Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Arizona.

Let me make this very brief. I happen to agree with my colleague from Arizona on this amendment . We disagreed obviously on the previous amendment . But the Senator from Arizona is absolutely correct in what he is trying to do here.

We have a second-degree amendment that absolutely modifies the amendment being offered by the Senator from Arizona--modifies it up by $30 million, which I think we can reach agreement on here.

This is a mature program. I think a case can be made about cost containment provisions on defense procurement. In the early stages you ought to be somewhat careful about it when you are dealing with a mature program. That is what this is. This is a mature program. I think injecting some fiscal discipline into these programs can be helpful.

I am confident that this amendment will offer no problems at all. We have talked to the contractors and to the Navy. We ought to be able to complete the program with caps that are suggested by these two amendments.

So, Mr. President, I hope that there will be no need for a rollcall vote on this. We think it does the job.

Again, I support what our colleague from Arizona is doing. It is the proper and appropriate approach that should be taken on matters such as this.

Mr. LIEBERMAN addressed the Chair.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, very briefly, we disagree with our friend from Arizona whether or not to finish the third Seawolf . We do not disagree on the question of whether or not there should be a cost cap. There should be. I hope we will agree to the second-degree amendment . We disagree on the question of whether we should complete the third Seawolf . The Senate has spoken now on that question.

On the question that the Senator from Arizona now raises as to whether there should be a cost cap, there is no disagreement. Senator Dodd and I and all the others who support the Seawolf feel probably even more strongly that there should be a cost cap.

So I hope we can agree on a number and leave it at that.

I thank the Chair.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, before we voice vote this, because it has been accepted on both sides, I would like to extend my congratulations to the two Senators from Connecticut and to the Senator from Maine on a significant victory in maintaining the Seawolf submarine. I obviously strongly disagree. But their arguments and the work they did indicated that a clear majority of the Senate chooses to maintain the procurement of this weapons system. And I congratulate them on their success.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Do the Senators yield back the remaining time?

Mr. McCAIN. I yield back the time.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I would like to thank my friend from Arizona for his gracious statement and say to him that, given a choice, I would much rather have him on my side than against me, having real strength and conviction, and this is one of those cases where I end up after a fight respecting somebody more than I did before.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague from Connecticut.

My friend from Arizona and I have been with each other over these many years. And there is no better fighter, no more honest Member of our body, no person who brings more integrity to a debate, and I appreciate how fairly he raised this issue and gave us an opportunity to address it.

Mr. President, I would also like to commend our respective staffs, my colleague from Connecticut for his staff, and mine, Bob Gillcash, who has done a tremendous job over the years on these issues, this one particularly and many others as well.

I urge adoption of the amendment .

The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has been yielded back. The question is on agreeing to the amendment of the Senator from Connecticut in the second degree.

The amendment (No. 2092) was agreed to.