[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 126 (Monday, September 12, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   INTERSTATE BANKING EFFICIENCY ACT

  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, another bill on which action must be 
completed is the conference report on the Interstate Banking Act. I 
announced prior to the recess, that is to say, several weeks ago, that 
this was a matter on which I intended to try to proceed. We are now in 
the position where we do not know whether or not cloture will be 
required. There has been a number of objections made by several 
Senators, and it has been my intention to proceed to that bill this 
evening for the purpose of filing cloture so that if we are unable to 
bring this conference report up tomorrow or Wednesday morning, that the 
cloture motion will ripen and we would have a vote on whether or not to 
proceed to the bill on Wednesday morning. I frankly hope we could get 
agreement to vote on cloture tomorrow but that would require consent.
  Therefore, Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the conference report accompanying H.R. 3841, the Interstate 
Banking Efficiency Act.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to the conference 
report accompanying H.R. 3841, the Interstate Banking Efficiency Act.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the 
motion to proceed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on 
the motion to proceed to H.R. 3841, the Interstate Banking Efficiency 
Act, occur at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I do not object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Accordingly then, Mr. President, a vote will occur at 
2:30 p.m. tomorrow on the motion to proceed to the Interstate Banking 
Efficiency Act.
  I want to make a comment on what has just transpired.
  My purpose in wanting to have the cloture motion filed this evening 
was to have the cloture vote on Wednesday, because, as we all know, the 
Senate will go into recess on Wednesday at about 2 p.m. because of the 
Jewish holidays.
  Now, I had previously announced that there would be no votes today, 
Monday, in response to a number of requests from Republican and 
Democratic Senators. And so what has just occurred is that because I 
accommodated several Senators in announcing, at their request, that 
there not be votes today, I have been put in the position where that is 
now being used to prevent progress on the bill so that we could not get 
the motion to proceed to the Banking Act this evening.
  That means, since it will not be until tomorrow that we can take that 
up and file the cloture motion, and we have to break on Wednesday for 
the Jewish holidays, we will not be able to get to that cloture vote 
until next week. And so a whole week will have been consumed because of 
the maneuver that has just occurred.
  I find myself in a position where, having accommodated the requests 
of a number of Senators, I am now being penalized in trying to move 
forward on the legislation that the Senate has to act on because of 
that accommodation.
  There is not anything I can do about it now, but I will say to 
Senators that it certainly does not enhance the prospects for further 
accommodation of this type on my part. I want to be as cooperative as I 
can with as many Senators as possible, but when some of the very people 
who make the request for accommodation then turn around and use that 
accommodation as a way of preventing action, or delaying action, it is 
very difficult to accept and will obviously have to be a factor in 
connection with future requests for accommodation.
  Mr. President, as of now, the one vote we have scheduled tomorrow is 
on a motion to proceed to the Interstate Banking Efficiency Act. That 
is a nondebatable motion, and a vote has been set for 2:30. It is my 
intention to file a motion to invoke cloture on that matter immediately 
following that vote, if in fact we have not got the matter resolved by 
then and cannot proceed to final passage of that measure. We will also 
attempt to complete action on the Department of Defense authorization 
bill some time tomorrow, and I hope that the suggested cooperation 
which was mentioned earlier is forthcoming in that regard.

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