[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9662-S9663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 3009
Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 619, S. 3009, a
bill to provide economic security for America's workers; that the bill
be read the third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid
upon the table, without intervening action or debate.
I say to my colleague from Oklahoma, I don't know whether he wants to
do this. I know Senator Smith wanted to speak. If you are going to
support this, I hope he can speak after--or maybe you want to let him
speak a few words before. Would that be possible?
Mr. NICKLES. Is the Senator going to make a unanimous consent
request?
Mr. WELLSTONE. The Senator can follow then. I ask unanimous consent
that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No.
619, S. 3009, a bill to provide economic security for American
workers--this is to extend it another 13 weeks, and we should do that--
that the bill be read three times, passed, and the motion to reconsider
be laid upon the table, without intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I need to
ask my colleague a couple of questions.
I am sympathetic to granting an extension of unemployment
compensation. As the Senator mentioned, we have done it in the past. I
am not familiar with the Senator's bill. Has the bill been printed yet?
Not to get in too big a hurry, but is the bill available? My staff said
maybe we can find it on the Internet, but I don't believe it has been
printed yet.
Mr. WELLSTONE. I have a copy of the bill that I would be pleased to
give to the Senator.
Mr. NICKLES. I would appreciate a copy. I would like to look at it.
Mr. WELLSTONE. There is nothing really complicated about this. We
have a lot of people out of work. The economy is not doing well. They
have run out of benefits, and they need another 13 weeks.
Mr. NICKLES. I don't think asking a couple of questions is too much
to ask. Is this a clean 13-week extension in unemployment compensation?
Mr. WELLSTONE. The Senator is absolutely correct.
Mr. NICKLES. Is that all it is?
Mr. WELLSTONE. The Senator is correct. Although it is 13 weeks, it is
20 weeks for States with higher levels of unemployment.
Mr. NICKLES. Back to my question, it is not just a 13-week extension
of unemployment compensation----
[[Page S9663]]
Mr. WELLSTONE. The same way, I say to my colleague, we did it in a
bipartisan way in the early 1990s, where it was 13 weeks, and for
States with higher levels of unemployment, it went to 20 weeks. We have
done it before, and we can do it again right now.
Mr. NICKLES. I will just inform my colleague that I just need to see
his bill.
One additional question: Has there been a cost estimate? I think I am
familiar with old cost estimates on a clean 13-week extension, but I am
not familiar with how much additional the Senator is asking. Does he
have a cost estimate on his bill?
Mr. WELLSTONE. CBO has not given us an estimate. I think it will be
$10 billion to $13 billion. If I may say to my colleague for a moment,
I appreciate his question and what he is talking about, and we will let
you read it. But people are flat on their backs. In the case of States
with high unemployment, it would be 20 weeks. We have done it before.
The CBO estimate--I have given you what I believe it is going to be. I
am not neutral. We need to do this. We need to take this action.
Mr. NICKLES. Just for my colleagues' information, I have not seen his
bill. I understand from staff it was introduced on Thursday, but it has
not been printed yet. I would appreciate a copy of the bill. We would
like to review it and see what it is. I will work with my colleague and
my friend from Oregon, who I know is interested in the bill as well. We
have other colleagues who are also interested in passing some extension
of unemployment. Whether it goes beyond the 13 weeks or not needs to be
discussed. There are Democrats and Republicans--other Senators--besides
just a couple who want to address this issue.
At this point, I will object. But I will tell my colleague that I
will work with all interested Senators to see if we can pass some form
of unemployment compensation extension before we adjourn in the next
week or so. We at least need to see the bill. This idea of having a
bill introduced on Thursday and not printed in the Record yet, and then
wanting to pass it on Tuesday, without other people looking at it, I
think is premature. So at this point I shall object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, if I may say to my colleague from
Oklahoma, I appreciate what I heard and his willingness to move
forward. I can guarantee him that he will have the bill in a matter of
seconds, lest we harp on the complexity of all of this to the point
where it becomes a reason for not taking action; it is very simple and
straightforward, as I have defined. We have done this before in a
bipartisan way. God knows, there is not one Senator in here who doesn't
understand the economy in their State. We can take prompt action right
away, and for people out of work in Minnesota and around the country,
they need this. We are pleased to do this. We will come back to the
floor ASAP and pass it in a bipartisan fashion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. At this time, all time remaining under morning
business belongs to the minority.
Mr. REID. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President. The minority has how
much time remaining?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Two minutes 17 seconds.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have a number of people who wish to
speak. We are told we are not going to be able, even though we are
going forward for the fifth time, to invoke cloture. I do not think on
our side we need all that time. Each side has a half hour. While my
friend, the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma, is in the Chamber, I
am wondering if we can have 15 minutes on our side for Senator
Lieberman to talk about cloture, and the other 15 minutes would be for
morning business because Senator Kennedy has been here all morning
wishing to speak, Senator Sarbanes is here, and Senator Durbin has
shown up.
I, therefore, ask unanimous consent we have the vote at 12:15 p.m.
rather than 12 o'clock, and that the time be apportioned accordingly.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. NICKLES. Reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, the vote was originally scheduled for 12
o'clock, with 1 hour debate equally divided. I know my colleague from
Oregon wishes to speak on the unemployment compensation issue. I know
he has not had a chance. Does the Senator want to move the vote to
12:15 p.m.?
Mr. REID. Yes, we want to use 15 minutes of Senator Lieberman's time
for morning business. Senator Lieberman only needs 15 minutes. He is so
good he can handle it in 15 minutes.
Mr. NICKLES. That is perfectly acceptable. The assistant majority
leader is basically saying this side gets 30 minutes and his side gets
30 minutes, and he is going to change the time allocation of the 30
minutes?
Mr. REID. That is right.
Mr. NICKLES. I have no objection, except I would like the Senator
from Oregon to be able to speak.
Mr. SMITH of Oregon. I wonder if I may take the remaining 2 minutes
on the minority side even though I am speaking for the majority
position.
Mr. NICKLES. The Senator is entitled to speak. They can get their
vote at 12:15 p.m. Can the Senator from Oregon have 5 minutes to speak
on the unemployment compensation issue, and then we will divide the
hour as described?
Mr. REID. The Republican side has 2 minutes left. He can take that 2
minutes.
Mr. NICKLES. We will give him 5 minutes.
Mr. REID. From where does his 5 minutes come? I do not care as long I
know.
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator
from Oregon have 5 minutes and then the hour be apportioned as
described by the assistant Democratic leader.
Mr. REID. I dare the Presiding Officer to tell us what we have just
done.
Mr. NICKLES. The Senator from Oregon gets 5 minutes and then we have
1 hour.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. I ask the Chair, how much time do we have for the three
speakers on our side?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Thirty minutes.
Mr. REID. Ten minutes per speaker. Ten minutes to Senator Kennedy, 10
minutes to Senator Sarbanes----
Mr. SARBANES. Five minutes. We are saving 15 minutes for Senator
Lieberman. It will be 5 minutes.
Mr. REID. Five minutes for Senator Kennedy, 5 minutes for Senator
Sarbanes, 5 minutes for Senator Durbin, and then the other 15 minutes
for Senator Lieberman. If he feels very generous, he can yield part of
his 15 minutes to these other Senators.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
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