[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5519-S5520]
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.


                     Amendment No. 4012, As Amended

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now occurs on agreeing to 
Amendment No. 4012, as amended.
  The amendment (No. 4012), as amended, was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I think we have an understanding that 
Senator Roth will proceed with his amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Delaware is recognized.
  Mr. EXON. Before Senator Roth starts, I ask the chairman of the 
committee, we have how many amendments left that we are going to vote 
on? As I understand it, we have Byrd that requires a vote, Roth that 
requires a vote, and McCain, and final passage.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Correct. That is what I understand.
  Mr. EXON. What we have agreed to earlier, we are trying to get out of 
here for at least one-half hour, between 4 to 4:30. It seems to me that 
we could probably have final passage by no later than 5:15.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I think that is probably correct, I say to the Senator.
  Mr. EXON. Is that the assumption under which we are working, then? We 
have one more vote at least, and then go to a half-hour recess?
  Mr. DOMENICI. Are we going to have a half-hour recess?
  Mr. EXON. That is what I agreed to with both the majority leader and 
the minority leader.
  Mr. DOMENICI. All right. If our leader agreed it to, I am all for it. 
I asked the Senator to ask him. That is fine. We are going to vote on 
Roth, and then recess for 30 minutes. All right.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware is recognized.


                           Amendment No. 4025

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, the Roth resolution simply states that 
Congress would give Amtrak a secure and reliable source of funding for 
capital expenditures. The rail trust fund would be funded by 
transferring revenues from the 0.5-cent excise tax that is currently 
going into the mass transit account to a newly created rail trust fund.
  While Amtrak would have $2.8 billion for capital expenditure over 5 
years, the existing $5.4 billion surplus in the mass transit account--
the mass transit would continue to have billions of dollars in excess 
of its anticipated appropriations.
  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Senator Grassley wants to speak in opposition. I yield 
to Senator Grassley 30 seconds.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. This budget resolution, all 50 hours of debate and all 
the many hundreds of pages, is about balancing the budget, which is 
long overdue and it is something that we should do. The Roth amendment, 
the next amendment, establishes a whole new entitlement, something we 
should not do.
  OMB expresses concern that this new funding source for Amtrak is 
wrong and it takes money from your local mass transit for Amtrak, 
something we should not do. So why threaten the solvency of our mass 
transit accounts? Balance the budget. No more entitlements.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the amendment 
offered by the Senator from Delaware.
  As my colleagues will recall, I offered a similar amendment last year 
on the budget resolution. Unfortunately, we lost by one vote. I have 
been pressing the concept of a dedicated revenue source for Amtrak for 
quite some time now and I welcome the opportunity to voice this support 
again.
  Mr. President, the resolution before us is a sense of the Senate 
resolution that Congress should provide Amtrak with the revenue from 
one-half penny of the Federal gas tax that is now directed to mass 
transit.
  This revenue will provide Amtrak with a steady, dedicated revenue 
source. This is very important if Amtrak is to be able to make long-
term planning decisions that will enable it to become financially 
viable in the future.
  Amtrak is a key component of this Nation's transportation system. In 
my home State of Montana, many residents rely on Amtrak's service to 
travel to and from the State. Amtrak means jobs. It means increased 
tourism. And it means increased access and mobility for Montanans.
  And for any of you who have ever traveled on the Empire Builder 
through the northern tier of my State, you know the tremendous beauty 
along the Montana hi-line.
  Some will argue that redirecting the one-half penny from mass transit 
to Amtrak will adversely affect mass transit programs. That is simply 
not true. There is an over $5.4 billion cash surplus in excess of 
obligations in the mass transit account. That is more than enough to 
fund mass transit programs for the foreseeable future.
  Mr. President, rural transportation programs seem to be constantly 
under attack. Rural areas are struggling. We continue to see a decline 
in rural transportation options--funding for rural air service, rural 
transit and highway programs is declining. This amendment is one small 
step forward in turning back this trend.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on agreeing to amendment 
No. 4025.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Might I correct my statement? I understand that all we 
have agreed to--we do not have to go in recess. The next vote will 
occur at 4:30.
  Mr. EXON. After the Roth vote.
  Mr. DOMENICI. The next vote after this one will occur at 4:30. I ask 
unanimous consent for that.

[[Page S5520]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  The question now occurs on agreeing to amendment No. 4025.
  Mr. ROTH. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The question occurs on agreeing to amendment No. 4025. The yeas and 
nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 57, nays 43, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 154 Leg.]

                                YEAS--57

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Bradley
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Chafee
     Cohen
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Exon
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnston
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nickles
     Pell
     Pressler
     Pryor
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Sarbanes
     Simon
     Snowe
     Specter
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--43

     Abraham
     Ashcroft
     Bond
     Brown
     Campbell
     Coats
     Cochran
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     Dole
     Domenici
     Faircloth
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatfield
     Heflin
     Helms
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kassebaum
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Nunn
     Santorum
     Shelby
     Simpson
     Smith
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 4025) was agreed to.
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed 
to speak for 12 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.
  Mr. GRAMS. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Grams pertaining to the introduction of S. 1805 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. GRAMS. Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I would like to be able to proceed for 4 minutes as if 
in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gregg). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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