[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2947-S2948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            VOTE ON OVERTIME

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last night there was an exchange between the 
distinguished Senator from Kentucky and myself, pleasant as it always 
is between the two of us, regarding the overtime vote that we believe 
is essential to moving forward on this legislation that will be before 
the Senate at 11 o'clock today. My friend, the senior Senator from 
Kentucky, said we had voted on this once before.
  I wanted to make sure what the facts were. There is no question that 
I was right. We did vote on it once before. We voted on it in the 
Senate and it passed by a nice margin. It was voted on in the House and 
passed by a nice margin. It was on the Omnibus appropriations bill.
  Magically, when it came back after the conference, it was stricken, 
even though it had passed both Houses of the legislature by a large 
margin.
  The point is, having had a vote on the overtime bill should not take 
away the fact that it was stripped in conference with Democrats not 
participating in the conference. We believe that overtime is important.
  On my trip home last week, I visited fire stations and police 
stations. The first thing they talk about is: What is happening to our 
overtime? People in America are concerned by the hundreds of thousands, 
if not millions. That is why we demand a vote on overtime.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kentucky is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, very briefly, my good friend from 
Nevada and I discussed this last night and I listened carefully to what 
he just said. I want to make one adjustment as we get the facts before 
our colleagues.
  On the amendment to prohibit the Labor Department from going forward 
with the 541 regulations, that was approved in the Senate. We voted on 
it earlier. It was not approved in the House. That is why it was a 
matter in conference.
  As my good friend from Nevada pointed out, it was subsequently not 
agreed to in the conference. There was an additional vote in the House 
on a motion to instruct conferees, which came out the way my friend 
from Nevada suggests; but on the vote that counted, the House of 
Representatives did not approve the effort to block the Department of 
Labor from going forward with the overtime regulation.
  As my friend from Nevada conceded, we have voted on this once and I 
am rather confident, given the persistence of Members on that side of 
the aisle, at some point we will probably vote on it again. But this 
underlying bill is a bill that is widely supported on both sides of the 
aisle. Sanctions have already been imposed on March 1 on American

[[Page S2948]]

businesses. I would like to see, and I know the majority leader would 
like to see, and the vast majority of the Senate would like to see this 
bill approved so we can move on with other matters that will come 
before the Senate.

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