[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 8 (Wednesday, February 6, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S395-S396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SENATE PROCEDURE

  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I thank the majority leader and also 
appreciate his willingness to modify the unemployment compensation 
amendment to make it basically universal for all States for 13 weeks. I 
think that is fair, appropriate, and supported by all Senators. I am 
glad we were able to pass it. I encourage my colleagues in the House to 
pass it as well.
  Also, our colleague and friend, Senator Landrieu from Louisiana, has 
suggested improvements to be made on the adoption credit. Senator 
Bunning also has an amendment dealing with adoption and deductibility. 
We will work with both colleagues to see if we cannot come up with a 
package in the not too distant future that I hope all of our colleagues 
will pass and likewise I hope the House will favorably review.
  I make one additional comment. I am disappointed we have not been 
successful at making the bridge in partisan warfare to pass the 
stimulus package to help create jobs. I urge our colleagues not to be 
quite so fast in the future with cloture votes. I didn't like cloture 
votes when this side offered them, and I don't like them when the other 
side offers them. It denies the Senators the opportunity to offer 
amendments. We had several amendments on this side that we could not 
offer because of cloture. If cloture were invoked, they would not have 
the ability to offer a permanent R&D amendment, which I believe has a 
majority vote; we could not offer making the death tax repeal 
permanent, which I believe has a majority vote; we could not offer an 
amendment that Senator Domenici was pushing for, a payroll tax holiday, 
which many people on both sides of the aisle say has merit.
  I hope in the future, when we are talking about the farm bill--and I 
believe we will go to the farm bill soon--I urge the majority leader 
not to move forward with cloture. Consider amendments. No one I know 
wants to filibuster the farm bill, no one was filibustering the 
stimulus package, but we had several provisions in the stimulus package 
to try to make it truly stimulative and create jobs. When we get to the 
farm bill, I hope the first thing we look at is not a cloture vote. 
Some Members want an amendment to have payment limitations so some 
farmers are not making millions--corporate farmers are not making 
millions out of the farm bill. We find out they are under present law. 
So there is an amendment to have payment limitations. Those amendments 
would fall if cloture were invoked.

  I urge our colleagues to offer amendments, be timely, be considerate 
of others, have good debate, find out where the votes are, and, 
hopefully, not go through the idea of a cloture vote, and if we don't 
get cloture we pull the bill down. That is a recipe for getting nothing 
done. That is how the stimulus bill did not pass. We cannot get 60 
votes; we will pull the bill down. I wish that were not the result.
  I suggested we maybe take up the stimulus bill and consider X number 
of amendments on each side and pass the

[[Page S396]]

bill. That was not the way the majority leader went on this bill. That 
is fine. That was his decision. I think it is regrettable. I think we 
could have done some things to increase employment, increase jobs.
  I hope when we take up the agriculture bill, it will not be under 
cloture, it will be with both sides offering constructive amendments to 
improve a bill that is in desperate need of improvement.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. I ask unanimous consent to be recognized for morning 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are in morning business.

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