[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 75 (Friday, May 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5645-S5647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUESTS--H.R. 3415, S. 295, AND H.R. 3448

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I begin by asking unanimous consent that the 
majority leader, after notification of the Democratic leader, may turn 
to the consideration of H.R. 3415 regarding the gas tax repeal, and 
that it be considered under the following time restraints, 1 hour on 
the bill to be equally divided in the usual form, no amendments or 
motions be in order, and following the conclusion of time, the bill be 
read for a third time, and final passage occur without further action 
or debate.
  I think, since we are entering the Memorial Day week, we could come 
together on an agreement on a number of unanimous-consent requests 
here, particularly this one. It would be very helpful to the American 
people if we could send this gas tax repeal to the President of the 
United States. He would be able to sign it right here at this critical 
moment as Americans are traveling all over our country. And, therefore, 
I make that unanimous-consent request at this time, Mr. President.
  I further ask immediately following the disposition of H.R. 3415 the 
Senate turn to consideration of S. 295 regarding labor-management--that 
is the TEAM Act, cooperation in the workplace--that no amendments or 
motions be in order, and there be 2 hours of debate to be equally 
divided in the usual form, and following the conclusion or yielding 
back of time, the Senate proceed to third reading, and final passage 
occur all without action or debate. Again, that is the so-called TEAM 
Act, and it be brought up with no amendments.
  I ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of S. 295, the 
Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3448 regarding the minimum 
wage, and it be considered under the following time restraints: 1 hour 
on the bill to be equally divided in the usual form, one amendment in 
order to be offered by the majority leader or his designee, one 
amendment in order to be offered by the Democratic leader or his 
designee; that the amendments be offered in the first degree and 
limited to 1 hour each, to be equally divided in the usual form, no 
motions be in order other than motions to table, and following the 
disposition of the amendments and the conclusion of time the bill be 
advanced to third reading, and final passage occur all without further 
action or debate.
  Therefore, I ask unanimous consent for all of those I listed.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the distinguished majority whip and I 
have had the opportunity to discuss these matters now on several 
occasions and I appreciate his candor and the opportunity we have had 
to discuss ways with which to bring these bills to the floor.
  I have indicated to him that on several of these bills my Democratic 
colleagues hope to offer amendments. It is not our desire to extend 
debate, to my knowledge, on any of these bills. Our hope, however, is 
that on the gas tax bill we have the opportunity to offer an amendment 
which would ensure that consumers benefit from this reduction in the 
gas tax. This unanimous-consent agreement would not allow for that. We 
have other amendments that we would like to be able to offer.
  Because of our desire to offer amendments and our difficulty in 
having that right under this unanimous-consent agreement, I have to 
object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could inquire of the Democratic leader, 
I know that the majority leader has indicated that he would be willing 
to work with the minority in developing the concept where the gas tax 
repeal would be subject to some amendments, including a technical 
amendment to be offered by the majority leader regarding previously 
purchased gas, an amendment to be offered by the Democratic leader or 
his designee, and then one to be offered by the majority leader or his 
designee. I know you have a

[[Page S5646]]

Senator that has been working on trying to come up with a way to 
guarantee the people actually get this gas tax repeal.
  I am willing, on behalf of the majority leader, to modify that 
unanimous-consent request to include those amendments on the gas tax, 
if that would be helpful.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I want to consult with a couple of my colleagues prior 
to the time we enter into that agreement at this time.
  The majority whip has provided us, I think, with an opportunity here 
to reach an agreement, at least on that particular bill. If it were in 
concert with the minimum wage bill to be taken to the floor at 
approximately the same time--that is, within the same day or the day 
following--I think we might have an agreement that those two bills 
could be put on the calendar and brought up as soon as we come back. I 
would be interested in working with my distinguished colleague to see 
if that might be accomplished.
  Mr. LOTT. If I could inquire of the Democratic leader, with regard to 
the gas tax, I know he would want to consult with others, the outline I 
offered, the technical amendment, and an amendment by either the 
Democratic leader or his designee or the majority leader or his 
designee with regard to the gas tax, that would probably be something?
  Mr. DASCHLE. We have a couple of different approaches that our 
colleagues have considered with regard to ensuring that the benefit 
actually be provided to the consumer. One involved an accounting 
mechanism, that I would allow that to happen. Another involved a 
straight tax credit. I would have to make some determination that my 
colleagues have an interest in offering both amendments. If that were 
the case, I would have to come back with an alternative which would 
allow the consideration of at least those two amendments. This 
unanimous-consent agreement only allows for one amendment. That is 
something we would have to work through.
  Certainly, the offer is--I take it in good faith. I think I would be 
in a position to respond in the not-too-distant future to that 
particular unanimous-consent agreement.
  Mr. LOTT. I think we could probably work out the addition or another 
amendment if that would help us reach an agreement.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I think it might.
  Mr. LOTT. I want to emphasize again, and I know the Democratic leader 
understands this, it would really be good if we could get an agreement 
on this and find some way to move it quickly for the benefit of all 
American people. We would have liked to do it now before Memorial Day 
or as soon as we can. We think that would be a very, very positive 
thing for the American people and for the economy.
  Now, on the TEAM Act, is there something more that the Senator from 
South Dakota would want on the TEAM Act? We do not include any 
amendments here, but we are anxious to have this issue considered. As 
the saying goes, ``Let's talk.'' We would like to see if we can talk 
about how we get this done and encourage talk between employers and 
employees. Do you have any alternative you would like to suggest with 
regard to the TEAM Act?
  Mr. DASCHLE. As I say, I think there are a number of amendments, or 
perhaps just one substitute amendment that we would like to offer. We 
have not had the opportunity to come to closure on that. I do think 
that also could be agreed upon in the not-too-distant future, perhaps 
as early as the week we get back. That is the timeframe for the number 
of amendments we would want to offer. I suspect that one, perhaps a 
couple of amendments, would be all we have a need to offer, but we 
would certainly want to be able to amend the bill as it is currently 
presented.
  Mr. LOTT. The Democratic leader will give us a response on that.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I sure will.
  Mr. LOTT. We will ask for a modification with regard to the minimum 
wage that would go something like this, if I could go over it. We will 
give this to the minority leader at the conclusion of our exchange 
here. We could also probably get approval from the majority leader. We 
ask consent for the following disposition of S. 295: That the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3448, which is the House-passed 
bill regarding the minimum wage, and it be considered under the 
following restraints. One hour on the bill to be equally divided in the 
usual form; one amendment in order to be offered by the majority leader 
or his designee; one amendment in order to be offered by the Democratic 
leader or his designee. That the amendments be offered in the first-
degree, and 1 hour each to be equally divided in the usual form; no 
motions in order other than a motion to table, and following 
disposition of amendments and closing of time, the bill be advanced to 
third reading, and final passage occur without further debate 
occurring.
  Again, I am trying to see if we cannot find a way to make all three 
of these very important issues be considered by the Senate. We could 
get the gas tax up, in a way that three or perhaps four amendments 
could be offered. The TEAM Act, if the Senator from South Dakota has a 
suggestion of an amendment on that, perhaps we could work it out, and 
we also offer this additional proposal with regard to minimum wage.
  I think if this package is going to come up, actually, the majority 
members would like to have an opportunity to offer an amendment, 
perhaps, in that area. Before we got a complete agreement here, I want 
to make sure the majority leader is totally satisfied with the response 
that we get here, and also that our people are comfortable with that 
arrangement. Would that help with regard to the minimum wage?
  Mr. DASCHLE. The distinguished Senator from Mississippi has given us 
an opportunity here, I think, to move the minimum wage bill. As he is 
fully aware, this minimum wage package includes quite an elaborate 
array of tax provisions for small business.
  A number of our colleagues, as I understand it, on both sides of the 
aisle have expressed some interest in taking a closer look at those 
provisions, with an expectation that they may want to modify them or 
add to them. It is largely a concern for that aspect of the legislation 
that would cause me to be somewhat concerned about whether one 
amendment would allow an adequate opportunity for our colleagues to 
address the tax provisions.
  So we will have to consult with our colleagues, and I am sure the 
majority whip may find the same need, as he just has indicated, to 
consult not only with regard to the minimum wage provisions, but the 
tax provisions as well. We are getting closer. Clearly, this is 
encouraging. I hope that in the not-too-distant future, we can come to 
some resolution. This is another step in the right direction. I 
appreciate the offer made by the whip, and we will respond as soon as 
possible.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again, with regard to the minimum wage, of 
course, we do have an interest in the tax provisions passed in the 
House. I know members of the Finance Committee want to take a look at 
it. Hopefully, within the next 10 days they can do that.
  The idea is, surely, to try to help the small businesses that could 
be impacted in such a way that their profit margin could evaporate, or 
they could wind up laying people off. We do not want that. We are 
worried about the human impact, people at the entry level in small 
businesses that could wind up losing their job, or not getting that 
first job. We hope these tax provisions help soften that blow. We would 
like to make sure that that, in fact, is what happens. As the minority 
leader suggests, we may want to consider adding some more or taking 
some out on both sides of the aisle.
  Mr. President, again, we have some important work to do in the 
remaining three legislative months of this year. We are very anxious, 
now that we passed a budget resolution yesterday, to get that 
conference completed and move on to the reconciliation bill, so that we 
can have Medicaid and welfare reform and other spending savings, so 
that we can give some tax relief to the American people.
  In order to get all that done, including defense authorization, I 
know we need to clear up these issues. I know the minority would be 
inclined to offer amendments that would wind up bogging down other 
bills, and if we can find a way to break the legislative

[[Page S5647]]

gridlock, in a cooperative way, and get the job done in the best 
interests of the American people, I think the American people would see 
that very positively. I want to see if we can find a way to make that 
happen.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me express enthusiastically my desire 
to work with the whip to make that happen. I only lend one small piece 
of advice if he is desirous of making that happen sooner rather than 
later. We could simply take the defend America bill off of the calendar 
for now--put it back on the calendar, I should say--or, obviously, we 
are back into a cloture vote at 2:15 on Tuesday. We can avoid that 
cloture vote and go right to these bills and debate them. I do not 
think there is any desire on our part to unnecessarily extend the 
debate. We do have some amendments, as I have indicated. I think we can 
resolve these matters one by one and have a very productive week when 
we get back. That might be time much better spent than to have 
additional cloture votes on the so-called Defend America Act. That is, 
obviously, a matter that my colleagues on the other side, the 
leadership, are going to have to decide. That would be a way with which 
to break the logjam and keep the process moving along. I look forward 
to working with the distinguished whip and the majority leader to see 
if we can resolve the matters in the not-too-distant future.

  Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Hutchison). The distinguished majority 
leader is recognized.

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