[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 89 (Wednesday, July 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S6497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--H.R. 8

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to H.R. 8 at the conclusion of morning votes on Thursday and it 
be considered under the following agreement:
  That there be up to 10 amendments for each leader, with one of the 10 
amendments for the minority leader described as the ``Democratic 
alternative'';
  That no more than 20 amendments be in order, they be first-degree 
amendments only and limited to 40 minutes equally divided in the usual 
form, with the exception of the Democratic alternative, which would be 
limited to 2 hours equally divided, and an additional 90 minutes for 
each leader to be used at their discretion.
  I further ask unanimous consent that following disposition of the 
amendments, the bill be advanced to third reading and passage occur, 
all without any intervening action or debate.
  I finally ask unanimous consent that either leader be able to make 
this agreement null and void at any time during the consideration of 
this bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this has been very delicately developed with 
a lot of careful consideration and very aggressive work with our 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I know Senator Daschle has 
Senators who have tax amendments they would like to offer.
  I should emphasis that this is not the last effort to try to make our 
Tax Code fairer this year. We will have the reconciliation bill that 
will involve marriage penalty tax elimination, and obviously tax 
amendments would be offered in that area. We still have legislation 
that would eliminate the Spanish American telephone tax, which we 
probably can't get to until the first of September. But it is something 
we should eliminate. Obviously, there will be an opportunity for 
additional tax-related amendments to be offered to these two.
  There may be a number of amendments on both sides that Senators would 
like to offer that maybe cannot be included in this type of agreement. 
But this is not the last train out of Dodge, thank goodness. We will 
have other opportunities to develop a fairer Tax Code, and Senators 
will have an opportunity on both sides to offer amendments.
  I thank Senator Daschle for his effort. I did not want us to just get 
to a cloture vote which might or might not pass. But if it failed, we 
would get no result.
  I think the death tax needs to be eliminated. It needs to be phased 
out. There may be some modifications in the bill as we go forward. But 
a result is what we should always seek for the American people--not 
just a show vote. This could get us to that point.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, while the majority leader and I have 
profound differences of opinion with regard to the estate tax and what 
to do with estate tax policy, I have been very appreciative of his 
willingness to work with us to accommodate the opportunity for Senators 
to offer amendments, which is what this agreement will allow.
  This is a fair agreement. This isn't everything that our caucus or 
our colleagues have indicated they would like. There are far more 
amendments than this agreement will allow. But I underscore a comment 
just made by the majority leader. This is not going to be the last word 
on tax policy in this session of Congress. There will be other 
opportunities. I will do my utmost to accommodate Senators who have 
amendments they want to offer, if they are not going to be offered as 
part of this agreement.
  I thank all of my caucus for their willingness to accommodate this 
agreement and for the opportunity to work through a very difficult set 
of procedural circumstances. This is far better than the old way that 
we were likely to be subscribing to, which is a cloture vote denying 
amendments of any kind, and maybe even denying an ultimate result. This 
will allow an ultimate result.
  I hope we can have a good debate. I hope we can deal with these 
issues in a way that will afford us a real opportunity to consider 
alternatives. I think this agreement allows that.
  I appreciate very much the majority leader's willingness to work with 
us. I appreciate especially the indulgence and the cooperation of all 
members of the Democratic caucus.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________