[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6290-S6299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BALANCED BUDGET ACT OF 1997

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Enzi). The Senate will now resume 
consideration of S. 947, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 947) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to 
     section 104(a) of the concurrent resolution on the budget for 
     the fiscal year 1998.

  The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill.
  Pending:

       Harkin amendment No. 428, to reduce health care fraud, 
     waste, and abuse
       Gramm amendment No. 444, to provide waiver authority for 
     penalties relating to failure to satisfy minimum 
     participation rate.
       Reed amendment No. 445, in the nature of a substitute.
       Hutchison amendment No. 447, to modify the reductions for 
     disproportionate share hospital payments.
       Chafee/Rockefeller/Jeffords amendment No. 448, to clarify 
     the standard benefits package and the cost-sharing 
     requirements for the children's health initiative.
       Durbin/Wellstone amendment No. 450, to provide food stamp 
     benefits to child immigrants.
       D'Amato/Harkin amendment No. 451, to improve health care 
     quality and reduce health care costs by establishing a 
     National Fund for Health Research.
       Domenici (for Murkowski) amendment No. 455, to confirm 
     Title IV, Energy Title, to the provisions of the bill, with 
     respect to the use of underutilized Strategic Petroleum 
     Reserve facilities.
       Domenici (for Abraham/Levin) amendment No. 456, to extend 
     the moratorium regarding HealthSource Saginaw until December 
     31, 2002.
       Domenici (for Helms) amendment No. 458, to provide for 
     inclusion of Stanly County, North Carolina in a large urban 
     area under the Medicare program.
       Domenici (for Helms) amendment No. 459, to provide for 
     inclusion of Stanly County, North Carolina in a large urban 
     area under the Medicare program.
       Domenici (for McCain/Wyden) amendment No. 460, to provide 
     for the continuation of certain State-wide medicaid waivers.
       Domenici (for McCain) amendment No. 461, to provide for the 
     treatment of certain Amerasian immigrants as refugees.
       Domenici (for Jeffords) amendment No. 462, to require the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide medicare 
     beneficiaries with notice of the medicare cost-sharing 
     assistance available under the medicaid program for specified 
     low-income medicare beneficiaries.
       Domenici (for Jeffords) amendment No. 463, to provide for 
     the evaluation and quality assurance of the children's health 
     insurance initiative.
       Domenici (for Brownback) amendment No. 464, to establish 
     procedures to ensure a balanced Federal budget by fiscal year 
     2002.
       Domenici (for Allard) amendment No. 465, to expand medical 
     savings accounts to families with uninsured children.
       Domenici (for Chafee) amendment No. 466, to extend the 
     authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to collect 
     fees through September 30, 2002.
       Domenici (for Grassley) amendment No. 467, to preserve 
     religious choice in long-term care.
       Domenici (for Kyl) amendment No. 468, to allow medicare 
     beneficiaries to enter into private contracts for services.
       Domenici (for Specter) amendment No. 469, to extend premium 
     protection for low-income medicare beneficiaries under the 
     medicaid program.
       Domenici (for Specter) amendment No. 470, to strike the 
     limitations on DSH payments to institutions for mental 
     diseases under the medicaid program.
       Domenici (for Specter) amendment No. 471, to strike 
     the limitations on Indirect Graduate Medical Education 
     payments to teaching hospitals.
       Domenici (for Burns) amendment No. 472, to provide that 
     information contained in the National Directory of New Hires 
     be deleted after 6 months.
       Domenici (for Hutchinson) amendment No. 473, to clarify the 
     number of individuals that may be treated as engaged in work 
     for purposes of the mandatory work requirement for TANF block 
     grants.
       Domenici (for McCain) amendment No. 474, to provide for the 
     extension and expansion of spectrum auction authority and to 
     provide for the flexible use of electromagnetic spectrum.
       Lautenberg amendment No. 475, to ensure that certain legal 
     immigrants who become disabled are eligible for disability 
     benefits.
       Lautenberg (for Kerrey) amendment No. 476, to enhance 
     taxpayer value in auctions conducted by the Federal 
     Communications Commission.
       Lautenberg (for Durbin) amendment No. 477, to provide food 
     stamp benefits to child immigrants.
       Lautenberg (for Rockefeller) amendment No. 478, to require 
     balance billing protections for individuals enrolled in fee-
     for-service plans under the Medicare Choice program under 
     part C of title XVIII of the Social Security Act.
       Lautenberg (for Dodd) amendment No. 479, to provide for 
     medicaid eligibility of disabled children who lose SSI 
     benefits.
       Lautenberg (for Murray) amendment No. 480, to clarify the 
     family violence option under the temporary assistance to 
     needy families program.
       Lautenberg (for Dodd) amendment No. 481, to amend the 
     provision with regard to transfer cases.
       Lautenberg (for Levin) amendment No. 482, to allow 
     vocational educational training to be counted as a work 
     activity under the temporary assistance for needy families 
     program for 24 months.
       Lautenberg (for Wyden) amendment No. 483, to provide for 
     the continuation of certain State-wide medicaid waivers.
       Lautenberg (for Harkin) amendment No. 484, to make 
     community action agencies, community development corporations 
     and other non-profit organization eligible for welfare-to-
     work grants.
       Lautenberg (for Feinstein) amendment No. 485, to provide 
     that the hospital length of stay with respect to an 
     individual shall be determined by the attending physician.
       Lautenberg (for Feinstein) amendment No. 486, to provide 
     additional funding for State emergency health services 
     furnished to undocumented aliens.
       Lautenberg (for Feinstein) amendment No. 487, to provide 
     for the application of disproportionate share hospital-
     specific payment adjustments with respect to California.
       Lautenberg (for Wellstone) amendment No. 488, to provide 
     for actuarially sufficient reimbursement rates for providers.
       Lautenberg (for Mikulski) amendment No. 489, to reinstate 
     the requirements for provider payment rates.
       Lautenberg (for Kennedy) amendment No. 490, to improve the 
     provisions relating to the Higher Education Act of 1965.
       Lautenberg (for Baucus) amendment No. 491, to prohibit 
     cost-sharing for children in families with incomes that are 
     less than 150 percent of the poverty line.
       Lautenberg (for Kennedy) amendment No. 492, to ensure the 
     provision of appropriate benefits for uninsured children with 
     special needs.
       Lautenberg (for Kennedy) amendment No. 493, to exempt 
     severely disabled aliens from the ban on receipt of 
     supplemental security income.
       Lautenberg (for Conrad) amendment No. 494, to provide for 
     medicaid eligibility of disabled children who lose SSI 
     benefits.
       Lautenberg (for Conrad) amendment No. 495, to establish a 
     process to permit a nurse aide petition to have his or her 
     name removed from the nurse aide registry under certain 
     circumstances.
       Lautenberg (for Kerrey) amendment No. 496, to strike the 
     limitation on the coverage of abortions.
       Lautenberg (for Kohl) amendment No. 497, to clarify that 
     risk solvency standards established for managed care entities 
     under the medicaid program shall not preempt any State 
     standards that are more stringent.
       Lautenberg (for Harkin) amendment No. 498, to allow funds 
     provided under the welfare-to-work grant program to be used 
     for the microloan demonstration program under the Small 
     Business Act.
       Domenici amendment No. 499, to provide SSI eligibility for 
     disabled legal aliens.
       Domenici (for Chafee/Rockefeller) amendment No. 500, to 
     require that any benefits package offered under the block 
     grant option for the children's health initiative includes 
     hearing and vision services.
       Domenici (for Chafee/Rockefeller) amendment No. 501, to 
     require that nay benefits package offered under the block 
     grant option for the children's health initiative includes 
     hearing and vision services.
       Roth (for D'Amato) amendment No. 502, to establish a 
     Medicare anti-duplication provision.
       Lautenberg (for Rockefeller) modified amendment No. 503, to 
     extend premium protection for low-income medicare 
     beneficiaries under the medicaid program.
       Lautenberg (for Kennedy) amendment No. 504, to immediately 
     transfer to part B certain home health benefits.
       Roth (for Lott) amendment No. 505 (to amendment No. 448), 
     to improve the children's health initiative.
       Roth amendment No. 506, to make technical corrections and 
     revisions.
       Roth (for Lott) amendment No. 507 (to amendment No. 501), 
     in the nature of a substitute.

[[Page S6291]]

       Roth (for Lott) amendment No. 508 (to amendment No. 500), 
     in the nature of a substitute.
       Roth (for Lott) amendment No. 509 (to amendment No. 492), 
     in the nature of a substitute.
       Lautenberg (for Rockefeller) amendment No. 510, to require 
     that any benefits package offered under the block grant 
     option for the children's health initiative includes hearing 
     and vision services.
       Roth amendment No. 511, to provide a substitute for the 
     children's health insurance initiatives.
       Chafee amendment No. 512 (to amendment No. 511), to clarify 
     the standard benefits package and the cost-sharing 
     requirement for the children's health initiative.
       Roth (for Lott) amendment No. 513 (to amendment No. 510), 
     in the nature of a substitute.
       Roth (for DeWine) amendment No. 427, to continue full-time-
     equivalent resident reimbursement for an additional one year 
     under medicare for direct graduate medical education for 
     residents enrolled in combined approved primary care medical 
     residency training programs.
       Motion to waive a point of order that Section 5822 of the 
     bill violates section 313(b)(1)(A) of the Congressional 
     Budget Act.
       Motion to waive section 310(d) of the Congressional Budget 
     Act with respect to consideration of Reed amendment No. 445, 
     listed above.
       Motion to waive section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional 
     Budget Act with respect to consideration of D'Amato amendment 
     No. 451, listed above.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be a series of votes on or in 
relation to the amendments not yet disposed of, in the order they were 
offered but alternating between parties.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum until 
the floor leader arrives.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
 Mr. STEVENS. 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. STEVENS. What is the pending business, Mr. President?


                           Amendment No. 428

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the Harkin 
amendment No. 428.
  The amendment (No. 428) was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which 
the amendment was agreed to, and I move to lay that motion on the 
table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 444

  Mr. STEVENS. Now what is the pending business, Mr. President?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Gramm amendment No. 444.
  Mr. STEVENS. It is my understanding there is 1 minute on each side 
before it is voted upon.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct, 2 minutes equally divided.
  Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  Mr. GRAMM. We don't need the yeas and nays.
  Mr. STEVENS. I withdraw that.
  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I will be brief. I don't think this 
amendment is controversial anymore. We had a technical drafting error 
in the welfare bill last year where, after the conference had 
concluded, the staff added words that, in essence, made the work 
requirement discretionary with the Secretary. We were going to correct 
it in the welfare bill. However, Senator Bob Graham raised some 
legitimate concerns about giving flexibility for regional recessions 
and for natural disasters. We have corrected that in this technical 
amendment. I submit it to my colleagues, and I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. One minute in opposition?
  Mr. GRAMM. There is no opposition that we know of.
  Mr. STEVENS. 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. STEVENS. 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. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am authorized to yield back the 
remainder of the time on the other side and ask for adoption on the 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment 
No. 444.
  The amendment (No. 444) was agreed to.
  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the 
amendment was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 445

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the Reed amendment No. 445. 
There is a motion to waive the Budget Act, and there is a request for 
the yeas and nays. There will be 1 minute for debate to a side.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, Senator Dominici raised a budget point of 
order that the Reed amendment violated the Budget Act. This Reed 
substitute proposes to strike the Medicare age increase, means testing, 
copayment and adds balanced billing provisions and eliminates the 
medical savings accounts. The vote will occur on that point of order, 
is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On the motion to waive, that is correct.
  Mr. STEVENS. Is there 1 minute on the other side?
  Mr. KERREY. 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. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator has 1 minute.
  Mr. REED. Thank you, Mr. President. My amendment is simply the 
Finance Committee amendment with the correction of several factors: 
removal of the Medicare eligibility age, striking the home health care 
copayment, adds provisions for balanced billing, eliminates the means-
testing provisions and also eliminates the medical savings accounts. 
This is a vote for solvency of the system, restoring those cuts 
necessary to maintain the system is solvent but rejecting those 
issues----
  Mr. DOMENICI. May we have order in the Senate?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Can we please have conversations cease so the 
Senator can be heard?
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask his 1 minute start over again. 
Nobody could hear because there wasn't order.
  Mr. REED. I thank the Senator for his graciousness. Mr. President, my 
amendment would take the Finance Committee bill with its cuts to 
Medicare of about $115 billion and simply remove several provisions 
which I think jeopardize the long-term well-being and health of the 
Medicare system.
  These provisions are: raising the age limit to 67; striking the home 
health care payment; it would add my amendment, the Medicare balanced 
billing protection; my amendment would also eliminate the provisions 
that means tests Medicare; and finally, it would eliminate the medical 
savings account.
  This amendment would allow the Senate to vote for solvency of the 
Medicare system but not engage in some of these experiments that are in 
the Finance Committee bill, experiments which I think will weaken the 
overall system by driving healthy seniors away from Medicare and 
leaving the Medicare system to deal with very sick seniors, which is 
not a way to run a proper insurance program.
  This measure, I believe, will restore solvency and allow a more 
comprehensive review of the Medicare system.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I say to my fellow Senators, I raised a 
budget point of order that the Reed amendment violates the Budget Act. 
The Reed substitute proposes to undo everything we did yesterday. It 
proposes to strike the Medicare age increase, means testing, copayment, 
adds balanced billing provisions and eliminates medical savings 
accounts.
  I ask for the yeas and nays, and I yield back whatever time I have 
remaining.


                 Vote on Motion to Waive the Budget Act

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion to waive the Budget Act 
with

[[Page S6292]]

respect to amendment No. 445. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 25, nays 75, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 115 Leg.]

                                YEAS--25

     Akaka
     Biden
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cleland
     Daschle
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Ford
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Wellstone

                                NAYS--75

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Kempthorne
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Robb
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wyden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). On this question, the yeas are 
25, the nays are 75. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn 
not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is rejected, the point 
of order is sustained and the amendment falls.
  Mr. LOTT. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to table the motion.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the remainder of the 
votes in the stacked sequence including final passage be limited to 10 
minutes in length.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want the Senators to know, and I am 
not sure they will all come up, we have 55 amendments that have been 
filed with numerous second degrees. We have a list here if anybody is 
interested. We have a few extra copies if Senators want to know what 
the agenda is.
  What I would like to do, I say to Senator Lautenberg, Senator Chafee 
is negotiating and working on amendment No. 448. I would like to set it 
aside temporarily and move to the Durbin food stamps benefiting 
immigrant children.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. We have no problem with that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment will be laid 
aside.
  The Senator from New Mexico.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Hutchison amendment is 
laid aside.


                           Amendment No. 450

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is on amendment No. 450.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I make a point of order that the Durbin 
amendment is not germane.
  Mr. BREAUX. I have a unanimous consent. I ask unanimous consent 
Michelle Prejean, a member of my staff, be allowed floor privileges 
today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I make a point of order that the Durbin amendment No. 
450 is out of order, is not germane.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I object to that.
  First, I make a unanimous-consent request.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Anne Marie Murphy be 
allowed privileges of the floor during the debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Is the Senator from Illinois moving to waive?
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am moving to waive the provisions of the 
Budget Act for consideration of this amendment, and I ask for the yeas 
and nays after the debate on this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  There are 2 minutes equally divided. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I might say to my colleagues in the Senate 
this amendment seeks to right a wrong. It seeks to provide food stamp 
coverage for the children of legal immigrants to the United States. The 
welfare reform bill cut off food stamp protection for children--
deserving qualified children--and really relegated over 200,000 
children across the United States into a position where they do not 
have adequate nutrition.
  It does not do our Nation a bit of good to deny these children food 
at a moment in their lives when it is important to their development. 
These kids are likely to become American citizens. They are likely to 
be our neighbors. They are likely to be our future workers.
  Let us resolve that although we are trying to eradicate welfare as we 
know it, we will not take it out on the kids. The money that is used to 
pay for the food stamps for the children of these legal immigrants is 
an offset that comes from the administrative costs sent to the States. 
This is money that should be dedicated for the better purpose of 
feeding hungry, deserving children.
  I ask my friends, regardless of your position on welfare reform, to 
make sure that we are dedicated in America to healthy children, not 
hungry children. I hope you will consider voting to waive the 
provisions of the Budget Act and approval of this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the agreement that was put together with 
the President contains some food stamp changes. They have been adopted 
by the committees. We have never agreed on this one. In fact, it was 
not even brought up by the administration.
  This amendment amends the welfare reform bill of last year by 
requiring food stamp benefits to child immigrants, paid for with State 
administrative moneys.
  I yield remaining time on our side.


                 Vote on Motion to Waive the Budget Act

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion of 
Senator Durbin to waive the Budget Act for the consideration of 
amendment No. 450.
  The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 48, nays 52, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 116 Leg.]

                                YEAS--48

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Collins
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Graham
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Snowe
     Specter
     Torricelli
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--52

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Coats
     Cochran
     Coverdell
     Craig
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Frist
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote the yeas are 48, the nays are 52.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  The point of order is sustained and the amendment falls.
  Mr. D'AMATO addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question before us now is the D'Amato-
Harkin amendment. There will be 2 minutes of debate, equally divided.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, will Senator D'Amato yield for a moment?
  Mr. D'AMATO. Yes.

[[Page S6293]]

                     Amendment No. 476, As Modified

  Mr. DOMENICI. We would like to move to amendment No. 476, the Kerrey 
amendment, because we are going to accept that. We like to do that from 
time to time.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, we will move to the Kerrey 
amendment.
  Mr. KERREY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. KERREY. This amendment deals with FCC auctions of spectrum. They 
had an action about a month ago where they auctioned off spectrum for 
about a dollar. Some of these spectrums went for that. This amendment 
establishes that the FCC shall have a floor, and the suggestion was 
that we modify it.
  I ask unanimous consent that this amendment be modified to allow the 
FCC to establish a floor, unless it is in the national interest not to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there any objection?
  Without objection, the amendment is so modified.
  The amendment (No. 476), as modified, is as follows:

       At the appropriate place in the bill insert the following:

     SEC.   . RESERVE PRICE.

       In any auction conducted or supervised by the Federal 
     Communications Commission (hereinafter the Commission) for 
     any license, permit or right which has value, a reasonable 
     reserve price shall be set by the Commission for each unit in 
     the auction, unless the Commission determines it not to be in 
     the public interest. The reserve price shall establish a 
     minimum bid for the unit to be auctioned. If no bid is 
     received above the reserve price for a unit, the unit shall 
     be retained. The Commission shall re-assess the reserve price 
     for that unit and place the unit in the next scheduled or 
     next appropriate auction.
  Mr. DOMENICI. We have no objection. It is cleared by the Commerce 
Committee on both sides.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 476), as modified, was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. BYRD. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 451

  Mr. DOMENICI. Now we can return to the D'Amato amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York is recognized.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President on behalf of Senator Harkin, myself, 
Senators Mack, Jeffords, Specter, and Rockefeller, we offer an 
amendment that will fulfill this Chamber's commitment, a commitment 
that it made on January 21 when it voted 89-0 to double the amount of 
funding for the National Institutes of Health to provide medical 
research. Everybody says we need more money for cancer research, heart 
research, and for Alzheimer's and diabetes. We say we are going to do 
it and we never do it.
  This amendment says that any excessive funds that are saved, over and 
above that anticipated by this budget resolution, by Medicare and 
Medicaid, certified by the CBO, will then be utilized to meet these 
functions. Only after CBO has certified that there are excess savings 
will those savings be placed in this account.
  Mr. President, that is keeping our commitment.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, are there 10 seconds left?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Could we have order, please?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, this amendment, I regret to say, should 
be defeated. It creates a new overbudget trust fund for medical 
research. It is based on estimates. The biggest argument against it is 
if we save more money in Medicare than we expect under the budget 
agreement, it ought to go to Medicare. It ought not go to be used in an 
appropriated account.
  Essentially, this says, if we save more money than was agreed upon by 
the White House and the Congress in Medicare, the extra money goes to a 
trust fund for NIH. I believe it ought to stay right where it is and be 
used by the Finance Committee for Medicare and other purposes.
  I make a point of order that the amendment is not germane.
  Mr. D'AMATO. I move to waive.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The point of order has already been made.


                 Vote on Motion to Waive The Budget Act

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
waive the Budget Act in relation to the D'Amato amendment No. 451. The 
yeas and nays have been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislation clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 46, nays 54, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 117 Leg.]

                                YEAS--46

     Akaka
     Biden
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Cleland
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Faircloth
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Mack
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--54

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coverdell
     Craig
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kempthorne
     Kerrey
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Thomas
     Thompson
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 46, the nays are 
54. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. The point of order is 
sustained and the amendment falls.
  The question is on agreeing to the Murkowski amendment No. 455.
  The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I would ask on behalf of Senator Akaka, 
who wants to discuss it with us, that the Murkowski amendment be set 
aside and we proceed to the Abraham-Levin amendment, which will be a 
voice vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 456

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question before the Senate now is on 
agreeing to the Abraham-Levin amendment No. 456.
  The amendment (No. 456) was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMINICI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is on agreeing to the Helms 
amendment No. 459, 1 minute equally divided.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  The Senate will please come to order.
  The Chair now recognizes the Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMINICI. Could I have a quorum for just 2 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 455

  Mr. DOMINICI. Mr. President, I believe we are ready to go to the 
Murkowski amendment No. 455, which will be accepted.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. With reluctance, I ask support of this amendment, and 
obviously it has been done. But I want to make the point that the 
provision in the current bill is one that we have all committed to, and 
that is of having the strategic petroleum reserve and the reality that 
we are addressing it with the crisis on the budget. That is not the 
purpose. The Akaka amendment provided a purchase mechanism after 2002.

[[Page S6294]]

  I think it is the right policy for this Nation, and we are only 
talking about $13 million a year. I think that is a small price to pay 
for energy security, but nevertheless recognizing the circumstances, 
why, I reluctantly ask support.
  Mr. DOMENICI. We have no objection to the amendment.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank Senator Akaka for his role in encouraging the 
support of the strategic petroleum reserve.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii is recognized.
  The Senate will please come to order. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. AKAKA. According to the Energy Committee, in the reconciliation 
proposal, this was supposed to be for 5 years. The committee is now 
recommending that it be extended to 10 years. My reason for keeping it 
at 5 years would be to have the other 5 years to be used for purchasing 
excess oil, and for that reason I am opposing this. But I am not 
objecting to it because Chairman Murkowski is supporting this.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment. 
Without objection, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 455) was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMINICI. 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.


                      Amendment No. 459 withdrawn

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I, in behalf of Senator Helms, withdraw amendment No. 
459.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 459) was withdrawn.
  Mr. DOMINICI. Now, I believe, according to the regular order, the 
Lautenberg amendment No. 475 on legal immigrants is next.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct. The question before 
the Senate is on agreeing to the Lautenberg amendment No. 475. Time is 
evenly divided.
  The Senator from New Mexico.


                            Amendment No 458

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I made a mistake. If Senator Lautenberg 
would permit me to correct it. In withdrawing the Helms amendment, I 
failed to then proceed to take up the amendment that he has that 
remains, and that is No. 458.
  Could we make that in order right now?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, amendment No. 458 is in 
order.
  The question before the Senate is on agreeing to Helms amendment No. 
458.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, in 1993, Stanly Memorial Hospital in 
Albermarle, NC, was reclassified as a rural instead of an urban 
hospital, resulting in a loss of $1.3 million each year in Medicare 
reimbursement.
  Stanly County is the only county in North Carolina, and, I believe, 
in the Nation, that is touched by four different urban counties and two 
different Metropolitan Statistical Areas. SMH's primary competitors are 
in the adjacent large urban MSA's which include Davidson, Rowan, 
Cabarrus, and Union Counties.
  By a purely bureaucratic decision, Stanley Memorial has been put in a 
position of having to compete with all of the Charlotte hospitals in 
recruitment of employees, managed care contracts, and doctors.
  But since Stanly Memorial is not included in the Charlotte MSA, it 
receives 20 percent less for the very same Medicare services as 
delivered by competing hospitals in surrounding areas.
  This amendment will correct this inequity by deeming Stanly County as 
part of the large urban area of Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC/SC.
  Mr. DOMENICI. This amendment has been worked out on both sides, and 
it is acceptable.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 458) was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Now, under the regular order, would we return to 
Lautenberg 475?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now before the Senate is on 
agreeing to the Lautenberg amendment No. 475.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I need 2 minutes for a quorum to discuss this. I 
suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator will suspend. The Senate will please come to order. 
Senators will please carry their conversations to the cloakrooms.
  The Senator from New Mexico.


                      Amendment No. 499 withdrawn

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I withdraw my amendment No. 49 regarding 
the subject matter of the Lautenberg amendment. It is amendment 499, 
excuse me. It is 49 on our list. No. 499.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is withdrawn.
  The amendment (No. 499) was withdrawn.


                           Amendment No. 475

  Mr. DOMENICI. We have agreed to accept the Lautenberg amendment and 
taking it to conference. We think it is the best way to resolve this 
issue which is between the two Houses and the White House. We all have 
different versions. And we agree to accept the amendment. I yield to 
him now for his minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I thank the Chair. I thank the chairman of the 
committee for accepting this.
  The purpose of the amendment is very simple. It is to provide 
fairness for people who come to this country legally, who paid their 
taxes in good faith and played by the rules, and then perhaps suffer 
from a serious disability caused by an accident or a serious illness.
  Whatever the cause, they are here at our invitation, left unable to 
work and unable to support themselves. And so, Mr. President, the 
budget agreement includes a very specific provision to ensure that 
these people get help. Unfortunately, the bill before us provides 
funding for only 1 year of these benefits. I hope we will be able to 
hold this amendment. It is very important. I think it establishes our 
attitude about those who have come here at our invitation, and we say, 
pay your taxes, do your work, and then we want to take them out of the 
protection stream.
  So I hope that this amendment, which will restore them personally, 
will take care of it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 475) was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMENICI. 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.


                           Amendment No. 460

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the McCain 
amendment No. 460.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Could we have order?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, this amendment allows several States to go 
forward with some of the most innovative work being done in health care 
in America--in Senator McCain's State and my own, several others. This 
amendment is budget neutral, but in our home State of Oregon, through 
the Oregon Health Plan, we have been able to serve upwards of 100,000 
low-income families with an innovative approach. The administration 
supports these efforts. It is a chance to go forward in innovative 
health care, a critically important issue at this time.
  I hope my colleagues will support this budget-neutral measure. I 
yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Let me talk with Senator Wyden for a minute about this. 
I understand from the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee 
that the McCain-Wyden amendment, with reference to statewide Medicaid 
waivers, is in the chairman's, the

[[Page S6295]]

managers' amendment which will be offered and accepted. And based on 
that, we would ask the Senator if he would withdraw the amendment. He 
can leave it on the list pending the adoption of that, if he would 
like.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, with that assurance of the chairman of the 
full committee, Mr. Roth, and the chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr. 
Domenici, who have been very helpful to Mr. Smith and myself on behalf 
of our State, we are very pleased with this, and with that assurance, I 
am pleased to withdraw the amendment at this time and look forward to 
voting for the managers' amendment. I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is withdrawn.
  The amendment (No. 460) was withdrawn.


                           Amendment No. 478

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now before the Senate is the 
Rockefeller amendment No. 478. Time is equally divided.
  The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, pursuant to section 313 of the 
Congressional Budget Act, I make a point of order that section 5001, 
creating section 1852(a)(5)(B), section 5001 creating section 
1852(k)(2), and section 5001 creating section 1854(e)(3) of the pending 
bill are extraneous under section 313(b)(1)(A).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator yield the floor? The Senator 
from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hutchinson). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. 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. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I don't really understand where we are. 
We thought the Senator was calling up an amendment, No. 478, requiring 
balanced billing protection for individuals enrolled in fee-for-service 
plans. Did the Senator call that amendment up? That is the order, the 
regular order.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I am making a point of order against the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia made two points 
of order. Those points cannot be made while an amendment is pending.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Which amendment is pending, No. 478?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is No. 478, Senator 
Rockefeller's amendment.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Chair state the ruling again, please? It is 
hard to hear.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Those points of order cannot be made while 
this amendment is pending.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I say to the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, 
in lieu, then, of a point of order I would like to make a point of 
order against the balanced billing portion of the FFS section of the 
bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I understand. Is what you are suggesting that you want 
to withdraw your amendment and in lieu thereof make a point of order?
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Senator call that to the attention of the 
Chair that that is what he would like to do?
  On behalf of Senator Rockefeller, I ask his amendment be withdrawn 
and it be in order for him to make a point of order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 478) was withdrawn.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Now we need a clarification of what the point of order 
is.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Would the Senator from West Virginia send the 
point of order to the desk?
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. It is on its way.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. 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. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, and ask the 
distinguished Senator if he would accommodate us, that we set aside his 
point of order for just a moment and go to the next amendment while we 
work on it. The next amendment is going to be accepted.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 461

  Mr. DOMENICI. The amendment we are going to is amendment No. 461, the 
McCain amendment.
  Might we proceed to amendment 461? We have just received a unanimous 
consent to set this aside.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time on the McCain amendment?
  Mr. DOMENICI. I do.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, this is going to be accepted. This 
amendment will reclassify certain Amerasian immigrants as refugees to 
exempt them from the restrictions on receiving benefits under the 
welfare reform bill. It costs about $1 million and has been accepted on 
both sides.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. We have no objection.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, we cannot hear the explanation by the 
distinguished manager.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct. The Senate be in 
order.
  The Senator from New Jersey?
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I was saying we have no objection. We 
ought to move on, move this along.
  Mr. DOMENICI. We yield any time we have.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator repeat the 
statement? There is so much noise and confusion that I for one could 
not understand what Senator Domenici was saying.
  Mr. DOMENICI. This McCain amendment would reclassify certain 
Amerasian immigrants as refugees. Thus, they would be entitled to 
benefits of people similarly situated. The amendment costs about $1 
million per year, and those on our side who handle these matters have 
indicated they are willing to accept it. I understand the minority is 
willing to accept it.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. We have no objection.
  THE PRESIDING OFFICER. If there be no further debate, the question is 
on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 461) was agreed to.
  Mr. DOMENICI. 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.


                           Amendment No. 479

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on the Dodd amendment, No. 
479. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I hope this amendment will be agreed to. 
This is an amendment I think all of our colleagues can support. I am 
offering it on behalf of myself and the Senator from North Dakota, 
Senator Conrad. It will preserve the Medicaid coverage for some 30,000 
children who, if we do nothing else, are going to lose it. These are 
the most severe disabled children in the country. This was a slip, more 
than anything else, I think, when we passed the welfare reform law last 
year. We learned these children might lose their Medicaid coverage as a 
consequence of losing their SSI. Since then there has been a broad 
agreement we should step in and try to preserve health care for the 
most needy of all children. In fact, the bipartisan budget agreement 
called for continued Medicaid coverage for these children. So, this 
amendment merely plugs that gap that we had all agreed on. It simply 
honors the agreement. Its cost is modest. It is about $100 million over 
5 years.
  I can argue if we can find $16 billion to provide insurance for kids 
who lack it, surely we could set aside a fraction of that to provide 
insurance for children who stand to lose it. That is what we are faced 
with. If we do not do this, these 30,000 severely disabled children 
would be cut off.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise in support of this amendment to

[[Page S6296]]

restore Medicaid coverage for children who were removed from the SSI 
rolls in last year's welfare bill.
  Mr. President, last year's welfare bill significantly restricted the 
types of disabilities that enable a child to qualify for the 
Supplemental Security Income Program. In some cases, the same 
disability that will qualify an adult for SSI now will be insufficient 
to quality a child. Among the children most likely to lose benefits are 
those who suffer from multiple problems, no one of which is severe 
enough to meet the more restrictive legal criteria, but the combined 
effect of which is substantial.
  The Social Security Administration estimates that 135,000 low-income 
disabled children will be removed from the SSI as a result of the new 
law. Others put the number much higher.
  In any case, since SSI eligibility is linked to Medicaid eligibility, 
many of these children will be terminated from the Medicaid Program, 
unless they qualify on other grounds. The administration believes that, 
in the end, about 30,000 disabled children from low income families 
will lose Medicaid coverage.
  Mr. President, the loss of Medicaid coverage is likely to create 
serious problems for these families. Private insurance will be very 
difficult to find And even it it's available, the costs will reflect 
the conditions that these children have.
  Compounding matters, these families also will be suffering large 
income losses because of the loss of their children's SSI benefits.
  Mr. President, these families had low incomes even before these 
benefits were withdrawn. And now they are facing severe financial 
hardships. Allowing these to keep Medicaid coverage is the right thing 
to do. Otherwise, we are likely to see even more children become 
uninsured.
  Mr. President, one of the core principles of the bipartisan budget 
agreement was to provide health care coverage for as many as 5 million 
uninsured children. And it was my understanding that the budget 
negotiators agreed to restore Medicaid for these roughly 30,000 SSI 
kids. Not as part of the $16 billion child health initiative, but as a 
separate, binding commitment. That is clearly the understanding of the 
administration, as well.
  Unfortunately, Mr. President, Senator Domenici has a different 
recollection of what was agreed to, and I know he holds that view in 
good faith. So we have an honest disagreement.
  But regardless of whose recollection is more accurate, Mr. President, 
I would urge my colleagues to protect these vulnerable children and 
their families.
  Mr. President, I know that Senators on both sides of the aisle share 
a commitment to covering all of America's children. And so I hope that 
this amendment will win broad support.
  Keep in mind that that these children don't just come from low-income 
families. They are disabled, even though they don't meet the new 
eligibility standards for SSI. And many of them will be become 
completely uninsured if we do not correct this problem.
  I also want to make sure that Senators understand that this amendment 
would not restore any SSI benefits. All it would do is restore Medicaid 
coverage for these children. But that would greatly ease the hardships 
facing many of these families, and reduce the number of children who 
otherwise would join the ranks of the uninsured.
  So, Mr. President, I hope my colleagues will stand with these 30,000 
disabled children and their families, and will support this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired. The 
Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, first of all let me say it is the 
position of the committee of jurisdiction that these children are 
covered under the $16 billion child care provisions of the bill. Since 
that is the case, I first would ask the Senator if he would like to 
withdraw the amendment and confirm that. If not, I would make a point 
of order against the amendment and he would have to get 60 votes to 
pass it.
  Mr. DODD. I realize we are running out of time. Let me, on the 
Senator's time--I raised this earlier, I say to the distinguished 
chairman of the Budget Committee. We are not convinced that is the 
case. I understood that was the argument made to me and that has not 
been confirmed. So we are running the risk here, if it is not the case. 
I would rather adopt the amendment. If it turns out it is OK, then we 
protected these children. If you do not do it, it's not part of the $16 
billion, 30,000 disabled children lose their Medicaid benefits. We have 
to do it by law, and I would rather err on that side than err on the 
other side.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I do greatly respect the Senator. I respect all 
Senators. But we really are operating on a 1-minute rule for each side. 
I think if we are going to speak longer we ought to get consent of the 
Senate to do that, and I do not address that just to Senator Dodd.
  We contend they are covered. I make a point of order under section 
310 of the Budget Act.
  Mr. DODD. I move to waive that.
  Mr. President, 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.


                 Vote on Motion to Waive The Budget Act

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
waive the Budget Act, section 310. The yeas and nays have been ordered. 
The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 118 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Graham
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Specter
     Torricelli
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--51

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Burns
     Byrd
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coverdell
     Craig
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Frist
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 
51. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected. The point of order is 
sustained, and the amendment falls.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. May I have the attention of the Senate for just a 
moment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order.
  The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Could I ask the clerk, how long have we been taking in 
terms of time on the rollcalls on the amendments?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Votes are taking approximately 15 minutes.
  Mr. DOMENICI. We are on 10-minute rollcall votes, I say to the 
Senators. The longer we take for these, the longer we go into the 
evening tonight. I really urge you to do your best to get here quickly 
so we can wrap them up in 10 minutes. I understand 10 to 11 is 
sufficient. I thank the Senate.


              Amendments Nos. 462, 465, and 466, Withdrawn

  Mr. President, we can dispose of a number of amendments now. I ask 
unanimous consent, on behalf of Senator Chafee, that amendment No. 466 
be withdrawn; on behalf of Senator Jeffords that amendment No. 462 be 
withdrawn.
  On behalf of Senator Allard, are you going to withdraw your 
amendment, I ask the Senator?
  Mr. ALLARD. Is the chairman going to make a point of order on my 
amendment?
  Mr. DOMENICI. I have to, yes.
  Mr. ALLARD. OK. I appreciate the chairman, Mr. President, giving me 
an

[[Page S6297]]

opportunity just to speak a minute or two about this amendment.
  Mr. President, I would like to take this time to discuss this 
amendment that would give families with uninsured children the 
opportunity to obtain proper health coverage.
  My amendment would allow families with uninsured children to deposit 
money in a medical savings account to use for health care services. I 
believe it is critical to provide lower income families with the option 
to establish medical savings accounts. MSA's allow consumers to pay for 
medical expenses through affordable tax-deductible plans that are most 
suited to their needs.
  Americans want choice in health care. It is time for the Federal 
Government to listen to the American people and make medical savings 
accounts an available option. Medical savings accounts are a viable 
free-market approach to ensuring greater access to affordable health 
care coverage for the uninsured.
  I believe our efforts need to be focused on providing uninsured 
children with accessible health care services. My amendment would give 
these families the opportunity of setting aside MSA funds, especially 
benefiting those who are self-employed, between jobs, or employed where 
health coverage is not available.
  I am hopeful that in the 105th Congress, we will be able to expand 
the availability of medical savings accounts.
  My amendment is one step to achieving the goal of decreasing the 
number of uninsured children by providing families with the option to 
receive much needed health care coverage. By making more MSA's 
available, we can make it easier for parents to finance their 
children's health care; afterall, the health of our Nation's children 
is at stake.
  I understand the position of the chairman having to raise this point 
of order. I just hope that the Finance Committee takes a closer look at 
medical savings accounts and the problem we have with uninsured 
children.
  With that, I will go ahead and withdraw my amendment.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator.
  Have they been withdrawn?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DOMENICI. We are prepared to----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator will suspend, is amendment No. 
465, included in the package of amendments to be withdrawn?
  Mr. DOMENICI. It is; 466, 462, and 465
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments (Nos. 462, 465 and 466) were withdrawn.


               Amendments Nos. 463, 480, and 481, En Bloc

  Mr. DOMENICI. Now we are prepared to accept, en bloc--the Senators 
will use a minimum of time--amendment No. 480, Senator Murray's 
amendment; amendment No. 463, Senator Jeffords on child health; and 
481, Senator Dodd's amendment regarding transfers.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to agreeing to the 
amendments en bloc?
  Mr. DODD. Do you want to explain them or not?
  Mr. DOMENICI. I would feel very good if you did not explain them. But 
if you want to, it would be great. We can keep the three of you to 1 
minute combined.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I waive explanation.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I ask the Senator, will you waive explanation?
  Mr. BYRD. Could we have an explanation?
  Mr. DOMENICI. The first amendment is amendment No. 480 offered by the 
Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray].
  Mr. BYRD. Could we have an explanation?
  Mr. DOMENICI. She is going to do that right now.
  Mrs. MURRAY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington is recognized.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. President, the amendment that I am offering simply clarifies that 
they can waive victims of domestic violence from the Welfare Act. This 
was an amendment that was unanimously accepted in the fiscal year 1998 
budget resolution and in the welfare reform bill.
  I thank my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Domenici, for his work 
on this issue and appreciate the acceptance by the Senate.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. JEFFORDS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, my amendment tells Governors that they 
should report how well their child health development grant that we 
gave them--the block grant--how well it is working. That is basically 
what it does.
  Mr. DOMENICI. And Senator Dodd.
  Mr. DODD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, this amendment is very important to the 
hospitals across the country. Under the law, the first hospital that 
cannot provide care would have its fees reduced if the patient is sent 
to a second hospital that can provide acute care. That is a good idea. 
What happens, however, is that patients that are moved from the first 
hospital to a home setting, no longer needing acute care, the fees of 
the first hospital are also reduced. We did not intend that to be the 
case. This amendment corrects that mistake. This is broadly supported 
by every hospital across the country.

  My colleague from New York, Senator D'Amato, is my cosponsor on this, 
along with Senator Leahy. We hope it will be accepted.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to considering the 
amendments en bloc?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question occurs on amendments 463, 480, and 481 en bloc.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, may we have an explanation of the other two 
amendments?
  Mr. DOMENICI. We have had all three explained.
  Mr. BYRD. All three have been explained?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All three amendments were explained.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Senator Murray has a freestanding amendment. She 
explained it. Senator Jeffords' is freestanding; and Senator Dodd.
  The amendments (Nos. 463, 480, and 481) were agreed to en bloc.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                      Amendment No. 483, Withdrawn

  Mr. DOMENICI. I have another amendment to withdraw, Senator Wyden's, 
No. 483.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, because of its inclusion in the managers' 
package, that is appropriate at this time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to withdrawing the 
amendment?
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. No objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 483) was withdrawn.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I wonder if we could try one other one to see if we 
could dispose of it before we have a debate on the Levin amendment.
  Senator Grassley has an amendment that I would ask, is it acceptable 
on the other side, long-term care? It has to do with religious choice.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. We are looking at that, Mr. President. If we can just 
defer for a few minutes, if it is all right with Senator Grassley, and 
go on to some other business and come back to it.
  Mr. DOMENICI. All right.
  Regular order.


                           Amendment No. 482

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on the Levin amendment No. 
482.
  Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan is recognized.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the National Governors' Association 
strongly supports allowing vocational education training to count 
toward meeting the work requirement under the welfare law. The current 
law allows a 12-month limit. The old requirement was 24 months. The 
Governors argue and the community colleges argue--and I think it is 
very persuasive--that being in vocational education should count toward 
that work requirement. There is no cost to the Treasury.

[[Page S6298]]

  It will help people to complete a community college education and to 
count that toward the work requirement under the welfare bill.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. LEVIN. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Vermont. He is a 
cosponsor of this amendment.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. I support the amendment and have no problems with it 
being in our jurisdiction. Senator Chafee also supports it. He asked me 
to inform the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who wishes to speak in opposition to the 
amendment?
  Mr. DOMENICI. 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. DOMENICI. 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. DOMENICI. I yield the time in opposition to the distinguished 
Senator from Pennsylvania.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, we had this debate during the welfare 
reform bill in the last session of Congress. We said we wanted people 
who are on welfare to work, not to go into more education and training. 
There is a time for that. We allow for education and training, but at a 
certain point in time we are going to require people to go to work.

  Now, what this amendment says is, no, you do not have to go to work; 
continue education and training. This is a weakening of the work 
requirement. This is not going to get people into the workplace to 
learn the skills necessary to be competitive and to get good jobs and 
to improve their future.
  This is more of the same what we have been doing here in Washington 
prior to the welfare reform bill. The President did not request this 
change. It is not in the budget agreement. It was not anything that 
anyone advocated. It should be defeated.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I make a point of order that the 
amendment violates section 313(b)(1)(A) of the Budget Act.
  Mr. LEVIN. I move to waive the Budget Act for this amendment and ask 
for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to 
be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                 Vote on Motion to Waive the Budget Act

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on agreeing to the motion 
to waive. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 55, nays 45, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 119 Leg.]

                                YEAS--55

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Baucus
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Byrd
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Collins
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Graham
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Torricelli
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--45

     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Burns
     Campbell
     Coats
     Cochran
     Coverdell
     Craig
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Frist
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Lott
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this question, the yeas are 55, the nays 
are 45. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having 
voted in the affirmative, the motion is rejected. The point of order is 
sustained. The amendment falls.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. GRAMM. I move to lay it on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


               Amendment Nos. 485, 486, and 487 Withdrawn

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Feinstein, I 
withdraw amendments numbered 485, 486, and 487.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments (Nos. 485, 486, and 487) were withdrawn.


                           Amendment No. 484

  Mr. DOMENICI. There is a Harkin amendment numbered 484 which we are 
prepared to accept, and then we will proceed to Senator Kyl's 
amendment, and we will have a vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there debate on the Harkin amendment No. 
484?
  Mr. DOMENICI. We yield back any time remaining.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back. The question is on 
agreeing to the Harkin amendment numbered 484.
  The amendment (No. 484) was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.


                           Amendment No. 468

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, if I could have my colleagues' attention, 
this is amendment No. 468, designed to correct a technical corrections 
problem which ironically arose out of the Medicare Technical Act of 
1994.
  To describe it, you have been going to your doctor for 50 years. He 
says you need something done.
  You say, ``OK, do it.''
  He says, ``Wait a minute, aren't you 65 years old now?''
  You say, ``Yes.''
  And he says, ``I am sorry, I cannot treat you anymore.''
  ``Why not?''
  ``Well, I don't treat Medicare patients.''
  ``You do not have to submit the bill to Medicare. I will not submit 
the bill to Medicare. Let me pay you like I always have.''
  Sorry, HCFA says we cannot do that.
  Mr. President, this is very simple. It allows for those 9 percent of 
the physicians who do not treat Medicare patients to continue to treat 
their patients as they always have. Those parties do not make a claim 
to Medicare, Medicare does not pay it, they simply go ahead and pay the 
doctor like they always have. This is not what was intended in the 1994 
act, but because of the way HCFA's regulations have interpreted it, we 
need to make this technical correction.
  I urge my colleagues to support the change.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the Kyl amendment would allow 
something that is similar to balanced billing. It is, frankly, quite 
controversial. It does not belong, in my view, on a fast-track 
reconciliation bill. I hope we will oppose the amendment.
  Mr. President, it is my view that the amendment is not germane. 
Therefore, I raise a point of order that the amendment violates section 
305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I am going to move to waive the point of 
order. I wanted to indicate that this amendment has the support of 
sponsors, such as Senator Lott, Senator Domenici, Senator Roth, and 
others on our side. I hope we can do it.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Does the Senator have any time remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
  Does the Senator wish to make a motion?
  Mr. KYL. I move to waive the point of order.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, 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.


                 Vote on Motion to Waive the Budget Act

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
waive the Budget Act on the amendment offered by the Senator from 
Arizona.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?

[[Page S6299]]

  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] is 
necessarily absent.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 64, nays 35, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 120 Leg.]

                                YEAS--64

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bond
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Burns
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Robb
     Roberts
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner

                                NAYS--35

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Byrd
     Cleland
     Conrad
     Daschle
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Ford
     Graham
     Harkin
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Torricelli
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Inouye
       
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 64, the nays are 
35. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and having voted in the 
affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which 
the motion was agreed to.
  Mr. LOTT. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 468

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now occurs on the amendment of 
the Senator from Arizona.
  The amendment (No. 468) was agreed to.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the 
amendment was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the motion to lay on the 
table is agreed to.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I think we have been making good progress. 
Unfortunately, we have had far too many amendments that were carried 
over from last night.
  I hope that at some point in the future we can come together with the 
leadership on both sides and come to an agreement on a better system of 
doing business than having these votes on important matters of 10 
minutes. But for now we have been making good progress.
  The managers on both sides and the staff have been working very hard 
to understand what these amendments are and to see if agreements can be 
worked out on them and to see if they can be accepted or whether or not 
they should be passed or defeated. But they need a little time now.

                          ____________________