Floor Statements

Mr. President, Charles Pickering has been subjected to the most intense and thorough scrutiny that I can remember any judicial nominee enduring since I have been in the U.S. Senate. After all of his opinions as a United States district judge have been read and reread and dissected, this is what the record shows.

In 13 years on the Federal bench, he has demonstrated a sense of fairness and good judgment that has reflected credit on the Federal judiciary. He has become known throughout our State as someone who is above reproach, who is totally honest and honorable, and who applies the law without regard to race, creed, or ethnicity in an intelligent, thoughtful, and sensible manner.

He is widely respected as a United States district judge. I have no doubt that if confirmed by the Senate, he will serve with distinction and dedication on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Before he became a Federal judge, Charles Pickering served ably in the Mississippi State Senate and was the chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. He was elected county prosecuting attorney after he had been engaged in the practice of law for only 2 years. When Charles Pickering was nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in 1990, he was approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee. And he was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.

As U.S. district court judge, he has become one of the highest rated judges in the Nation. Judge Pickering has received the highest rating from the American Bar Association. He has a lower reversal rate than both the national and Fifth Circuit average. Mr. President, 99.5 percent of his cases have been affirmed or not appealed. Of those cases that have been appealed, Judge Pickering has only a 7.9-percent reversal rate, which is 20-percent lower than the national average of the Department of Justice, and two times lower than the average district court judge in the Fifth Circuit.

He has been endorsed by the current president and the past 17 presidents of the Mississippi State Bar. He is endorsed by all of the major newspapers in Mississippi. He has also been endorsed by all of our State government officials who were elected statewide, including the Democrats who serve as Governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.

The people who know Charles Pickering the best are the residents of my State, and they overwhelmingly support his confirmation as a court of appeals judge.

It is time to end this effort to discredit and demean this good man. It is time for the Senate to do what is right and confirm this well- qualified and honorable nominee.

Mr. President, let me compliment the distinguished acting leader. He correctly states the content of the conversation that we had which included the majority leader. The custom, in recent history anyway, has been to accumulate amendments and then have the votes stacked to occur at a certain time. That is well and good, if you know how many amendments you have. We don't have a finite list of amendments. That is one thing we need. If Senators would let us know which amendments they intend to offer, we can probably manage this bill more efficiently and save time for everybody.

We want to finish the bill tonight. That is my intention. I think that is

the intention of the acting Democratic leader as well.

The regular order is, if you have an amendment, come and offer it. We will debate it and dispose of it. We will give you a vote on it and move to table it or we will accept it.

Senator Bingaman is here with an amendment. It is an important amendment. I understand that he is going to seek the floor and offer that amendment. We will debate it and dispose of it.

I very much thank the two leaders for their effort to help move this bill along and ensure that the votes we have are held to a minimum amount of time. We are going to try to enforce that.

I thank everybody concerned.

Mr. President, after looking at this amendment, I see it clearly increases mandatory spending and, if adopted, would cause the underlying bill to exceed the committee's section 302(a) allocation. Therefore, I raise a point of order against the amendment pursuant to section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

I ask for the yeas and nays on that.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, the Senator from Nevada is exactly correct in the fact that we are going to have to have more cooperation to move this bill along. We agreed before this vote that we could cut off votes after 20 minutes. We had the endorsement of that by the majority leader. But because Senators were on their way to vote and people told us they were on their way to vote, the vote dragged out longer than that.

I hope Senators will cooperate with the managers of the bill and leadership and let's get here and vote when the buzzer sounds and not wait until the last minute. These votes are going to be cut short. I hope everyone will cooperate with us.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the order previously entered, the distinguished Senator from Maine be recognized up to 10 minutes.

Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Maine for her contribution to the legislation we have before us today. She has been a leader in this effort, and we always appreciate the opportunity of working with her. I thank her for her kind comments as well.

Mr. President, I am advised this amendment would really be a recipe for gridlock in that it mandates new requirements for the Forest Service as well as the Bureau of Land Management--processes they have to carry out and go through before they can engage in any fuel treatment processes.

It would require the Forest Service, for example, to prepare a plan for treatment of slash that contains all of the information and data specified in the amendment of the Senator from New Mexico. It opens up the Forest Service to legal challenges if someone has the opinion that the plan is inadequate for some reason. It forces the Forest Service to set up a new system for tracking the implementation of fuels treatment projects, and any followup treatments to them.

The amendment would add new reporting processes to hazardous fuel work. The amendment calls for the development of a plan which is already required but requires the agencies to develop multiyear treatment plans and report on those plans on an annual basis.

The whole purpose of this legislation is to try to help simplify and get the work done that needs to be done to reduce the chances of devastating fires like we have seen in California, to manage the forests in a more effective way, a safer way, for those who live in those areas, and to get more done in terms of enhancing survivability from insect infestation and generally improve the overall health of our national forest resources.

The Forest Service is going to end up spending more time, the Bureau of Land Management as well, in their offices working on plans, than out doing the work that they were actually hired to do under existing legislation. This amendment is, as I have said before, a recipe for gridlock. I urge that the amendment be opposed.

I don't know of any other Senators who wish to speak on the amendment. I will be prepared to move to table the amendment when those who want to speak have been heard.

Mr. President, I move to table the amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from New Mexico for this suggested change to the bill. It actually could be argued it is duplicative of a provision that is already in the bill at the request of Senator Wyden and Senator Feinstein, but it is not wholly inconsistent. We think it can be worked into the bill and will not cause confusion, so I am prepared to recommend that the Senate accept the amendment. I hope the Senate will vote for the amendment.

Mr. President, there has been considerable attention paid to the provisions of the House-passed bill which was referred to in our Committee on Agriculture. The version the House passed has the same provisions that would change substantially the judicial review and appeals provisions of current law. When we were looking at the bill in our committee, it was decided that while we didn't disagree with the objectives of the House, we thought that there could be more appropriate language which would help ensure that litigation and appeals weren't abused to the extent that they created impasses and gridlock in the process.

I have to give credit to the distinguished Senator from Oregon, Mr. Wyden, and the distinguished Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, for coming up with suggestions for changes that were included in this bill that is now before the Senate. It was included in the language of the compromise that we made to substantially change title I as it relates to the judicial review section of the bill.

Let me point out that it balances risk, which is what this is about. Looking at ramifications of approving or not approving a fuel reduction project can be explained by looking at certain examples from which we have learned. On the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, for instance, over 300,000 acres of forest have been lost to a spruce bark beetle infestation which we are told could have been avoided but was not because of litigation and appeals that were generated over the project's proposal. The Dixie National Forest has 112,000 acres that have been devastated by the spruce bark beetle as well which could have been prevented with treatment but was slowed by the appeals and litigation in that situation.

Over the last 3 years, bark beetles have ravaged forests around Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino National Forest in southern California causing an 80-percent mortality rate and substantially increasing the fuel loads of that forest.

What I am afraid we are going to see if the Leahy amendment is approved is a reversal of efforts that we have made to come to a new approach which we think will improve forest help. We still have rigorous environmental safeguards in place, but the suggestions that courts do not bog down the process with endless appeals and litigation is one of the goals of this legislation.

I don't know if other Senators want to be heard on this amendment. But I would be prepared, after Senators have had an opportunity to express themselves, if they want to debate this issue, to move to table the Leahy amendment.

I move to table the Leahy amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the motion to table was agreed to.

I move to reconsider the vote

Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, we have a few other amendments being discussed. We think we will be able to clear them. Discussions are underway. Other than those two amendments, I don't think any other amendment will require a vote.

I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I call up my amendment which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, this is an amendment containing technical changes to the bill and amendments in behalf of the following Senators: Senator Collins, Senators Corzine and Specter, Senator Cantwell, Senator Leahy, Senators Lugar and Harkin, Senator Ensign, and Senator Allard, all of which have been approved by the managers on both sides.

The Senator's understanding is correct.

Mr. President, I thank all Senators who worked hard to put this bill together. They have all been mentioned by each other a number of times. I am grateful for everybody's contribution to this effort. It has truly been a joint effort on both sides of the aisle, across committee lines, across regional lines, and for that I am very grateful. I think we can all be proud of the work the Senate has done this evening.

I also have to mention the work of our staff members. Our great staff includes Hunt Shipman, who is staff director in the Agriculture Committee, and the following staff members who worked hard on this project: Lance Kotschwar, West Higginbotham, Doug MacCleery, Graham Harper, Dave Johnson, as well as the staff of the Senate Energy Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Domenici.

I hope all Senators will support the final passage of the bill.

I ask for third reading of the bill.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on final passage of the bill.

I move to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 30, 2003, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on ``The Treasury's Department's Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policy.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on October 30, 2003, at 10 a.m., on universal service.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Children and Families and Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on African Affairs be authorized to meet for a hearing on ``A Morale Imperative: Frist Report on the HIV/AIDS Codel to Africa'' during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003, at 3 p.m., in

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, October 30, 2003, at 10 a.m. in Dirksen Room 226.

Agenda:

I. Nominations: Henry W. Saad to be U.S. Circuit Judge for

the Sixth Circuit; Dora L. Irizarry to be U.S. District Judge

for the Eastern District of New York; William K. Sessions III

to be a Member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission; D. Michael

Fisher to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit; Janice

R. Brown to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of

Columbia Circuit; David L. Huber to be U.S. Attorney for the

Western District of Kentucky.

II. Bills: S. 1720, a bill to provide for Federal court

proceedings in Plano, Texas [Cornyn]; S. 710, Anti-Atrocity

Alien Deportation Act of 2003 [Leahy, Hatch]; S. Con. Res.

58, Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to raising

awareness and encouraging prevention of stalking in the

United States and supporting the goals and ideals of National

Stalking Awareness Month [DeWine, Biden, Feinstein]; S. Con.

Res. , Recognizing that November 2, 2003, shall be dedicated

to ``A tribute to survivors'' at the United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum [Hatch].

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Thursday, October 30, 2003, at 2:00 p.m., on ``Monopsony Issues in Agriculture: Buying Power of Processors in Our Nation's Agricultural Markets,'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Witness list:

``Monopsony Issues in Agriculture: Buying Power of

Processors in Our Nation's Agricultural Markets'' Thursday,

October 30, 2003, 2:00 p.m., SD-226.

Panel I: The Honorable R. Hewitt Pate, Assistant Attorney

General for Antitrust, U.S. Department of Justice,

Washington, DC.

Panel II: Dr. Dee Von Bailey, Professor and Extension

Economist, Department of Economics, Utah State University,

Logan, UT; Dr. Ronald W. Cotterill, Professor of Agricultural

and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut, Storrs,

CT; Professor Peter Carstensen, George H. Young-Bascom

Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003 at 9 a.m. to hold a hearing on Syria: U.S. Policy Directions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a sub committee hearing on North Korea.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a sub committee hearing on Combating Transnational Crime & Corruption in Europe.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003, for a hearing to consider the nominations of Cynthia R. Church, to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Robert N. McFarland, to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Information and Technology. The hearing will take place in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 2 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed hearing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Aging be authorized to meet for a hearing on Elder Justice and Protection: Stopping the Financial Abuse during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30, 2003, at 10 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on National Parks of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30 at 10 a.m. The Purpose of the hearings is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 1241, to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the State of New York, and for other purposes; S. 1364, to amend the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to authorize the payment of expenses after the death of certain Federal employees in the State of Alaska; S. 1433, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in implementing cultural heritage, conservation, and recreational activities in the Connecticut River Watershed of the States of New Hampshire and Vermont; S. 1462, to adjust the boundary of the Cumberland Island Wilderness, to authorize tours of the Cumberland Island National Seashore, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 30 at 2:30 p.m. The purpose of the hearing is to examine S. 1097, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to implement the Calfed Bay-Delta Program.

Mr. President, on July 24, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry reported to the Senate H.R. 1904, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. This bill, which is now before the Senate, reflects a comprehensive effort to improve forest health on both public and private lands. The bill provides Federal land managers the tools to implement scientifically supported management practices on Federal forests, in consultation with local communities, while establishing new conservation programs to improve water quality and regenerate declining forest ecosystem types on private lands.

The legislation will reduce the amount of time and expense required to conduct hazardous fuels projects, but it also will require rigorous environmental analysis of those projects.

Over the past few years, we have seen many communities destroyed and many firefighters' lives lost due to forest fires that could have been prevented. We are all deeply saddened by the tragic events occurring now in California. At least 17 people, we are told, have lost their lives; 1,600 homes have been destroyed, and 520,000 acres have burned.

The fires continue to wreak havoc in that State. Thousands of Californians have had to leave their homes, and more communities are being evacuated at this very moment.

On Monday, President Bush declared the region a disaster area. The cost resulting from these fires is estimated in the billions of dollars. The tools and resources this legislation provides land managers will assist in preventing the devastation resulting from forest fires.

In the past, the U.S. Forest Service has been forced to spend great amounts of time and resources battling lawsuits instead of managing the forests. The result has been months and even years of delays in fuel reduction projects. Our forests have continued to suffer, and they have continued to burn.

I have filed, along with 13 cosponsors, an amendment to title I of the bill which contains several modifications to the bill the committee reported.

I offer that amendment to the bill.

Amendment No. 1828

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, this amendment embodies recommendations made by a bipartisan group of Senators who are committed getting this legislation passed and signed by the President. The amendment establishes a predecisional administrative review process. It allows an additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to give priority to communities and watersheds and hazardous fuel reduction projects. It contains new language protecting old-growth stands, and it encourages the courts to expedite the judicial review process.

The underlying legislation also contains a biomass title authorizing grant programs to encourage utilization of forest waste material. Another title provides financial and technical assistance to private forest land owners to encourage better management techniques to protect water quality. The pest and remote sensing titles would authorize funding for the U.S. Forest Service, land grant institutions, and 1890 institutions to plan, conduct, and promote the gathering of information about insects that have caused severe damage to forest ecosystems.

Title V, the Healthy Forest Reserve Program, is a private forest land conservation initiative that would support the restoration of declining forest ecosystem types that are critical to the recovery of threatened, endangered, and other sensitive species.

Two additional titles were added to the House-passed bill by our committee. One would establish a public land corps to provide opportunities to young people for employment and, at the same time, provide a cost-effective and efficient means to implement rehabilitation and enhancement projects in local communities. The other new title will promote investment in forest resource-dependent communities.

This legislation provides new legal authority to help us manage the Nation's forests in a safe and effective manner. The bill will help us do a better job of safeguarding these priceless national resources.

I urge the Senate to support the bill.

Madam President, after consulting with the leaders and those interested in talking about this amendment before we vote, I am now in a position to propound a unanimous consent request.

I ask unanimous consent that at 3:35 today the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to amendment No. 1828, with no amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote; I further ask consent if the amendment is agreed to, it then be considered as original text for the purpose of further amendment; I finally ask that the following Senators be permitted to speak prior to the vote: Senator Ensign for 10 minutes; Senator Bennett for 5 minutes; Senator Murray for 5 minutes; Senator Kyl for 5 minutes; and Senator Crapo for 10 minutes.

Madam President, I ask that my request be so modified and that the vote occur at 3:45 instead of 3:35.

The Senator is correct.

With that understanding, I renew my request.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the amendment.

I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I think this amendment is a constructive addition to the bill. I am prepared to recommend that the Senate approve it.

Mr. President, what is the regular order--a vote on the amendment?

If that is the order, that is fine with me. I just assumed we

were taking amendments as they were offered and disposing of them. I was not aware there was another amendment pending besides the Boxer amendment that had just been offered.

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

What is the regular order?

Vote on Amendment No. 2025

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was agreed to.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of a letter addressed to the two leaders from a number of sports organizations and conservation organizations regarding the adoption of the compromise amendment to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act be printed in the Record.

Madam President, this letter, and many others like it, indicates overwhelming support around the country for the compromise we adopted today.

We made good progress in dealing with the bill. Tomorrow we will have another opportunity to consider amendments. I ask all Senators who have amendments to offer to this bill to please let us know about the amendments. Give us copies tonight so we can look at them and be prepared to act expeditiously on the amendments so we can finish this bill tomorrow.

I ask unanimous consent that I may proceed for 1 minute as in morning business.

Mr. President, I rise to commend my friend, the distinguished Senator from California, for her active involvement and effective work in reaching this agreement that has been reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. It is the vehicle that we can use to truly bring relief to the citizens of America from disasters like this one that has befallen the citizens of California.

I must say I have been worried, as has she and others in the Senate, that this kind of tragedy could happen. It could happen in many other States. It is time for the Senate to act now. The only thing I disagree with about the remarks of the Senator is she says the ball is in the White House's court.

The ball is in the Senate's court. This bill is pending here in the Senate. We have asked unanimous consent to go to the bill and that amendments be limited to those that are relevant to the bill and that amendments to the amendments be relevant to those amendments to which they are offered. That is the only condition under which the Senate has asked to proceed to consideration of this bill, and objections have been raised on the Democratic side of the aisle to proceeding.

It is time for those who are obstructing the consideration of this bill to reconsider their position, particularly in light of the destruction in California. It is unconscionable that the Senate will not take action on this matter and pass the bill. Let's go to conference with the House. Let's try to prevail in conference. Then it is the turn of the White House to sign or veto the bill. I predict the White House would sign the bill and we will get a good bill in conference that the White House can sign.

I am happy to yield to my friend if I have any time.

Mr. President, let me reclaim the time. I asked unanimous consent on this floor to do just that and there was an objection by the acting leader for the Democratic side, Mr. Harry Reid. If there has been a change in position, that ought to be communicated to the leader. That would be good to know.

Mr. President, there was no limitation of amendments. The provision in the unanimous consent request was that any amendment offered to the bill would be relevant to the bill and any amendment to an amendment be relevant to the amendment to which it was offered. There was no limitation requested in that unanimous consent request.

Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to clarify language included in the Transportation, Treasury and General Government Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2004. My distinguished colleague, the Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Shelby, worked to ensure that important funding was provided for the Federal Aviation Administration to address the problem of runway incursions at our Nation's airports.

I share his concern about reports of runway incursions and surface incidents. It is my hope that the FAA will use the funding provided to them to test new technologies that could significantly improve this situation. Testing at one of the 90 ``hot spot'' airports identified by the FAA should include accurate and reliable non-cooperative sensors, such as millimeter wave sensors, that can form a distributed radar and optical identification local network. The technologies tested should also include synchronized 2D and 3D graphic displays.

I would ask the chairman to clarify the funding provided by the subcommittee to address runway incursion prevention devices at our Nation's airports.

Mr. Chairman, thank you for clarifying this issue and for your leadership and support in addressing this important issue.

Madam President, I understand under the order a certain amount of time is allocated to me.

Madam President, at the request of the majority leader, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the minority leader, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1904, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, under the following limitations: That any amendments offered must be relevant to the underlying measure, and that any second-degree amendment be relevant to the first-degree amendment to which it is offered. I further ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of any amendments, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I am not able to accept it on behalf of the majority leader. I made this request at the majority leader's request. This was written by the majority leader, so I am unable to make that modification.

Madam President, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which is a bill that has been reported by the Agriculture Committee, is a comprehensive strategy to improve forest health on both public and private lands. The bill empowers Federal land managers to implement, in consultation with local communities, scientifically supported management practices on Federal forests. It establishes new conservation programs to improve water quality and regenerate privately owned forests.

This bill will reduce the amount of time and expense required to conduct hazardous fuel projects, but it also mandates rigorous environmental analysis before any such projects are undertaken.

Over the past few years, many lives have been lost and homes and communities destroyed by forest fires that could have been prevented. Instead of managing our national forests, the U.S. Forest Service has been forced to spend

inordinate amounts of time and effort fighting lawsuits. This has caused months and sometimes years of delays in fuel reduction projects. Our forests have continued to suffer, and they have continued to burn.

I will offer an amendment to title I of the bill, if and when it is presented to the Senate, which contains several modifications to the committee bill. This amendment embodies recommendations made by a bipartisan group of Senators who are committed to getting this legislation passed and signed by the President.

The amendment establishes a predecisional administrative review process. It allows an additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to give priority to communities and watersheds in hazardous fuel reduction projects. It contains new language protecting old-growth stands. It encourages the courts to expedite the judicial review process.

The committee bill authorizes grant programs to encourage utilization of certain forest waste material. It provides financial and technical assistance to private forest land owners to encourage better management techniques to protect water quality.

It also authorizes funding for the U.S. Forest Service, land grant institutions, and 1890 institutions to plan, promote, and conduct the gathering of information about insects that have caused severe damage to forest ecosystems. Also included in the bill is the Healthy Forest Reserve Program, which is a private forest land conservation initiative to support the restoration of declining forest ecosystem types that are critical to the recovery of threatened, endangered, and other sensitive species.

Two titles were added to the House-passed bill by our committee. One would establish a public land corps to provide opportunities to young people for employment and, at the same time, provide a cost-effective and efficient means to implement rehabilitation and enhancement projects in local communities. The other title will promote investment in forest-resource-dependent communities.

In essence, this legislation will provide new legal authority to help us manage the Nation's forests in a safer and more effective manner.

I urge the Senate to support this bill.

Madam President, I yield the remainder of the time allocated to me under the order to the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Santorum.

Mr. WYDEN addressed the Chair.

Mr. President, at the request of the majority leader, I have been asked to announce that this afternoon there will be a period of morning business until 2 p.m. It had been the majority leader's hope, and the desire of many Members on this side of the aisle, to begin consideration of the Healthy Forests issue during today's session. Unfortunately, there is an objection on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Given that objection, it had been the intent of the leader to begin consideration of the class action fairness legislation. Again, there was an objection to proceeding to that measure on Friday; and, therefore, a motion to proceed was made by the majority leader.

Today, at 2 p.m., the Senate will resume debate on the motion to proceed to the class action bill. Members are expected to come to the floor throughout the day to speak on this motion. If we are unable to proceed on the bill today, it may be necessary to file a cloture motion on that pending motion to proceed.

Under a previous order, at 5:15 today, the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Margaret Catharine Rodgers to be a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Florida. This will be the first vote of today's session.

Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the minority leader, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 1904, the Healthy Forests bill, under the following limitations: that the following first-degree amendments be the only amendments in order, and that any listed first-degree amendments be subject to second-degree amendments which must be relevant to the first degree to which offered: managers' amendment; Leahy-Boxer, buyback provisions; Bingaman-Leahy-Boxer, appeals process; Bingaman-Leahy-Boxer, wildland-urban interface; Bingaman-Leahy-Boxer, NEPA; Boxer-Leahy-Cantwell-Murray, additional area exclusion; Campbell- Inouye, tribal lands and hazardous fuels; Collins-Snowe, suburban sprawl; Kyl, wildfire research institutes; Kyl, wildland-urban interface; Leahy-Boxer judicial review; Smith, land grant universities; and Ensign, animals.

I further ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of these amendments, the bill be read a third time, and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, on July 24, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry reported to the Senate H.R. 1904, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.

This bill reflects a comprehensive effort to improve forest health on both public and private lands. The bill provides Federal land managers the tools

to implement scientifically supported management practices on Federal forests, in consultation with local communities, while establishing new conservation programs to improve water quality and regenerate declining forest ecosystem types on private lands.

The legislation will reduce the amount of time and expense required to conduct hazardous fuels projects. But it also will require rigorous environmental analysis of such projects.

Over the past few years, we have seen many communities destroyed and many firefighters' lives lost due to forest fires that could have been prevented. Instead of managing our national forest treasures, the U.S. Forest Service has been forced to spend great amounts of time and resources battling lawsuits. The result has been months and even years of delays in fuel reduction projects. Our forests have continued to suffer, and they have continued to burn.

I have also introduced, with 13 cosponsors, an amendment to title I of the bill which contains several modifications to the House bill the committee reported. This amendment embodies recommendations made by a bipartisan group of Senators who are committed to getting this legislation passed and signed by the President.

The amendment establishes a predecisional administrative review process. It allows an additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to give priority to communities and watersheds in hazardous fuel reduction projects. It contains new language protecting old growth stands. And it encourages the courts to expedite the judicial review process.

The reported legislation contains a biomass title authorizing grant programs to encourage utilization of certain forest waste materials. Another title in the bill provides financial and technical assistance to private forest landowners to encourage better management techniques to protect water quality.

The pest and remote sensing titles would authorize funding for the U.S. Forest Service, land grant institutions, and 1890 institutions to plan, conduct, and promote the gathering of information about insects that have caused severe damage to forest ecosystems.

Title V, the Healthy Forest Reserve Program, is a private forestland conservation initiative that would support the restoration of declining forest ecosystem types that are critical to the recovery of threatened, endangered, and other sensitive species.

Two additional titles were added to the House-passed bill by our committee. One would establish a public land corps to provide opportunities to young people for employment and at the same time provide a cost-effective and efficient means to implement rehabilitation and enhancement projects in local communities. The other new title will promote investment in forest-resource-dependent communities.

This legislation provides new legal authority to help us manage the Nation's forests in a safe and effective manner. The bill will help us do a better job of safeguarding these priceless national resources. I urge the Senate to support this bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time for morning business be extended to 2:15 p.m.

I am advised there are Senators who have been told they could come over and talk on the motion to proceed to consider the class action at 2:15.