Congressional Record, Volume 152 Issue 18 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)

[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1135-S1139]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

TAX RELIEF EXTENSION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2005

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senate will resume consideration of the House message to accompany H.R.
4297, which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

Resolved that the House disagree to the amendment of the
Senate to the bill (H.R. 4297) entitled ``An Act to provide
for reconciliation pursuant to section 201(b) of the
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2006.''

Pending:

Kennedy motion to instruct conferees to reject the
extension of the capital gains and dividends rate reduction
contained in section 203 of the bill as passed by the House
of Representatives.
Reed motion to instruct conferees to insist that the final
conference report include funding to strengthen America's
military

[[Page S1136]]

contained in title VI of the Senate amendment instead of any
extension of the tax cuts for capital gains and dividends,
which does not expire until 2009, contained in section 203 of
the bill as passed by the House of Representatives.
Wyden motion to instruct conferees to insist that the final
conference report include a provision that repeals
accelerated depreciation for geologic and geophysical costs
for oil and gas exploration by the five major oil companies.
Obama motion to instruct conferees to insist that the final
conference report include tax relief for the most vulnerable
members of our society, including the low-income victims of
Hurricane Katrina and children in families that are too poor
to benefit fully from the refundable child tax credit.
Hatch motion to instruct conferees to insist that the final
conference report include a permanent extension of the credit
for increasing research activities (based on section 108 of
the amendment passed by the Senate), in order to improve
American competitiveness.
DeWine motion to instruct conferees to insist that the
final conference report accept the veterans' mortgage bonds
expansion provisions contained in section 303 of the bill as
passed by the House of Representatives with such revisions as
are necessary to provide veterans in all 50 States with
access to lower-rate mortgages.
Reid (for Menendez) motion to instruct conferees to insist
that the final conference report include the Senate passed
``hold-harmless'' relief from the individual alternative
minimum tax (AMT) in 2006, and does not include the extension
of lower tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
Stabenow motion to instruct conferees to insist that the
final conference report include a permanent extension of the
credit for increasing research activities, and to reject any
extension of the tax rate for capital gains and dividends
which does not expire until 2009.
Grassley motion to instruct conferees to insist that the
final conference report include the ``hold-harmless'' relief
from the individual alternative minimum tax in 2006 (sections
106 and 107 of the amendment passed by the Senate) to protect
middle class families and includes an extension of lower tax
rates on capital gains and dividends (based on section 203 of
the bill passed by the House of Representatives) to protect
tax cuts for middle class families.
Grassley (for Lott) motion to instruct conferees to insist
that the final conference report include the repeal of the
individual alternative minimum tax (based on sections 106 and
107 of the amendment passed by the Senate).
Grassley (for Hutchison) motion to instruct conferees to
insist that the final conference report include a permanent
extension of the election to deduct State and local general
sales taxes (based on section 105 of the amendment passed by
the Senate).
Grassley (for Santorum) motion to instruct conferees to
insist that the final conference report include a permanent
extension of the above-the-line deduction for tuition and
fees (based on section 103 of the amendment passed by the
Senate).
Grassley motion to instruct conferees to insist that the
final conference report ensure that in 2009 and 2010, the
international competitiveness of the United States in
attracting capital investment, and therefore job creation, is
not weakened further by a higher combined corporate and
individual income tax rate on corporate and capital income as
a result of a higher dividend tax rate.
Grassley (for Talent/Snowe/Lincoln) motion to instruct
conferees to insist that the final conference report include
a permanent extension of the modifications to the child tax
credit made by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief
Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief
Reconciliation Act of 2003.
Lautenberg motion to instruct conferees to insist that the
final conference report does not increase the national debt
of the United States.
Schumer motion to instruct conferees to insist that the
final conference report include the Senate-passed provision
to extend the above-the-line deduction for tuition and fees
through December 31, 2009 (section 103), before it includes
the House-passed extension of lower tax rates on capital
gains and dividends (section 203), given budget constraints,
noting that a conference report which maintains the tuition
deduction will provide needed tax relief to more than
4,000,000 American families each year that are struggling to
keep pace with rising tuition costs.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Massachusetts is
recognized.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I understand that in the order that has
been printed, the first instruction is by the Senator from Iowa, Mr.
Grassley, which includes both the alternative minimum tax relief and
the tax cuts for dividends and capital gains. I understand that he has
2 minutes to speak in favor of that and there are 2 minutes in
opposition to it. I, at this time, will use part of the 2 minutes in
opposition.
I see the ranking member and I would suggest a brief quorum call so
he may speak in opposition to the Grassley motion. I suggest the
absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant journal clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be dispensed with.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I would like to give a list of pending
motions, and I ask unanimous consent that the time not be charged
against the 2 minutes allocated to explaining the motion.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, the list of motions to instruct that we
have thus far are in this order: No. 1 is the Grassley motion regarding
AMT asking for both AMT relief and tax cuts. No. 2 is the Kennedy
capital gains motion, which is in opposition to the former. No. 3 is
the Lott motion on AMT. No. 4 is Senator Menendez's AMT capital gains.
No. 5 is Senator Santorum with respect to tuition deduction. No. 6 is
Senator Schumer with respect to tuition deduction. No. 7 is Senator
Hatch's motion with respect to R&D. No. 8 is Senator Stabenow's motion
with respect to R&D and capital gains. That is where we are at this
point. That is eight. There are a total of 16 on my list, and it is my
hope that by the time we get through the eight maybe Senators will be a
little less inclined to insist on recorded votes. But those are the
first 8, with a total of 16 motions to instruct, which I understand
will all be in order this morning.
I yield the floor.

Motions to Instruct Conferees

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa is
recognized.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, would it be in order to call up my
motion on the AMT and the capital gains dividend?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's motion is now
pending.
Mr. GRASSLEY. I have 1 minute?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Two minutes.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, 16 million additional American families
could find themselves subject to the alternative minimum tax if we do
not act quickly. Failure to pass a minimum level of alternative minimum
tax relief, as was provided in the Senate-passed reconciliation bill,
is not an option. In fact, I support full AMT repeal. Some of my
colleagues are creating a false choice when they suggest that in order
to provide AMT relief we need to remove incentives that encourage
economic growth. We can design a tax package which will include
dividends, capital gains, AMT, and a 1-year extension for all expiring
tax relief, all within that $70 billion limit. I encourage my
colleagues to vote for this motion which provides relief for
alternative minimum tax and capital gains and dividends as well.
I yield.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Montana.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to oppose this
motion. Why is that? Essentially, we must choose between extending
protection from the AMT tax increase this year for 17 million working
families or extending $50 billion in investor tax breaks which do not
expire until 3 years from now, after the next Presidential election.
That is the choice.
This motion says you can have it all. This motion says there is no
deficit problem. This motion says: Don't worry, be happy. Our Senate
bill, supported by 66 Senators, chose to protect millions of working
families from the 2006 AMT hit rather than extending 2009 tax breaks
for investors. The truth is, we cannot have it all. There is a deficit
problem. Something will have to give, and I wish we could realistically
hope the House will be willing to agree to a significant amount of
offsets, crackdowns on tax shelters, so we could do more on this tax
bill, but I am not optimistic. I have deep experience with the House,
and they will not do so, and that is forcing us to choose. That is why
we must choose. Is it the R&D credit? Is it incentives for businesses
to hire the hard-to-employ? Is it a true AMT hold-harmless?

[[Page S1137]]

Those are our choices. The House made their choice. They chose not to
protect 17 million families threatened by the AMT. Some items can wait
until 2007, 2008, or even 2009. Capital gains can wait. AMT cannot
wait. Protection from that tax increase--that is, the AMT--which
expires now, must be extended this year, not capital gains. That AMT
protection expired in December, and 17 million working families are
waiting to hear our choice.
I urge my colleagues not to embark on this dangerous course. I urge
them to reject this motion. We have to choose. We cannot have it all. I
urge my colleagues to be responsible.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, if I have 10 seconds----
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa has 1 minute
remaining.
Mr. GRASSLEY. I am only going to use 10 seconds. I hope my friend
from Montana will agree with me on this, that we do have differences on
this one part, the capital gains part of this bill, but I think we
agree on everything else in the bill. I hope people listening to
Senator Baucus and I maybe differing on this one point will remember
that on most everything that goes on in our committee, we agree. I do
not want them to get a distorted view of our friendship and our working
together on this legislation.
I yield back my time, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There
is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the Grassley motion to instruct
conferees. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the
Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 53, nays 47, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 16 Leg.]

YEAS--53

NAYS--47

Akaka
Baucus
Bayh
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Clinton
Conrad
Dayton
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Feingold
Feinstein
Harkin
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Menendez
Mikulski
Murray
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Salazar
Sarbanes
Schumer
Snowe
Stabenow
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
The motion was agreed to.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, as I understand, the pending instruction
is mine.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct. There is 4
minutes evenly divided.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, this Senate is not going to have a
clearer opportunity in terms of the Nation's priorities than on this
next vote. Under the current proposal before the Senate, it provides
the dividends and capital gains of $50 billion. The President's
proposal which was submitted is $50 billion in Medicare and Medicaid
budget cuts.
We have the choice of $50 billion for the further tax reductions for
the wealthiest individuals or we are going to stand up on Medicare and
Medicaid. If we care about the culture of life, we will vote for this
amendment since one-third of all the children born are born under
Medicaid and receive well-baby treatment and mothers are treated.
If Members care about our seniors and disabled and those mentally
challenged and disabled, they will vote for this motion because it
protects Medicare.
If Members are talking about children, nursing homes, and the frail
and elderly, Members will vote for this motion because it will preserve
Medicaid.
If Members care about research and NIH and believe this is the life
science century, Members will not tolerate the extraordinary cuts in
the NIH budget in cancer and Alzheimer's research, the whole range of
research, and will vote for this motion.
If Members care about fairness for America's families, vote for this
motion over giveaways to the very wealthy.
It is as plain and simple as that. I hope our colleagues will support
it.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa is
recognized.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, this vote has nothing to do with
Medicare or Medicaid. This motion by Senator Kennedy calls for a tax
increase in 2008 on millions of Americans. Critics of lower rates
always want to persecute millionaires and at the same time punish
everyone else trying to save money. The lower rates on capital gains
have benefited low- and middle-income families in a very meaningful way
and reduced the tax burden on citizens. They have contributed to our
economic recovery and continue to help our economy grow. They have made
capital investment in America more competitive so we can be competitive
with global competition. They have helped impose transparency and
discipline on corporate managers which is critical to protecting
investors and workers. Business investors need certainty.
We need to act now. For these reasons, I encourage my colleagues to
vote against this motion.
I point out something that directly involves the State of
Massachusetts. We have heard the same old charge, that capital gains
and dividends are only for rich folks. These charts behind me assert
the opposite. According to Internal Revenue Service statistics on
income for the State of Massachusetts, there are 589,000 individuals
and families who benefit from the reduced tax on dividends, and 212,000
individuals and families benefit from the reduced tax on capital gains.
There are not that many millionaires in that State regardless of how
rich that State is. Not all of these folks are superrich. They are
people like the average American benefiting from this. I don't know why
anyone wants to persecute a few millionaires and punish everyone else.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time has expired.
Mr. KENNEDY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the Kennedy motion to instruct
conferees.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 47, nays 53, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 17 Leg.]

YEAS--47

NAYS--53

[[Page S1138]]

I am going to, in a minute or so, suggest the absence of a quorum.
I would ask Democratic Senators to stay around the floor. We are
going to see, if working with our manager and Senator Conrad and
others, we can maybe jointly agree on not having as many votes as are
scheduled now.
So I would note the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant journal clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that we proceed
to immediate votes on the DeWine motion, the Wyden motion, and the
Talent-Snowe-Lincoln motion--I would state for the record that these
motions will be voice votes--provided further that following those
votes, the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the Reed motion, the
Hutchison motion, and the Lautenberg motion--and, again, we expect
rollcall votes on these three; finally, I ask unanimous consent that
following those votes the remaining motions be withdrawn and the Chair
be authorized to appoint conferees.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, what we have just done is greatly simplify
the course of the votes over the course of the morning. We will have
three rollcall votes following the voice votes. I appreciate both sides
of the aisle working together, condensing 14 motions down to 3 rollcall
votes.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the
motion of the Senator from Ohio, Mr. DeWine. Those in favor say aye.
Those opposed say no.
The motion was agreed to.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is now on agreeing to
the motion of the Senator from Oregon, Mr. Wyden. Those in favor say
aye. Those opposed say no.
The motion was agreed to.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is now on agreeing to
the motion of the Senator from Missouri, Mr. Talent. Those in favor say
aye. Those opposed say no.
The motion was agreed to.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is now on agreeing to
the motion of the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Reed. There are 2
minutes, evenly divided, of debate on this motion.
The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, my motion to instruct conferees is simple.
Our Army and Marine Corps have been engaged in combat operations for
several years now. Their equipment is in a very difficult situation. It
is estimated this year alone that the Army will need about $13.7
billion simply to repair the equipment, not to buy new equipment, that
has been used in combat. The Marine Corps will need approximately $7.5
billion.
My instruction would simply say allocate $50 billion and pay for it
by taking the capital gains and dividend preferences being awarded in
this tax reconciliation bill. I think it makes a great deal more sense
to give our troops the best equipment we can have rather than to give
upper income Americans another tax break.
It is very simple: Are we going to give our troops a dividend in good
functioning equipment or are we going to give the dividend to the
wealthiest Americans?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired. The
Senator from Iowa is recognized.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I appreciate Senator Reed's attention to
the issue of funding for our military. Proper funding for those serving
our country should not be controversial. The method of providing this
funding should not be made into a controversial issue, and that is
where the controversy is.
My colleague suggests that in order to provide funding for our
military, we need to eliminate a tax benefit that doesn't even arise
until 2009. Look at how ridiculous this motion is. How can you provide
funds that are so badly needed today to ensure that we meet the
operational needs of our courageous military service personnel when it
won't be funded until 2009? I remind you that last night all of us
voted for my amendment to support the operational needs of our military
that provides the same benefits but doesn't raise taxes.
I urge my colleagues to vote against the Reed motion. In addition, I
remind my friend from Rhode Island that there are 79,000 families in
his State that benefit from not having the tax on dividends at 15
percent.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the
motion of the Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Isakson). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 45, nays 55, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 18 Leg.]

YEAS--45

NAYS--55

Alexander
Allard
Allen
Bennett
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Burr
Chambliss
Coburn
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeMint
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Ensign
Enzi
Frist
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Isakson
Kyl
Lott
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nelson (NE)
Roberts
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Thune
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner
The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are now 2 minutes equally divided on the
Hutchison motion to instruct conferees.
The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of the
motion. I certainly hope our colleagues will vote to instruct conferees
on a basic issue of fairness.
Today, there are eight States that have sales taxes but not a State
income tax. Until 2 years ago, they were disadvantaged by not being
able to deduct their sales taxes from their Federal income taxes,
whereas an income-tax State would allow their payers to do that.
It is very important in this country that we have tax equity. In
fact, the motion to instruct would give equity to all. It creates jobs
because there is more economic activity when we treat all people in our
States the same and allow them to deduct the State taxes they pay. It
is a matter of fairness.
The States of Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas,
Alaska, Florida, and Tennessee all have this situation in which their
taxpayers will be disadvantaged if we do not instruct the conferees.
I urge my colleagues to support this motion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I yield the 1 minute on our side to the
Senator from New Jersey.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey is recognized for
1 minute.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the motion clearly says that taxpayers
would have to choose between deducting their sales tax costs or their
income tax costs. If a taxpayer lives in a State that chooses to have
both a sales tax and an income tax, why should they be penalized? This
motion is not fair for the people in my State or many States such as
mine that have both sales and income taxes.

[[Page S1139]]

The Federal Government should not be micromanaging State tax systems.
If we have the expense, we ought to allow the deduction. If we are
going to allow the deduction of State sales taxes, we should allow it
no matter where the taxpayers live.
I hope we will oppose this management from the Federal Government of
how a State ought to conduct its tax system.
I yield the floor and urge opposition to the motion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the Hutchison
motion to instruct conferees.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 75, nays 25, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 19 Leg.]

YEAS--75

Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Bayh
Bennett
Boxer
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Burr
Cantwell
Chafee
Chambliss
Clinton
Coburn
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
Dayton
DeMint
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feinstein
Frist
Graham
Grassley
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Isakson
Johnson
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Obama
Pryor
Reid
Roberts
Salazar
Santorum
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Talent
Thomas
Thune
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner

NAYS--25

Baucus
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Byrd
Carper
Conrad
Dodd
Dorgan
Feingold
Gregg
Harkin
Jeffords
Kennedy
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Menendez
Mikulski
Reed
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Stabenow
Sununu
Wyden
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the motion is simple. It says the
conferees need to come back with a final bill that does not increase
the national debt. So if you vote against this, you are saying it is OK
to increase the national debt. Lord knows what we have by way of debt.
It is drowning us and will be paid for by our children and our
grandchildren. It is reckless to charge $50 billion on our Nation's
credit card when we have another option. We can pay for these tax cuts
by closing the egregious tax loopholes such as the $6 billion for oil
companies with record earnings--on the front page of the paper this
morning.
Whether you voted for or against the bill, we should all agree that
we should not stick future generations with the bill.
That is what my motion says. It is very simple.
On Valentines Day, vote against increasing the national debt.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to inform the Senator from
New Jersey that his motion would increase taxes on people in New Jersey
through dividends of $838,000 and capital gains of $270,000.
If we don't do something about AMT, 600,000 people from New Jersey
suffer; if we don't have the college tuition tax deduction, 121,000;
and teacher deduction, 127,000.
I don't know how anybody would want to increase taxes on people in
their States by that amount of money. If you take the approach of the
Senator from New Jersey and have to offset all of these things, there
are not enough offsets to go around to take care of the 100 ideas we
have of where taxes ought to be reduced.
We now have taxes of 18 percent coming into the country into the
Gross National Product for a 60-year high.
How high do taxes have to be to satisfy the Senator from New Jersey
that taxes are high enough?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
The question is on agreeing to the motion to instruct.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 46, nays 54, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 20 Leg.]

YEAS--46

Akaka
Bayh
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Clinton
Coburn
Conrad
Dayton
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Feingold
Feinstein
Harkin
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Menendez
Mikulski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Salazar
Sarbanes
Schumer
Stabenow
Voinovich
Wyden

NAYS--54

Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bennett
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Burr
Chambliss
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeMint
DeWine
Dole
Domenici
Ensign
Enzi
Frist
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Isakson
Kyl
Landrieu
Lott
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Roberts
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Thune
Vitter
Warner
The motion was rejected.

____________________