[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 50 (Thursday, April 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2965-S2966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY RELIEF ACT OF 2000--Motion to Proceed


                             CLOTURE MOTION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, pursuant to rule 
XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, 
which the clerk will state.
  The bill 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, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on Calendar No. 
     437, H.R. 6, the Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 2000:
         Trent Lott, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Tim Hutchinson, Chuck 
           Hagel, Larry E. Craig, Phil Gramm, Jesse Helms, Strom 
           Thurmond, Rod Grams, Sam Brownback, Pat Roberts, Judd 
           Gregg, Wayne Allard, Richard Shelby, Gordon Smith of 
           Oregon, and Bill Frist.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call under the rule has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on 
amendment No. 3090 to H.R. 6, an act to amend the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 to reduce the marriage penalty by providing for adjustments to 
the standard deduction, 15-percent rate bracket, and earned-income 
credit and to repeal the reduction of the refundable tax credits, shall 
be brought to a close? The yeas and nays are required under the rule. 
The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Florida (Mr. Mack), the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), and the Senator from Delaware (Mr. 
Roth) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) 
and the Senator from Arkansas (Mrs. Lincoln) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fitzgerald). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 51, nays 44, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 87 Leg.]

                                YEAS--51

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Campbell
     Chafee, L.
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coverdell
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeWine
     Domenici
     Enzi
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Warner

                                NAYS--44

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Byrd
     Cleland
     Conrad
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Mikulski
     Moynihan
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Torricelli
     Voinovich
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Kerry
     Lincoln
     Mack
     McCain
     Roth
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays are 
44. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I regret that this vote had to have been 
taken. I have made it clear from the very beginning that my hope is we 
can find some way to compromise. We have thought we have already 
compromised extensively. We have limited the number of amendments. We 
have limited the time on those amendments. We are now even prepared to 
allow second degrees so long as we get a vote. That is the regular 
order.
  We believe, as strongly as we want to resolve the marriage tax 
penalty, that having the opportunity to offer a better alternative is 
something that is so fundamental to the rights of every Democratic 
Senator. This vote we took had nothing to do with the marriage tax 
penalty. It had everything to do with a Senator's right to offer an 
amendment that would improve a marriage tax penalty bill. I am hopeful 
we can have some resolution on this matter at some point in the not-
too-distant future.
  I will tell our colleagues in the majority that this vote will not 
change. This vote will stay at 45 for whatever

[[Page S2966]]

length of time it takes. So there will not be any diminution or any 
erosion in the strength of feeling we have about our right to offer 
amendments. I am hopeful with that realization we can reach some 
compromise.
  Mr. President, I yield 2 hours to the distinguished senior Senator 
from West Virginia under the cloture to be used as he deems appropriate 
during the debate on the marriage tax penalty.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The leader has that right.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I thank the President. I yield the floor.

                          ____________________