[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 23, 2001)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D499-D501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                            Wednesday, May 23, 2001

[[Page D499]]

                              Daily Digest


HIGHLIGHTS

      Senate passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation 
      Act.
      Senate confirmed the nomination of Howard H. Baker, Jr., to be 
      Ambassador to Japan.
      The House passed H.R. 1, Leave No Child Behind Act.


                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S5489-S5570
Measures Introduced: Ten bills and one resolution was introduced, as 
follows: S. 935-944, and S. Con. Res. 42.
  Page S5542
Measures Reported:
  H.R. 581, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the 
Secretary of Agriculture to use funds appropriated for wildland fire 
management in the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2001, to reimburse the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to 
facilitate the interagency cooperation required under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 in connection with wildland fire management.
  S. 378, to redesignate the Federal building located at 3348 South 
Kedzie Avenue, in Chicago, Illinois, as the ``Paul Simon Chicago Job 
Corps Center''.
  S. 468, to designate the Federal building located at 6230 Van Nuys 
Boulevard in Van Nuys, California, as the ``James C. Corman Federal 
Building''.
  S. 757, to designate the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 504 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, 
Pennsylvania, as the ``Edward N. Cahn Federal Building and United 
States Courthouse''.
  S. 774, to designate the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 121 West Spring Street in New Albany, Indiana, as 
the ``Lee H. Hamilton Federal Building and United States Courthouse''. 
                                                             Page S5541
Measures Passed:
  Tax Relief Reconciliation: By 62 yeas to 38 nays (Vote No. 165), 
Senate passed H.R. 1836, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to 
section 104 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 
2002, after taking action on the following amendments proposed thereto:
                                                      Pages S5490-S5522
Adopted:
  By 94 yeas to 4 nays (Vote No. 159), Snowe Amendment No. 741, to 
express the sense of the Senate that the modifications to the child tax 
credit contained in section 201 should be part of the final tax 
package.
Pages S5490-91
  Nelson (of NE) Modified Amendment No. 769, to provide a circuit 
breaker for tax cuts if debt levels are not reduced as provided in the 
budget resolution for fiscal year 2002.
Page S5491
  Harkin/Johnson Amendment No. 784, to provide a deduction for 
unreimbursed expenses related to certain public activities of emergency 
response professionals.
Pages S5491-92
  Grassley/Baucus Amendment No. 789, to expand the adoption credit, to 
allow a deduction for 100 percent of the health insurance costs of 
self-employed individuals, to ease rollover limitations on qualified 
tuition programs, to disregard any child tax credit refund in the 
administration of Federal programs and federally assisted programs, to 
provide that certain computer expenses are to be treated as qualified 
elementary and secondary education expenses for purposes of education 
savings accounts, to exempt State and local candidate committees from 
notification requirements, to expand the dependent care credit, to 
provide for education savings accounts, to provide a credit against tax 
for employers who provide child care assistance, to provide that a 
deduction equal to fair market value shall be allowed for charitable 
contributions of literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions 
created by the donor, to waive the statute of limitation for taxes on 
certain farm valuations, to permanently extend the research credit and 
to increase the rates of the alternative incremental credit,

[[Page D500]]

to provide for a credit for medical research related to developing 
vaccines against wide-spread diseases, to clarify the coordination of 
various education-related exclusions with the deduction for higher 
education expenses, to modify the treatment of bonds issued to acquire 
renewable resources on land subject to conservation easement, to 
accelerate benefits of wage tax credits for empowerment zones, to 
enhance book donations and literacy, to treat certain hospital support 
organizations as qualified organizations for purposes of determining 
acquisition indebtedness, to provide tax-exempt bond authority for 
treatment facilities that reduce arsenic levels in drinking water, and 
to provide for marriage penalty relief.
Pages S5496-97
  By 98 yeas to 2 nays (Vote No. 164), Collins/Warner Modified 
Amendment No. 675, to provide an above-the-line deduction for qualified 
professional development expenses of elementary and secondary school 
teachers and to allow a credit against income tax to elementary and 
secondary school teachers who provide classroom materials. 
                                                  Pages S5490, S5497-99
  Baucus (for Kerry) Amendment No. 787, to permit the disclosure of 
certain tax information by the Secretary of the Treasury to facilitate 
combined Federal and State employment tax reporting. 
                                                      Pages S5499-S5500
  During consideration of this measure today, Senate also took the 
following actions:
  By 46 yeas to 54 nays (Vote No. 160), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, Senate 
rejected a motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 with 
respect to consideration of Stabenow Motion to Commit the bill to the 
Committee on Finance with instructions to report back forthwith. 
Subsequently, a point of order that the amendment was in violation of 
section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act was sustained, and 
the motion thus fell.
Page S5492
  By 49 yeas to 51 nays (Vote No. 161), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, Senate 
rejected a motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 with 
respect to consideration of Grassley Amendment No. 786 (to Amendment 
No. 763), to make certain modifications with respect to long-term care 
insurance policies. Subsequently, a point of order that the amendment 
was in violation of section 311(a)2(b)of the Congressional Budget Act 
was sustained, and the amendment thus fell.
Page S5493
  By 47 yeas to 53 nays (Vote No. 162), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, Senate 
rejected a motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 with 
respect to consideration of Graham Amendment No. 763, to allow 
individuals a deduction for qualified long-term care insurance 
premiums, use of such insurance under cafeteria plans and flexible 
spending arrangements, and a credit for individuals with longterm care 
needs. Subsequently, a point of order that the amendment was in 
violation of section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act was 
sustained, and the amendment thus fell.
Pages S5493-94
  By 46 yeas to 54 nays (Vote No. 163), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, Senate 
rejected a motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 with 
respect to consideration of Schumer Amendment No. 777, to provide 
alternative minimum tax relief for individuals, extend certain expiring 
tax provisions, and to provide an offset for revenue loss. 
Subsequently, a point of order that the amendment was in violation of 
section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act was sustained, and 
the amendment thus fell.
Pages S5494-95
  Senate insisted on its amendment, requested a conference with the 
House thereon, and the chair was authorized to appoint the following 
conferees on the part of the Senate: Senators Grassley, Hatch, 
Murkowski, Nickles, Gramm, Baucus, Rockefeller, Daschle, and Breaux. 
                                                             Page S5522
Nomination Announcement: In accordance with the provisions of S. Res. 
8, Committee on the Judiciary failed to report the nomination of Ted 
Olson, to be Solicitor General of the United States, by a tie vote of 
9-9.
  Page S5531
Messages from the President: Senate received the following message from 
the President of the United States:
  Transmitting, pursuant to law, a report relative to the national 
emergency with respect to the Government of Liberia; to the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (PM-22)
Pages S5537-38
Nominations Confirmed: Senate discharged the Committee on Foreign 
Relations from further consideration and confirmed the following 
nomination:
  By a unanimous vote of 99 yeas (Vote No. EX. 166), Howard H. Baker, 
Jr., of Tennessee, to be Ambassador to Japan. 
                                           Pages S5542, S5561-69, S5570
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  Ronald Rosenfeld, of Maryland, to be President, Government National 
Mortgage Association.
  William Gerry Myers III, of Idaho, to be Solicitor of the Department 
of the Interior.
  Robert D. Blackwill, of Kansas, to be Ambassador to India.
  Anthony Horace Gioia, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic 
of Malta.

[[Page D501]]


  J. Robert Flores, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Office of 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
  William J. Riley, of Nebraska, to be United States Circuit Judge for 
the Eighth Circuit.
Pages S5569-70
Executive Communications:
  Pages S5538-39
Petitions and Memorials:
  Pages S5539-41
Executive Reports of Committees:
  Pages S5541-42
Statements on Introduced Bills:
  Pages S5544-53
Additional Cosponsors:
  Pages S5542-44
Amendments Submitted:
  Pages S5553-60
Additional Statements:
  Pages S5535-37
Notices of Hearings:
  Pages S5560-61
Authority for Committees:
  Page S5561
Record Votes: Eight record votes were taken today. (Total--166) 
                                    Pages S5490-95, S5499, S5522, S5569
Adjournment: Senate met at 9:30 a.m., and adjourned at 5:57 p.m., until 
10 a.m., on Thursday, May 24, 2001. (For Senate's program, see the 
remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page S5569.)