violation because of 21 moorings located in the Saco River Federal Navigational Project. In an effort to eliminate this encroachment, city officials have requested a modification or deauthorization of the Federal Navigational Project to resolve the issue.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suggested language that re- designates the maneuvering basin into an anchorage area that will meet the needs of the community. The language, which I hope will be included in the Water Resources Development Act in this Congress, will allow for the legal moorage of boats, the fairway for which would be maintained by the City of Saco as is customary for towns with Federal anchorages. It is my understanding that the two mayors of the cities involved along with the Saco Yacht Club have agreed to the Corps' language.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.