[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5157-S5158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET
The Senate continued with the consideration of the concurrent
resolution.
Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I think we should alert all--and I believe
the managers of the bill would agree--that we, most likely, will start
voting in about 5 minutes, is that right?
Mr. DOMENICI. Yes. Would the Senator mind if the first vote is 15
minutes, to be immediately followed by a 10-minute vote?
Mr. EXON. No. Let the Record show as the Senator from New Mexico
indicated. We are going to start voting in about 5 minutes. The first
vote will be a 15-minute vote, immediately following, without any
intervention, by a vote on the amendment offered by the Senator from
Missouri, and that will be a 10-minute vote.
Mr. President, let me wind up briefly within the time I have left. I
just find it a little bit odd that the Senator from New Mexico and the
Senator from Missouri continue to complain that the discretionary
numbers in the President's budget are too low. This has been mentioned
by other Senators in debate, and I had this written down because I
wanted to comment on it in closing.
Mr. President, if the President's appropriated savings are steep,
then the Republican appropriations savings are positively cataclysmic.
That is the point. Over the 6 years of the budget, the Republican
budget cuts $65 billion more from appropriations than does the
President. And in the final year of the budget, 2002, the Republicans
cut $13 billion more in appropriated spending in that 1 year than does
the President.
The Senator from Missouri knows that the Appropriations Committee
will distribute those cuts--not this resolution. Indeed, neither the
Republican budget, nor a Republican budget of any kind, contains
program-by-program detail for appropriated accounts. The fairest
comparison of appropriations in the outyears, therefore, is to compare
totals of spending levels.
If I need additional time to close, I take it off of the time I have
on the amendment.
In sum and in closing, the Republicans want to cut projected spending
on the very poorest in the Nation. We want to plug some corporate
loopholes that have been alluded to here and some specifics, and there
are many more. We agree. We want to honor our veterans. That is the
reason for this Democratic amendment. The real question is whether we
want to protect the disabled kids or the corporations who are moving
jobs overseas.
Mr. President, I yield any remaining time that I have. I believe the
Chair will confirm that we have previously
[[Page S5158]]
agreed to the yeas and nays on the Exon amendment.
I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. Have the yeas and nays been approved for the Bond
amendment?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
Mr. DOMENICI. Before we vote, let me ask Senator Exon a question.
According to our understanding, your side has the next amendment
after we vote on these two.
Mr. EXON. That is correct.
Mr. DOMENICI. Can we see that amendment during the vote?
Mr. EXON. We will provide that amendment to you during the vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on
agreeing to the amendment of the Senator from Nebraska. On this
question, the yeas and nays have been ordered, and the clerk will call
the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. LOTT. I announce that the Senator from Kansas [Mr. Dole] is
necessarily absent.
Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] is
necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
who desire to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 45, nays 53, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 115 Leg.]
YEAS--45
Akaka
Baucus
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Bradley
Breaux
Bryan
Bumpers
Byrd
Conrad
Daschle
Dodd
Dorgan
Exon
Feingold
Feinstein
Ford
Glenn
Graham
Harkin
Heflin
Hollings
Inouye
Johnston
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Mikulski
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murray
Nunn
Reid
Robb
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Simon
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--53
Abraham
Ashcroft
Bennett
Bond
Brown
Burns
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Cohen
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
DeWine
Domenici
Faircloth
Frist
Gorton
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Gregg
Hatch
Hatfield
Helms
Hutchison
Inhofe
Jeffords
Kassebaum
Kempthorne
Kyl
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Pell
Pressler
Roth
Santorum
Shelby
Simpson
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Warner
NOT VOTING--2
Dole
Pryor
The amendment (No. 3973) was rejected.
Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. HATCH. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Vote On Amendment No. 3971
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will now proceed under the previous
order to vote on the Bond amendment, No. 3971.
The yeas and nays have been ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. LOTT. I announce that the Senator from Kansas [Mr. Dole] is
necessarily absent.
Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] is
necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
who desire to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 75, nays 23, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 116 Leg.]
YEAS--75
Abraham
Ashcroft
Baucus
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Brown
Bryan
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Cohen
Conrad
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
DeWine
Domenici
Dorgan
Exon
Faircloth
Feingold
Feinstein
Frist
Gorton
Graham
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Gregg
Harkin
Hatch
Hatfield
Heflin
Helms
Hutchison
Inhofe
Jeffords
Johnston
Kassebaum
Kempthorne
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Leahy
Levin
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Nunn
Pressler
Reid
Robb
Rockefeller
Roth
Santorum
Shelby
Simpson
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Warner
NAYS--23
Akaka
Boxer
Bradley
Breaux
Bumpers
Daschle
Dodd
Ford
Glenn
Hollings
Inouye
Kennedy
Lautenberg
Lieberman
Mikulski
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murray
Pell
Sarbanes
Simon
Wellstone
Wyden
NOT VOTING--2
Dole
Pryor
The amendment (No. 3971) was agreed to.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which
the amendment was agreed to.
Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
amendment no. 3973
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the Senate just voted on an amendment by
the Senator from Nebraska to increase veterans health care funding by
changes in the Tax Code. Purportedly the revenue would be derived from
closing corporate tax loopholes, although there is no guarantee that's
where the money would come from. Proponents of the amendment have
characterized the amendment as cutting corporate welfare.
First, I want to say that I support additional funding for veterans
health care. In fact, I voted for the Bond amendment to increase health
care spending by $13 billion.
Senator Exon's amendment also recommends a $13 billion increase.
However, I want to address the issue of how the Senator from Nebraska
intends to pay for the increase.
As my colleagues are aware I have been outspoken and active in the
effort to cut inappropriate corporate subsidies. In fact, last year I
offered an amendment to the reconciliation bill to cut over $50 billion
in corporate pork spending. Unfortunately, that amendment was defeated.
I might note that the effort did not enjoy the support of the Senator
from Nebraska.
In addition, I have authored bipartisan legislation to review and
eliminate corporate subsidies, including tax loopholes.
The Senator from Nebraska says the increase in veterans health care
would be paid for by filling corporate tax loopholes. That sounds good,
Mr. President, but the way that the amendment is written, that result
is not guaranteed.
Moreover, even if we could be sure that loopholes were closed, I
believe we owe it to the American people to dedicate the revenues
derived from such reforms to reduce the tax burden on American families
across the board.
Simply stated we can and should pay for necessary increases in
veterans health care by offsets in other Federal spending, not by
increasing the overall Federal tax burden.
I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I understand now the minority may have
found another way to offer the President's budget and they intend to do
that; is that correct?
Mr. NICKLES. 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.
Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________