[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6001-S6003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL TOBACCO POLICY AND YOUTH SMOKING REDUCTION ACT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now
resume consideration of S. 1415, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1415) to reform and restructure the processes by
which tobacco products are manufactured, marketed, and
distributed, to prevent the use of tobacco products by
minors, to redress the adverse health effects of tobacco use,
and for other purposes.
The Senate resumed consideration of the bill.
Pending:
Gregg/Leahy amendment No. 2433 (to amendment No. 2420), to
modify the provisions relating to civil liability for tobacco
manufacturers.
Gregg/Leahy amendment No. 2434 (to amendment No. 2433), in
the nature of a substitute.
Gramm motion to recommit the bill to the Committee on
Finance with instructions to report back forthwith, with
amendment No. 2436, to modify the provisions relating to
civil liability for tobacco manufacturers, and to eliminate
the marriage penalty reflected in the standard deduction and
to ensure the earned income credit takes into account the
elimination of such penalty.
Daschle (for Durbin) amendment No. 2437 (to amendment No.
2436), relating to reductions in underage tobacco usage.
Cloture Motion
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the cloture motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the modified
committee substitute for S. 1415, the tobacco legislation.
John Kerry, Bob Kerrey, Kent Conrad, Harry Reid, Paul
Wellstone, Dick Durbin, Patty Murray, Richard Bryan,
Tom Harkin, Carl Levin, Joe Biden, J. Lieberman, John
Glenn, Jeff Bingaman, Ron Wyden, and Max Baucus.
Call of the Roll
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the quorum call under
rule XXII is waived.
Vote
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate
that debate on the committee substitute for S. 1415 shall be brought to
a close?
The yeas and nays are required.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr.
Gregg) is necessarily absent.
I also announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Specter) is
absent because of illness.
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 43, nays 55, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 153 Leg.]
YEAS--43
Akaka
Baucus
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Breaux
Bryan
Bumpers
Byrd
Cleland
Conrad
Daschle
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Feingold
Feinstein
Glenn
Graham
Harkin
Hollings
Inouye
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
[[Page S6002]]
Levin
Lieberman
Mikulski
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murray
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Torricelli
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--55
Abraham
Allard
Ashcroft
Bennett
Bond
Brownback
Burns
Campbell
Chafee
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
DeWine
Domenici
Enzi
Faircloth
Ford
Frist
Gorton
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Hagel
Hatch
Helms
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Jeffords
Kempthorne
Kyl
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Robb
Roberts
Roth
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Warner
NOT VOTING--2
Gregg
Specter
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hutchinson). On this vote the yeas are 43;
the nays are 55. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not
having voted in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, on behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous
consent that the bill remain in status quo until 12 noon, for the
purpose of debate only.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, let me just say that may even go until
12:30. The problem is the amendment we had agreed to take up next--that
would have been Senator Gramm, Senator Domenici, and Senator Roth--they
have not completed the language so the other side is able to examine
this language, which is a courtesy, obviously, that is expected around
here. But we do expect to move forward with the Gramm amendment and
debate on it either within a half-hour or an hour.
Mr. President, let me just say again, it is my understanding that
Senator Hatch had a substitute he wanted considered, that Senator Gramm
and Senator Domenici had a substitute, and there is also the very
important issue of the farmer aspect of this bill to which the Senator
from Kentucky, Senator Ford, is obviously very involved in and
committed. There is also the issue of attorneys' fees that would be the
subject of an amendment.
I also am aware that there are several hundred, maybe, other
amendments that have been--quote--filed. Those are amendments which I
know in the view of the sponsors are important amendments, but I have
to say I do not believe that they are vital to the progress of this
bill. Many of them we could accept. Many of them I think could be
dispensed with in a short period of time.
After the disposition of the Gramm amendment, which I understand
there will be a time agreement on, I hope then that would be an
appropriate time to determine not only where we go for the rest of the
day, but for the rest of this bill. We are in the middle of the third
week of consideration of this legislation. I thought the passage of the
drug amendment yesterday was important. A tax cut, as we may enact
today--although there certainly are some concerns I have about the size
of it--if it passes, then I think it is important for us to determine
on both sides of the aisle as to where we want to go after that.
Mr. FORD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
Mr. McCAIN. I will be glad to yield at any time to the Senator from
Kentucky.
Mr. FORD. I thank my friend. When you go to the marriage penalty
amendment, or at least the minority has an opportunity to visit with
it, and then you indicate that you want to go maybe to the substitute--
you have at least one, possibly two--would it take a unanimous consent
agreement to set aside the pending amendments, then, in order to go to
the substitutes?
Mr. McCAIN. It is my understanding, if I could respond to the Senator
from Kentucky, that we have been conducting this whole procedure on a
sort of agreement basis. I would like to say in response to the Senator
from Kentucky, I understand what he is getting at here. The Senator
from Kentucky wants the issue of the farmers in his State, and
throughout America----
Mr. FORD. And I prefer it not to be under cloture, when my time is
limited.
Mr. McCain. I understand. I think it is important the Senator's
concerns be satisfied. I think the Senator from Massachusetts and I,
along with the leaders, should sit down with him and try to address
this very important concern that he has.
Mr. FORD. I will be more than happy to do that. As the majority
leader set out the sequence of getting this bill out of here, that we
would have to pull a bill from the calendar in order to have a tax bill
to put this one on to get it back to the House, there are a lot of
slips between the lip and the cup before this bill will leave the
Chamber as it relates to the farmer question.
I thank the Chair.
Mr. McCain. As I mentioned yesterday, after we passed the drug bill
and had an agreement to move forward with tax cuts, I felt a lot more
like Bob Hope felt----
Mr. FORD. He is alive.
Mr. McCain. In that the bill is alive, than I did some sense of
exhilaration.
So I also am very aware of how difficult this agriculture--tobacco
farmer issue is to the Senator from Kentucky. He and I have worked
together for many, many years on many, many issues. I know the Senator
from Kentucky and I have such a relationship that he will not be
mistreated, given the consideration which he deserves on this issue.
Mr. FORD. I thank my friend. I will not mistreat him until I tell him
I am going to.
Mr. McCain. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Several Senators addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. KERRY. If I could just add to the list the Senator from Arizona
just ran through, in addition to the amendments that he mentioned is
also an amendment by the Senator from Rhode Island, Senator Reed, on
advertising, and there is an amendment of mine, joined with a number of
different colleagues on both sides of the aisle, on the issue of
children. So those are two other issues. Time agreements on both of
them, however, will be easily arrived at, and they should not delay us
as I think most of the issues the Senator listed will be subject to
time agreement. Obviously the issue of the Senator from Kentucky is
more contentious, and one we need to work on over the course of the
next days. And we will.
With that said, we are waiting for the language from Senator Roth to
add to the language from Senator Gramm. Then, hopefully, we will be
able to proceed. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to
10 minutes as in morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The
Senator from Illinois is recognized.
Mr. DURBIN. I thank the Chair.
(The remarks of Mr. Durbin pertaining to the introduction of S. 2152
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills
and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time.
Mr. BOND addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. BOND. Mr. President, as we speak, there is work going on on
redrafting the Gramm-Roth amendment to add what I think is a vitally
important provision to provide tax relief through full deductibility of
health insurance for the self-employed. To me that is another very,
very significant step that we should take for the purpose of fairness,
the purpose of assuring that all people in this country have health
care, to ensure that those who may suffer illnesses or disability as a
result of the use of tobacco have adequate care when they become ill.
The revised amendment has not yet been offered, but I rise in strong
support of the Gramm-Roth amendment, because it will return a portion
of the revenues raised from the tobacco tax to taxpayers who are
bearing the burden of this tax increase. I am pleased to be a
cosponsor.
The objective is to discourage use of tobacco by raising the price,
and certainly tax increases will do that, but the purpose of the bill
should not be to raise the taxes and produce massive
[[Page S6003]]
new Government spending. I think it is appropriate that we use this
bill to provide tax relief to the people who are going to be paying
increased taxes on tobacco.
The amendment's phaseout of the marriage penalty for couples with
incomes of less than $50,000 is a solid first step to eliminating the
marriage penalty completely. We should be encouraging people to marry
and raise their children in a marriage.
Under current law, many two-income wage earners, particularly if they
are both earning good wages, are penalized by paying higher taxes as a
result of being married than they would be paying if they were single.
In addition, I think it is fitting that part of the tobacco tax
revenues will be used to ease the burdens of the tax increase which
will be borne by Americans in the lowest tax brackets.
I am also extremely pleased that part of these revenues will be used
to eliminate another inequity in the Tax Code--the deductibility of
health insurance for the self-employed. This amendment will finally--
finally--make full deductibility a reality beginning next year.
Again, it is fitting to use tobacco revenues for this purpose since
two-thirds of families headed by a self-employed individual with no
health insurance earn less than $50,000 a year. That is from a March
1997 Current Population Survey. I don't have in hand the statistics on
the number of those people who may be tobacco users, but I suspect that
it is a significant number who would be taxed by the increased cost of
cigarettes who would find it difficult to make commitments, like buying
health insurance, if they don't have this relief.
Today, while the self-employed, as a result of our actions in the
last couple of years, which I led and strongly supported, can deduct 45
percent of their health insurance costs, they are still not on a level
playing field with large businesses which can deduct 100 percent.
While the self-employed are slated to have full deductibility in
2007, and I am very grateful to the Members of this body who supported
our efforts to get that goal, what self-employed person or family
members can wait 9 more years to get sick? It just isn't going to
happen. Nobody is willing to wait 9 years to get their health
insurance, and we should not wait 9 years to give them fair tax
treatment for buying health insurance for themselves and their
families.
An immediate increase in the deduction to 100 percent would make
health insurance more affordable and accessible to 5.4 million
Americans in families headed by self-employed individuals who currently
have no health insurance. Full deductibility will also help bring
insurance to 1.5 million children who live in households headed by
self-employed individuals where there is no health insurance.
Coverage of these self-employed individuals and their children
through the self-employed health insurance deduction will enable the
private sector to address the health care needs of these individuals
rather than having an expensive, intrusive, and burdensome Federal
bureaucracy to do it.
It has long been my goal that the self-employed have immediate 100
percent deductibility of health insurance costs. I have sought every
opportunity to achieve that goal.
In 1995, my amendment to the Balanced Budget Act, which President
Clinton vetoed, would have increased the health insurance deduction for
the self-employed to 50 percent.
In 1996, I worked with Senator Kassebaum and Senator Kennedy to
include in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act an
increase in the self-employed health insurance deduction incrementally
over 10 years to 80 percent.
In 1997, provisions of my Home-Based Business Fairness Act were
included in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, finally increasing the
deduction to 100 percent in 2007 and accelerating the phase-in over
existing law.
This year, I and others who have been strong supporters, on a
bipartisan basis, of this measure worked with Chairman Domenici to
include language in the budget resolution calling for funds to be
available to accelerate the 100-percent deductibility of health
insurance by the self-employed.
If this tobacco bill is signed into law without full deductibility, I
intend to be back--and I will be back as many times as it takes--to
finish the job. Right now, full deductibility is available in 2007. I
intend to be here to see it move up to an immediate deductibility to
end the glaring unfairness of the discrimination against people who
have to buy their own health insurance who are not provided health
insurance by their employer.
The goal of providing full deductibility of health insurance costs
for the self-employed has long enjoyed broad bipartisan support. My
colleague who was just on the floor has long championed it. We do have
support on both sides of the aisle. We have support from small
business, we have support from agriculture, because it is right, it is
necessary.
We are talking about health care. We are talking about eliminating a
penalty, a tax penalty that discourages people from being able to
acquire their own health insurance for themselves and their families.
Let us continue the spirit of bipartisanship by adopting this
amendment and not miss an opportunity to help the self-employed get the
insurance coverage they need and deserve. I look forward to working
with my colleagues on this amendment when it comes to the floor. I
intend to be a cosponsor. And I trust that we will have a strong
bipartisan majority for the amendment when it is offered.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Mr. WELLSTONE addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
____________________