[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 60 (Friday, March 31, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4979-S4980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLOTURE MOTION

  Mr. DOLE. I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the conference 
     report to accompany H.R. 831, the Self-Employed Health 
     Insurance Act:
         Robert Dole, Bob Packwood, John Ashcroft, Orrin Hatch, 
           Richard Lugar, Lauch Faircloth, Larry Pressler, Thad 
           Cochran, Trent Lott, Pete Domenici, Rick Santorum, 
           Larry Craig, Alfonse D'Amato, Hank Brown, James Inhofe, 
           and Slade Gorton.

  Mr. DOLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. DOLE. It is my intent to either have a pro forma session tomorrow 
or, unless we can agree to count a day and it will not be necessary to 
have a pro forma session, come in at 11 o'clock on Monday, and the 
cloture vote will occur at 12 o'clock.
  Now, if those who feel so strongly about this little sense-of-the-
Senate resolution want to deny us cloture, why, that is fine. We will 
explain to the 
[[Page S4980]] 3.1 million people in Minnesota and Kansas and Oregon 
and Massachusetts and California and Oklahoma, wherever, what is 
holding us up, why they are going to have to pay their lawyer, their 
accountant to file an amended return because some Senators wanted to 
have a little fun in the Senate and we were not interested in their 
welfare. We are not willing to take the word of our colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle about an amendment that already passed the Senate. 
As we learned since then, it should be corrected as pointed out by the 
Senator from Florida.
  Now, maybe the Senator from Massachusetts feels that he has a special 
right in the Senate where he can have everything he wants voted on 
before anything else. It does not work that way. The Senator from New 
York wanted to have a vote yesterday on his amendment. I did not see 
anybody letting him vote. We had a filibuster going on on the other 
side, from Members on the other side of the aisle who would not raise 
their voice when we were first talking about helping Mexico. We could 
not get one Member on this side to stand up and say they supported the 
President of the United States. But they would not let Senator D'Amato 
vote. No. That was a very important issue.
  We are supposed to hold up 3.1 million filers, about 9 million 
people, because the Senator from Massachusetts wants to vote on his 
little sense-of-the-Senate thing first. He does not have confidence, 
apparently, in those of us on the Finance Committee.
  That is his choice. That will be the choice of all those who support 
the Senator. So the moment of truth will come at noon on Monday when we 
have a cloture vote.
  If we cannot get cloture on Monday, I do not know when the conference 
report will pass.
  I wish to thank both Senators Packwood and Moynihan for their efforts 
to bring this to the floor and pass it to help millions of people in 
America. I guess maybe only a third will have to file amended returns. 
I do not know what it costs any more; probably $50, $100. You can add 
up the costs going to real people--the taxpayers.
  But, again, if that is what the Senator from Massachusetts wants, we 
will do the best we can. And the best thing I can think of is to do as 
I have just done: File a cloture motion and indicate there will be no 
more votes today, and indicate we will be in tomorrow, if necessary. 
But, in any event, there will be a cloture vote at noon on Monday.


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