Congressional Record, Volume 142 Issue 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)

[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6826-S6828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would like to join now with the Democratic
leader in getting a very large unanimous-consent agreement. A lot of
effort has gone into the preparation of this unanimous-consent
agreement. It is based on a lot of give and take in negotiations and
trust and good faith. I will continue to try to proceed in that way.
I want to thank Senator Daschle for his cooperation, and I hope we
can continue to work in this way. I would like to proceed now with the
request, and we can discuss it further as we go along, or after we get
the agreement entered into.
I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, July 8, at a time to be
determined by the majority leader, after notification of the Democratic
leader, the Senate turn to the consideration of H.R. 3448, the minimum
wage bill, and it be considered under the following restraints:
That immediately following the clerk reporting the bill by title, the
committee amendment be agreed to and considered original text for the
purpose of further amendments, and the Senate then deal with amendments
to title I, the small business tax title; that there be one first-
degree amendment relevant to the small business tax title for each
leader, with no other amendments or motions to refer in order to the
bill, other than the minimum wage amendments listed below, except for
any manager's amendment

[[Page S6827]]

which can be cleared by the two managers and the two leaders, and that
no points of order be considered as having been waived by this
agreement.
I further ask unanimous consent that upon the disposition of the
small business tax amendments, Senator Kennedy be recognized to offer
an amendment making modifications with respect to minimum wage and time
on the Kennedy amendment be limited to 1 hour, to be equally divided in
the usual form; that no amendments, points of order, or motions be in
order during the pendency of the Kennedy amendment, and following the
conclusion or yielding back of the time, the amendment be laid aside.

I further ask that following the debate on the Kennedy amendment,
Senator Lott or his designee be recognized to offer an amendment
relative to minimum wage, and it be considered under the same
restraints as outlined for the Kennedy amendment, and following the
conclusion or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to a vote on
the Lott amendment, to be followed immediately, regardless of the
outcome of the Lott amendment, by a vote on the Kennedy amendment.
I further ask that time for debate on the bill be limited to 1 hour
to be equally divided in the usual form, and further, that following
the disposition of the Kennedy amendment, no further minimum wage
amendments be in order to the bill. I will ask at a later time that the
minimum wage amendments be printed in the Record.
Further, I ask that all remaining first-degree amendments be
submitted to each leader in the form of a summary by 12:30 p.m. on
Wednesday, June 26, provided that either leader may void this agreement
after consultation prior to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, 1996.
I emphasize here that this is so that everybody will be on notice as
to what the content is. It is our intention that we would go forward
and that it would not be void at that point. But we felt that extra
protection was called for.
I further ask that following the disposition of the above listed
amendments the bill be advanced to third reading and final passage
occur, all without further action or debate.
I further ask unanimous consent that the Senate may turn to the
consideration of H.R. 3415 regarding the gas tax repeal, at a time to
be determined by the two leaders and if the bill has not been reported
by the Finance Committee it be automatically discharged and the Senate
proceed to its immediate consideration and it be considered under the
following time agreement:
That there be 1 hour of debate on the bill to be equally divided in
the usual form, that the bill be open to four first-degree amendments
to be offered by Senator Lott, or his designee, relevant to the gas tax
bill, and subject to relevant second-degree amendments and four first-
degree amendments to be offered by Senator Daschle, or his designee
under the same terms as outlined for Senator Lott, with no motion to
refer in order and no points of order to be considered as having been
waived by this agreement, and following the disposition of the above-
listed amendments and the conclusion or yielding back of time the bill
be advanced to third reading, and final passage occur, all without
further action or debate.
Finally, I ask unanimous consent that immediately following the
passage of H.R. 3448 the Senate proceed to calendar No. 389, S. 295,
the TEAM Act, under the following restraints:
Two amendments in order to be offered by the Democratic leader, or
his designee, and two amendments in order to be offered by the majority
leader, or his designee, and that all first-degree amendments in order
to S. 295 be relevant and submitted to the two leaders in the form of a
summary under the same terms as described for H.R. 3448 with the same
veto authority expiring at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6, 1996, and that
time for debate on the bill be limited to 1 hour in the usual form,
with time on each amendment limited to 1 hour equally divided, and that
no other amendments or motions to refer be in order and no points of
order be considered waived by this agreement.
I further ask that following the disposition of the above-listed
amendments the bill be advanced to third reading and the Labor
Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 743, and the
Senate proceed to immediate consideration, that all after the enacting
clause be stricken, the text of S. 295, as amended, if amended, be
inserted, the bill be advanced to third reading and final passage
occur, all without further action or debate.
And, finally, I ask unanimous consent that no call for the regular
order serve to displace H.R. 3448, H.R. 3415, S. 295, or H.R. 743
during their pendency.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. KENNEDY addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. KENNEDY. Reserving the right to object, I shall not object. I
wonder if I might be afforded a few moments to comment after we get the
agreement.
Mr. LOTT. I believe the Senator wanted 10 minutes. I ask unanimous
consent that Senator Kennedy be able to proceed for not more than 10
minutes after this agreement has been entered into.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I do not
care to object at this moment. On last Thursday I attempted to lay
down, but I did not actually send to the desk, an amendment to the
defense authorization bill relative to closing of a loophole that we
created in the GATT treaty that relates to two or three drug companies
that are making enormous windfall profits as a result of our mistake.

Mr. President, I got in a little bit late on the distinguished
majority leader's request. I am wondering if anywhere in the unanimous
consent request if my thrust of offering this amendment is going to be
impaired in any way, or will there be an opportunity?
Mr. LOTT. If I might respond, Mr. President, there is nothing in this
agreement that in any way affects that, or stops it being offered. I
know the Senator has indicated the desire to do that at any and every
opportunity. This in no way impairs that right.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I was trying to protect my rights and
protect the opportunity to offer this amendment at the appropriate time
either on the DOD or some other subsequent piece of legislation.
Mr. President, I will not object. I thank the Chair for recognizing
me.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the request? Without
objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could be recognized--I know the
distinguished Democratic leader would like to be recognized--to
summarize.
This means we will take up the minimum wage, small business tax
package, and amendments to that on Monday July 8, and I am sure it will
go over until Tuesday, July 9. That will be followed by the TEAM Act
which involves employee-employer relationships in the workplace. That
will be taken to final passage.
And then at a time and in a way that we will work on further, the gas
tax repeal bill will also be brought up at a later date.
I am sure there are a lot of Senators that are not totally happy with
this on both sides of the aisle. But I think this is what needs to be
done to move these issues through the process, allow the Senate to
offer amendments, and have debate and have votes. And then we will see
what the result is, and we will go on from there.
But we do have very serious work that we need to do for our country,
and we are still working on hopefully an agreement on health care
reform. We are hoping that we can--well, we intend to complete the
defense authorization bill this week. We have a number of other bills
that we need to consider for the good of the country--nominations that
are pending. And I think this helps get us moving again.
Again, I want to thank all Senators on this side of the aisle for
their cooperation, and also Senator Daschle for his cooperation. A lot
of work has gone into this. I do not think it serves any purpose to say
that this was given or that was taken. I think it is a fair enough deal
for all concerned. I am glad we were able to achieve this agreement.
I yield the floor, Mr. President.
Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me associate myself with the remarks
of the distinguished majority leader. A

[[Page S6828]]

lot of work has gone into the negotiations on this compromise proposal
now for the last several weeks. I appreciate his willingness to work
with us to achieve this agreement today. We will have an up-or-down
vote as we have requested on minimum wage on July 9. I appreciate very
much his willingness to work with us to achieve that.

This effort would not have been successful were it not for the
distinguished ranking member of the Labor Committee. He has been
stalwart in the effort to find a way to ensure that we have this
opportunity. I applaud and thank Senator Kennedy for his contribution
to these negotiations and his arduous work in making sure that we have
been successful this afternoon.
As the distinguished majority leader said, this allows us to move the
process forward. We will have a series of votes and an opportunity to
vote on relevant amendments. That was key during these negotiations--
relevant amendments during the consideration of these bills. Once that
has been achieved we will go to conference.
I am very hopeful, very desirous, and fully confident that we can
resolve these matters with the House in conference sometime during the
month of July--sooner rather than later. It is my expectation they will
be resolved successfully in a form that will allow us to bring back a
conference report that is acceptable to the Democrats and that the
President can sign. I will work with the majority leader to ensure that
that happens. My colleagues have my commitment that I will make every
effort to see that that happens in the next several weeks.
As the distinguished majority leader also mentioned, the health bill
is not part of this package. It was our hope that we could resolve the
differences with regard to health as well. But we will work on that
next.
It is not our desire to offer the health bill as an amendment today
to the defense bill. I hope that at some point in the next 24 hours,
the majority leader and Senator Kennedy and I can sit down to work on
that, as we worked on minimum wage, to see if we can find a way to
resolve the impasse and leave with the week intact and with the
confidence of knowing we can resolve health, as now we have been able
to resolve the matter of the minimum wage, in an acceptable manner
procedurally at least.
So, again, I thank very much all of those who were involved in this
negotiation. I am hopeful that we can now look with some promise, some
confidence to this issue being resolved in a successful way in the very
near future.
I yield the floor.
Mr. KENNEDY addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

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