[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 26, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4405-S4409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senate will now resume consideration of S. Con. Res. 23, which the
clerk will report.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 23) setting forth the
congressional budget for the United States Government for
fiscal year 2004 and including the appropriate budgetary
levels for fiscal year 2003 and for fiscal years 2005 through
2013.
Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, the managers of the bill are working with
Senators Durbin and Landrieu to try to get something resolved there.
We know Senator Warner wants to speak. He should be given whatever
time he needs to respond to the Senator from Louisiana. But I would
indicate that as soon as we get this resolved, and Senator Warner has a
chance to talk, rather than going directly to the Landrieu amendment, I
think we should go to Dayton and get that out of the way.
In the meantime, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from
Virginia be recognized to speak for up to 6 minutes to speak on the
Landrieu amendment, which will be offered.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I commend our distinguished colleague from
[[Page S4406]]
Louisiana for bringing to the attention of the Senate the need for
greater attention to the Guard and Reserve forces. It has been
absolutely magnificent how they have been, in many instances, abruptly
called from their families and their jobs and within days they are side
by side with an active force member performing duties with commensurate
skills and commensurate risks.
That is the concept of the total force. It has been in place for some
time. But, today, in this situation involving Iraq, we have seen the
magnificence of how this total force concept is working.
The Senator is correct; there are needs to increase the equipment,
pay in benefits. But the amendment, as written, only goes to equipment.
But I am glad you mentioned pay in benefits because the Armed Services
Committee will be taking this up, first, in the context of the
supplemental, where there will be some provisions therein to provide
for the needs the Senator points out, and, secondly, in the annual
review of the 2004 Presidential budget we will make corrections.
But as the Senator knows, having served with great distinction on the
Armed Services Committee for several years--and you are always welcome
back, I say to the Senator--there is a fine balance between allocating
the funds between the active and Reserve and Guard forces. And with all
due respect to our distinguished colleague, I do not believe this
approach you suggest at this time enables us to do the fine balance
that we must do, first in the supplemental, and then subsequently in
the 2004 review.
The distinguished Senator from Georgia is our chairman of the
Personnel Subcommittee; he will have a good deal to say about this as
our committee reviews both. So I yield such time as I have remaining to
my colleague from Georgia.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I thank the chairman very much for
yielding time.
To the Senator from Louisiana, let me say, I do not think there is
anybody in this body who disagrees with you with respect to our need to
look at some sort of modernization package--that is the way I refer to
it--for our Guard and Reserve.
I think when the Guard and Reserve were created decades ago, nobody
ever anticipated they would be called to active duty as many times as
they have been called over the last 10 years. We do need a
modernization package.
Now, the Senator from Louisiana has this amendment which applies to
increasing hardware purchases for our Guard and Reserve. That is great.
We need that, certainly. But there are some additional things I think
we need to do immediately.
We are not going to send anybody into harm's way--Active-Duty, Guard,
or Reserve--who is not properly equipped. But we have families of those
guardsmen and reservists who are at home now who need to be taken care
of.
For the Senator's information, I will tell you, we have a series of
bills, some of which I think will reach the floor at the end of this
week, in which we are going to be dealing with benefits, both from the
standpoint of pay and additional benefits, such as commissary use, and
any number of other benefits for the families of those individuals.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to have, through the normal
process, an additional benefits package, that is a modernization
package, where we look at health care benefits, and where we look at
long-term retirement benefits for our Guard and Reserve. Because, in my
home State, we now have the 116th Guard Wing, the Air Control Wings at
Robbins Air Force Base, where the Guard has been blended into the
active force.
Our Guard folks, today, as we sit here and speak, are flying the
Joint Stars Airplane weapon system in Iraq. It is critically important
that we continue to look after our Guard and Reserve. And I think there
is an ongoing series of packages that are going to be coming forward
that are more necessary at the present time than what the Senator from
Louisiana is asking for here.
But I look forward to working with the Senator to try to do that long
term.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield?
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Virginia has 1\1/
2\ minutes.
Mr. WARNER. Fine. I thank my colleague from Georgia.
I say to our colleagues from Louisiana and Georgia, those Guard and
Reserve that are now reporting for duty and are integrating with our
active forces are, by and large, using that equipment which is in the
regular force structure, the equipment which they use having been left
at home at their various training centers in the several States. So at
this time I believe the equipment to which you refer is that which will
be kept in the respective States for the purpose of training.
So I wish to point out that our Guard and Reserve do have the best of
equipment. It is available; namely, that of our active forces today.
Will the Senator not concur?
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Without question. Nobody is going to be sent into
harm's way without being properly equipped.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield for a moment?
Mr. WARNER. I will leave it to the managers.
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, Parliamentary inquiry: How much time
remains?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Twenty-five seconds.
Ms. LANDRIEU. I will take those 25 seconds, if I could.
Mr. President, I thank the leadership for this discussion. I think it
has been helpful. I look forward to working with my colleagues to
fashion a remedy. But at the appropriate time, I will insist on a vote
on this amendment because in order for us to put a budget together, we
have to have some money reserved for all of these changes that we are
talking about.
I hope, over the course of the day, we can come to some resolution so
that the Guard and Reserve can depend on something in this budget.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time has expired.
Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CONRAD. I yield to the Senator from Minnesota, Mr. Dayton, for
the purpose of offering an amendment.
Amendment No. 409
Mr. DAYTON. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 409.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The bill clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Dayton] proposes an
amendment numbered 409.
Mr. DAYTON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that further
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To provide full and mandatory funding for IDEA beginning in
FY 2004)
SEC. 1. FINDINGS.
The Senate finds that: Twenty-eight years ago, the Federal
Government promised to pay for 40 percent of the additional
cost of special education. Presently, the Federal share is
only 17.6 percent. The Nation's school districts cannot
afford such a large unfunded mandate. Thus, it is imperative
that Congress increase IDEA funding to the long-promised 40
percent share.
SEC. 2.
On page 3 line 10, increase the amount by $792,000,000.
On page 3, line 11, increase the amount by $25,771,000,000.
On page 3, line 12, increase the amount by $38,503,000,000.
On page 3, line 13, increase the amount by $41,764,000,000.
On page 3, line 14, increase the amount by $43,121,000,000.
On page 3, line 15, increase the amount by $44,515,000,000.
On page 3, line 16, increase the amount by $45,912,000,000.
On page 3, line 17, increase the amount by $47,316,000,000.
On page 3, line 18, increase the amount by $48,731,000,000.
On page 3, line 19, increase the amount by $50,129,000,000.
On page 4, line 1, increase the amount by $792,000,000.
[[Page S4407]]
On page 4, line 2, increase the amount by $25,771,000,000.
On page 4, line 3, increase the amount by $38,503,000,000.
On page 4, line 4, increase the amount by $41,764,000,000.
On page 4, line 5, increase the amount by $43,121,000,000.
On page 4, line 6, increase the amount by $44,515,000,000.
On page 4, line 7, increase the amount by $45,912,000,000.
On page 4, line 8, increase the amount by $47,316,000,000.
On page 4, line 9, increase the amount by $48,731,000,000.
On page 4, line 10, increase the amount by $50,129,000,000.
On page 4, line 15, increase the amount by $19,797,000,000.
On page 4, line 16, increase the amount by $20,103,000,000.
On page 4, line 17, increase the amount by $19,903,000,000.
On page 4, line 18, increase the amount by $19,417,000,000.
On page 4, line 19, increase the amount by $18,837,000,000.
On page 4, line 20, increase the amount by $18,416,000,000.
On page 4, line 21, increase the amount by $17,347,000,000.
On page 4, line 22, increase the amount by $16,435,000,000.
On page 4, line 23, increase the amount by $15,382,000,000.
On page 4, line 24, increase the amount by $14,179,000,000.
On page 5, line 5, increase the amount by $389,000,000.
On page 5, line 6, increase the amount by $12,533,000,000.
On page 5, line 7, increase the amount by $18,013,000,000.
On page 5, line 8, increase the amount by $18,482,000,000.
On page 5, line 9, increase the amount by $17,873,000,000.
On page 5, line 10, increase the amount by $17,182,000,000.
On page 5, line 11, increase the amount by $16,377,000,000.
On page 5, line 12, increase the amount by $15,457,000,000.
On page 5, line 13, increase the amount by $14,418,000,000.
On page 5 line 14, increase the amount by $13,239,000,000.
On page 5, line 18, increase the amount by $403,000,000.
On page 5, line 19, increase the amount by $13,239,000,000.
On page 5, line 20, increase the amount by $20,489,000,000.
On page 5, line 21, increase the amount by $23,283,000,000.
On page 5, line 22, increase the amount by $25,248,000,000.
On page 5, line 23, increase the amount by $27,333,000,000.
On page 5, line 24, increase the amount by $29,535,000,000.
On page 5, line 25, increase the amount by $31,859,000,000.
On page 6, line 1, increase the amount by $34,313,000,000.
On page 6, line 2, increase the amount by $36,890,000,000.
On page 6, line 6, decrease the amount by $403,000,000.
On page 6, line 7, decrease the amount by $13,642,000,000.
On page 6, line 8, decrease the amount by $34,131,000,000.
On page 6, line 8, decrease the amount by $57,414,000,000.
On page 6, line 10, decrease the amount by $82,662,000,000.
On page 6, line 11, decrease the amount by
$109,995,000,000.
On page 6, line 12, decrease the amount by
$139,529,000,000.
On page 6, line 13, decrease the amount by
$171,388,000,000.
On page 6, line 14, decrease the amount by
$205,701,000,000.
On page 6, line 15, decrease the amount by
$242,591,000,000.
On page 6, line 19, decrease the amount by $403,000,000.
On page 6, line 20, decrease the amount by $13,642,000,000.
On page 6, line 21, decrease the amount by $34,131,000,000.
On page 6, line 22, decrease the amount by $57,414,000,000.
On page 6, line 23, decrease the amount by $82,662,000,000.
On page 6, line 24, decrease the amount by
$109,995,000,000.
On page 6, line 25, decrease the amount by
$139,529,000,000.
On page 7, line 1, decrease the amount by $171,388,000,000.
On page 7, line 2, decrease the amount by $205,701,000,000.
On page 7, line 3, decrease the amount by $242,591,000,000.
On page 25, line 16, increase the amount by
$19,804,000,000.
On page 25, line 17, increase the amount by $396,000,000.
On page 25, line 20, increase the amount by
$20,456,000,000.
On page 25, line 21, increase the amount by
$12,886,000,000.
On page 25, line 24, increase the amount by
$21,141,000,000.
On page 25, line 25, increase the amount by
$19,251,000,000.
On page 26, line 3, increase the amount by $21,817,000,000.
On page 26, line 4, increase the amount by $20,882,000,000.
On page 26, line 7, increase the amount by $22,525,000,000.
On page 26, line 8, increase the amount by $21,560,000,000.
On page 26, line 11, increase the amount by
$23,221,000,000.
On page 26, line 12, increase the amount by
$22,257,000,000.
On page 26, line 15, increase the amount by
$23,925,000,000.
On page 26, line 16, increase the amount by
$22,956,000,000.
On page 26, line 19, increase the amount by
$24,635,000,000.
On page 26, line 20, increase the amount by
$23,658,000,000.
On page 26, line 23, increase the amount by
$25,329,000,000.
On page 26, line 24, increase the amount by
$24,366,000,000.
On page 27, line 2, increase the amount by $26,005,000,000.
On page 27, line 3, increase the amount by $25,064,000,000.
On page 40, line 6, decrease the amount by $7,000,000.
On page 40, line 7, decrease the amount by $7,000,000.
On page 40, line 10, decrease the amount by $353,000,000.
On page 40, line 11, decrease the amount by $353,000,000.
On page 40, line 14, decrease the amount by $1,238,000,000.
On page 40, line 15, decrease the amount by $1,238,000,000.
On page 40, line 18, decrease the amount by $2,400,000,000.
On page 40, line 19, decrease the amount by $2,400,000,000.
On page 40, line 22, decrease the amount by $3,687,000,000.
On page 40, line 23, decrease the amount by $3,687,000,000.
On page 41, line 2, decrease the amount by $5,076,000,000.
On page 41, line 3, decrease the amount by $5,076,000,000.
On page 41, line 6, decrease the amount by $6,579,000,000.
On page 41, line 7, decrease the amount by $6,579,000,000.
On page 41, line 10, decrease the amount by $8,201,000,000.
On page 41, line 11, decrease the amount by $8,201,000,000.
On page 41, line 14, decrease the amount by $9,947,000,000.
On page 41, line 15, decrease the amount by $9,947,000,000.
On page 41, line 18, decrease the amount by
$11,826,000,000.
On page 41, line 19, decrease the amount by
$11,826,000,000.
Strike Section 211.
Mr. DAYTON. Madam President, this amendment increases spending for
America's schoolchildren and reduces the tax cut for millionaires. That
should not be controversial. It finally fulfills the promise Congress
made 28 years ago that we would pay for 40 percent of special education
costs and would do so starting in fiscal year 2004.
The President deserves great credit for proposing, and Congress for
passing, increased special education funding. We have raised the
Federal share to 17 percent nationwide, but that is still less than
half of what we promised. It is good, but it is not enough.
We have increased spending for defense and homeland security in the
last couple years, and when that wasn't enough, we increased it more.
We responded to urgent needs. For once, let's meet an urgent need that
isn't military. Last year's increase for special education was only 2
percent of that for the Department of Defense. We can afford to do
more.
The need is so urgent that surely we can postpone half of the tax cut
going to the richest Americans. The President's proposal would give
people whose annual incomes exceed $1 million tax cuts averaging
$85,000 every year. That is in addition to the $45,000 they are already
getting each year from the 2001 tax bill.
So who comes first, schoolchildren or millionaires? Yes, it is a vote
for our children.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.
Mr. GREGG. Madam President, I rise in opposition to the amendment. We
seem to have had an intermission on the issue of spending, but the
curtain has risen again. This amendment sets a new standard, quite
honestly.
We increased IDEA spending by 24 percent in this bill in 1 year, and
380 percent since 1996. What this amendment would do is increase IDEA
spending by 250 percent in 1 year, $229 billion over 10 years. In fact,
the way the amendment is drafted, the Federal Government would now be
paying not 40 percent of the cost of IDEA; it is on
[[Page S4408]]
a glidepath--under the amendments that were already accepted, the
Federal Government would be paying 60 percent of the cost of IDEA,
which is 20 percent over what we committed to as a government. Now,
that is absurd.
At some point, this spending simply has to be brought under control.
At some point, we have to recognize that what is happening here is not
an attempt to have fiscal responsibility or proper budgeting but simply
to put forward a show.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.
Mr. CONRAD. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 409.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Miller), is
necessarily absent.
I also announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), is absent
attending a funeral.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there are other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 28, nays 70, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 103 Leg.]
YEAS--28
Akaka
Boxer
Byrd
Cantwell
Clinton
Corzine
Daschle
Dayton
Dodd
Durbin
Edwards
Feingold
Harkin
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Mikulski
Murray
Pryor
Reed
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Stabenow
NAYS--70
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Bingaman
Bond
Breaux
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Campbell
Carper
Chafee
Chambliss
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Ensign
Enzi
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (FL)
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchison
Inhofe
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Reid
Roberts
Santorum
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NOT VOTING--2
Biden
Miller
The amendment (No. 409) was rejected.
Change of Vote
Mrs. CLINTON. Madam President, on rollcall vote No. 103, I voted no.
It was my intention to vote aye. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent
that I be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the
outcome.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(The foregoing tally has been changed to reflect the above order.)
Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, for the information of our colleagues,
we are making progress a little slower today than we would like. But
yesterday we had 23 rollcall votes. We had 13 voice votes. So we
disposed of a lot of amendments, a lot of resolutions yesterday. We
only have a few remaining for today.
I thank a couple of my colleagues, particularly Senator Warner,
Senator Durbin, and Senator Landrieu, because they have been able to
work out a couple of amendments, probably saving us two or three
rollcall votes. So I appreciate their cooperation. Shortly we will be
accepting a couple of other amendments that I believe will be offered
by the Senator from California and the Senator from Michigan. So we are
making progress and we will make our 4 o'clock final vote. I just
wanted to mention that to our colleagues.
We will shortly be voting on the amendment of the Senator from
Massachusetts, dealing with AIDS.
Mr. REID. Madam President, Senator Biden was necessarily absent on
the last vote as a result of attending a funeral. I want the Record to
reflect that.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Change Of Vote
Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, on rollcall vote No. 94, amendment 413,
I voted yea. It was my intention to vote nay. I ask unanimous consent I
be permitted to change my vote, since it will not affect the outcome of
the vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Amendment No. 383, As Modified
Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I now yield to the Senator from
California, Senator Boxer, for the purpose of presenting an amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 383. I ask
unanimous consent to modify it.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order, please.
Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 383 having to do
with afterschool activities and ask unanimous consent to modify my
amendment, deleting finding No. 5 in the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is
so ordered.
The amendment (No. 383) as modified, is as follows:
(Purpose: To ensure that the number of children in after-school
programs does not decrease)
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __ . FUNDING FOR AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) Studies show that organized extracurricular activities,
such as after-school programs, reduce crime, drug use, and
teenage pregnancy.
(2) According to the FBI, youth are most at risk for
committing violent acts and being victims of violent crimes
between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.--after school is out and before
parents arrive home.
(3) There remains a great need for after-school programs.
The Census Bureau reported that at least 8 to 15 million
children have no place to go after school is out.
(4) Current funding for after-school programs provide
almost 1.4 million children across the country a safe and
enriching place to go after school instead of being home
alone.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that the levels in this resolution assume that funding for
21st Century Community Learning Centers is at least enough to
ensure the number of children participating in after-school
programs does not decrease.
Mrs. BOXER. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for
agreeing to this sense-of-the-Senate amendment. I will be very brief in
explaining it.
The budget before us assumes a cut of 40 percent in afterschool
programs. This is a program that both sides of the aisle have been very
involved in crafting, watching the number of children grow in the
program.
We know from the FBI the greatest number of juvenile crimes occur
after school. We also know mentoring is working in these afterschool
programs. We do not want to see 570,000 kids kicked out of the valuable
program, so this sense of the Senate simply is actually a plea that it
not occur, and at the minimum we provide afterschool slots for the
current number of children who are in those programs right now, 1.4
million children.
I ask at this time the amendment be unanimously agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I thank our colleague from California.
We have no objection to her sense-of-the-Senate amendment.
Mrs. BOXER. I ask for a vote on the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
The amendment (No. 383), as modified, was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I yield to the Senator from
Massachusetts, Senator Kerry, to address amendment No. 281.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Amendment No. 281
Mr. KERRY. I call up amendment No. 281.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The bill clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Kerry], for himself,
Mr. Kohl, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Daschle,
proposes an amendment numbered 281.
Mr. KERRY. I ask unanimous consent that Senators Kohl, Lautenberg,
[[Page S4409]]
Daschle, and Boxer be added as cosponsors and the reading of the
amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(The amendment is printed in the Record of Wednesday, March 19, 2003,
under ``Text of Amendments.'')
Mr. KERRY. As all of us know, there are 42 million people living with
AIDS worldwide. The Senate has addressed this issue previously, but the
amount of money annually allocated falls short of the promises almost
every single year. We have been working in the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee to develop bipartisan legislation. What I ask our colleagues
to do today is to provide the amount of money that we will authorize in
that legislation, in order to combat the AIDS epidemic. It simply
increases the funding level included in the budget resolution to match
the spending levels that will be in the authorization bill by $800
million.
In addition, I tell all my colleagues, this is completely in line
with the legislation Senator Frist and I wrote and put together and
that the Senate passed last year. So it is not a change; it is what we
did before, but it meets the promise of the Senate and does not fall
short. It also dedicates $800 million for deficit reduction.
I ask my colleagues to help us fulfill a promise that has been too
long in coming.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. FRIST. Madam President, we adopted an amendment yesterday,
offered by the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, Senator Lugar, to restore spending to international affairs
programs next year by over $1.1 billion, from the committee's level.
The bipartisan Lugar-Biden level would fund the President's proposal
next year for global AIDS prevention. The resolution now accommodates
$15 billion in spending over the next 5 years for those countries
hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This is the largest commitment
made by any country in the world to address this specific problem.
This administration is taking a very bold step, which we support, to
combat HIV/AIDS. I therefore rise in opposition to the Kerry amendment
which would increase by nearly 80 percent the amount of money provided
by this function of the budget. It would also increase taxes by nearly
$1.6 billion, further undermining the growth package now assumed in the
resolution.
I have been working with Senator Lugar and others on this important
issue and will devote my full resources to the effort to combat the
scourge of HIV/AIDS.
Mr. NICKLES. I ask for the yeas and nays.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be added to
the amendment as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. NICKLES. I ask for the yeas and nays on the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 281. The clerk will call
the roll.
Mr. NICKLES. I ask unanimous consent this vote be limited to 10
minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. Reid: I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Miller), is
necessarily absent.
I also announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), is
attending a family funeral.
The result was announced--yeas 47, nays 51, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 104 Leg.]
YEAS--47
Akaka
Baucus
Bayh
Bingaman
Boxer
Breaux
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Clinton
Conrad
Corzine
Daschle
Dayton
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Feingold
Feinstein
Graham (FL)
Harkin
Hollings
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Mikulski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Schumer
Stabenow
Wyden
NAYS--51
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Bennett
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Campbell
Chafee
Chambliss
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Ensign
Enzi
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Kyl
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Roberts
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Voinovich
Warner
NOT VOTING--2
Biden
Miller
The amendment (No. 281) was rejected.
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. CONRAD. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagel). The Senator from Oklahoma.
____________________