The PRESIDING OFFICER. Hearing no objection, the unanimous-consent request propounded by the Senator from Louisiana [Xx. Xxxxxxxx] is agreed to. The text of the agreement is as follows: ORDERED, That the Majority Leader, after consultation with the Republican Leader, may proceed at any time to the consideration of H.R. 987, the Tongass National Forest Wilderness bill, and that it be considered under the following agreement on limiting debate and amendments: One hour on a Xxxxxxxx Goldbelt land exchange amendment; One hour on a Xxxxxxxx buffer zone amendment; One hour on a Murkowski second degree amendment on buffer zone to the Xxxxxxxx buffer zone amendment; Two committee technical amendments, the time for which will come out of time on the bill, regarding Yakutat Forelands XXX XX Management area and an amendment to the Title; Xxxx amendment relative to the Greens Creek land exchange, on which there shall be no time limitation, with second degree amendments offered to this amendment to be germane to the subject matter of the underlying amendment. ORDERED FURTHER, That no other amendments, other than the Committee-reported substitute, be in order. ORDERED FURTHER, That there be 4 hours on the bill, including the committee reported substitute. ORDERED FURTHER, That the agreement be in the usual form and that no motions to recommit be in order. Xx. XXXXXXXX. I sincerely thank my colleagues, particularly my colleagues from Alaska. I did not find the senior Senator to be anything but gentle of nature and sweet of disposition. I fully understood that he had to stand up for his State. I am glad we had the matter tended to by unanimous consent. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Xx. XXXXXXXX. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 2127) for the relief of the Pottawatomi Nation in Canada for settle- ment of certain claims against the United States. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (H.R. 4558) to extend the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ator from Arizona declines to yield fur- ther to the Senator from Delaware? Xx. XXXXXX. X decline to yield. Xx. XXXXX. X am not seeking rec- ognition. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ator from Virginia has the floor. Xx. XXXXXX. X will try and summa- rize. Mr. President, how much time do I have? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ator still has 11 minutes of the original 15 minutes remaining. Xx. XXXXXX. Xx a courtesy to the managers and the whip, I will not use all that time, but I would like to just finish our colloquy. Because I thought we were making a point, at least I felt very strongly, the President gave the assurances. And you said the way to settle this—and you wanted it for the House, the letter was sufficient for the House—why wouldn’t this letter con- tinue to be sufficient for the Senate? If it is sufficient for one body, it is suffi- cient for the other body. That is my point. Xx. XXXXX. Xxuld the Senator like me to answer? I will try to do it quick- ly.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ator from North Dakota. Xx. XXXXXX. Madam President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Mississippi for his kind comments and also for his leadership on the Agri- culture Committee as our ranking member. I wanted to express my appre- ciation. With that, I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Xx. XXXXXXX). The Senator from North Da- kota. Xx. XXXXXXXX. Mr. President, it should come as no surprise that two Senators from the great State of North Dakota stand today and talk about the importance of American agriculture. Ninety percent of the land we have in North Dakota is engaged in production agriculture. As much as we have heard—and it is all true—about this great economic renaissance we are hav- ing in our State, agriculture is still No. 1. Every year American farmers—North Dakota farmers—bet. They bet on good weather, good prices, that the crop will grow, and they spend millions of dol- lars on that bet. They are the biggest gamblers in the history of the world, and they are asking for a farm bill that gives them a little bit of risk help and makes sure when they plant, they know that maybe they have a chance to get cost of production back out. Why is that important? It is impor- tant because who is going to take that risk on behalf of the American people, on behalf of a global and worldwide supply of food? Who is going to take that risk if we don’t help a little bit? Today in America almost every State which has an agricultural base is doing a little bit better because agriculture has led the way. Agriculture has aided this economy. States with an agri- culture base have a much lower rate of unemployment, and they have been leading the way on our trade deficit. It cannot be overstated how signifi- cant this farm bill is not only to States such as North Dakota but to every State and every economy in this Union. There are 16 million jobs which hang in the balance. They are waiting for this body—the Congress—to give some assurance, to pass a farm bill. I applaud both the ranking member and the committee chair for their ex- cellent work. No bill which comes out of a committee with diverse opinions is absolutely perfect where everyone will agree on everything in the bill, but it is part of the great American com- promise we have been talking about and striving for in this body. We are working to move the issues forward and do what Americans sent us here to do. We are here to deliberate, discuss, debate, and compromise, and that is what this bil...
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- xxx will now return to legislative ses- sion. Xxx. XXXXXXX. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second. The yeas and nays were ordered. Xx. XXXX. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk pro- ceeded to call the roll. Xx. XXXX. Mr. President, I ask unan- imous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment of the Senator from North Carolina. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Xx.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ator from Ohio. DRINKING WATER PROTECTION ACT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion. The motion was agreed to. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination. The legislative clerk read the nomi- nation of Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx, of MORNING BUSINESS
