[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 56 (Thursday, May 7, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4521-S4522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader I ask 
unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of 
routine morning business until 7:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to 
speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I would like to start that morning 
business, but I will first yield to Senator Warner, without losing my 
right to the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.
  (The remarks of Mr. Warner pertaining to the introduction of S. 2051 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry. The Senator 
from Pennsylvania has the floor and didn't relinquish it. But I 
understood in the earlier request the Senator from Pennsylvania made 
that people would be permitted to speak for 10 minutes in morning 
business. The yielding of time to other Senators, I would assume, has 
to come off of that 10 minutes, if we are to follow the unanimous 
consent agreement as laid out.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sessions). I believe the Senator from 
Pennsylvania, by unanimous consent, requested that the other Senators 
be recognized and there having been no objection at the time, it is not 
to be counted against his time.
  The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.


                              the flat tax

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, if I might comment to my colleague from 
New Jersey, I don't intend to be very long. Perhaps it will all be 
incorporated.
  If I may have the attention of our distinguished majority leader for 
a moment, I compliment the managers of the bill that just passed, and 
the few brief remarks I would like to make on the tax issue relate to a 
bill that I have introduced on the flat tax.
  At the request of the distinguished majority leader, I did not press 
it a few weeks ago on the Coverdell bill, nor did I press it on the 
legislation that has just been enacted. But I have a very strong view, 
having pressed for this legislation since March of 1995, the so-called 
postage card flat tax, devised by two very distinguished professors 
from Stanford, Hall and Rabushka, that

[[Page S4522]]

really this is the way we ought to go on legislation on taxation.
  When I discussed this matter with our majority leader, he said to me 
that there would be legislation coming down the pike soon where there 
would be an opportunity for the flat tax to be considered. We 
informally agreed that we would have a brief colloquy on that. I yield 
to Senator Lott, again without losing my right to the floor, for the 
balance of 10 minutes.

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me say to the distinguished Senator from 
Pennsylvania that we have discussed this on two or three occasions, and 
he is absolutely correct; he has been cooperative and has not insisted 
on offering this important amendment on a couple of bills where he 
could have done that, because at the time it would have caused problems 
with those bills and made it more difficult for us to finish them in a 
timely way. This is the Senate and I think the Senator is entitled to 
be able to offer his amendment soon. Frankly, it is an amendment that I 
find very attractive, personally. So I would like to be able to be on 
record having voted for it. So I will work with the Senator to find a 
vehicle and a time that he is comfortable with later on this month, or 
in June, where this amendment can be offered and we can have a 
reasonable discussion and a vote.
  Mr. SPECTER. I thank the majority leader for those comments.

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