[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.

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