June 23, 1976
19836
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. STENNIS. I yield an additional 1 minute. Yes, I yield myself an additional 2 minutes, and then I shall yield to the Senator from Maine.
Let me complete the sentence: We shall have that much in conference and we will seek the advice in conference of the Senator from Colorado, and anyone else interested in the matter, and try to reach agreement with the House. But we need a little latitude.
I yield to the Senator from Maine.
Mr. MUSKIE. The $261 million that the Senator mentioned, does that include the $5 million that has already been agreed to on the Glenn amendment?
Mr. STENNIS. No, it does not include that. That is not classified as entirely solar.
Mr. MUSKIE. Well, part of that is solar, in any case?
Mr. STENNIS. Yes.
Mr. MUSKIE. As I said before, when there were fewer Senators on the floor, there is only $100 million leeway in budget authority, according to the crosswalk allocation that the Committee on Appropriations made to the Senator's subcommittee. The differences between the House and the Senate require some latitude if the Senator from Mississippi is to be able to do a good job in the Senate. It seems to me that the objectives of the Senator from Colorado can be served by leaving the final resolution of the dollar amount to the Senate committee and conference. There is not too much latitude as it is. It seems to me that that is a sensible approach.
I commend the Senator from Mississippi and the committee for raising the amounts available for solar energy development to the extent that they have in the bill that is before the Senate, some $100 million above what OMB allowed in the President's budget.
Mr. STENNIS. I thank the Senator. The committee is for solar energy, too. Do not forget us when naming those folks interested in it.
I yield to the Senator from Rhode Island.