[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 108 (Friday, June 27, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6320-S6321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      MEDICARE IMPROVEMENTS FOR PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS ACT OF 2008

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, this Medicare legislation is a very 
important bill. I believe that it is vital for the Senate to take up 
this important measure to have open debate to give Senators an 
opportunity to offer amendments and to have the Senate work its will on 
these important questions.
  As noted in previous floor statements, I have been concerned about 
Majority Leader Reid's practice of employing a procedure known as 
filling the tree, which precludes Senators

[[Page S6321]]

from offering amendments. This undercuts the basic tradition of the 
Senate to allow Senators to offer amendments. Regrettably, this has 
been a practice developed in the Senate by majority leaders on both 
sides of the aisle, so both Republicans and Democrats are to blame.
  On June 12, 2008, I voted in favor of cloture on the motion to 
proceed on S.3101, legislation similar to H.R. 6331, to prevent the 
reduction in Medicare payments to physicians. At that time, I was 
assured by Majority Leader Reid that he would not make a procedural 
motion to fill the tree. Following the failure to obtain cloture on the 
motion to proceed to S.3101, Finance Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member 
Grassley began to negotiate a bipartisan bill that could be brought 
before the Senate. I have concerns with some provisions that may have 
been contained in such an agreement. However, the prospect of the 
Senate working its will and allowing myself and other Senators to offer 
amendments to such a bill is more favorable than filling the amendment 
tree.
  The posture of the Senate is such that for the Majority Leader to 
complete action on H.R. 6331 and send it to the President before the 
physician payment reduction is scheduled to go into effect at the end 
of June, the Senate must pass the same legislation the House of 
Representatives passed. This is the case because the House of 
Representatives adjourned for the Independence Day recess prior to the 
Senate vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R.6331. Since the 
House will be out of session, there will be no possibility for the 
House to consider a Senate amended Medicare bill. To guarantee that the 
same Medicare legislation will be passed by the Senate, no amendments 
to the legislation were permitted. By bringing this legislation up at 
the last minute after the House of Representatives adjourned the 
Majority Leader prevented the opportunity to offer amendments and 
undermined Senate procedure.
  If cloture were to have been obtained on the motion to proceed to 
H.R. 6331 the legislation would have been vetoed by President Bush. 
That veto would have resulted in a further delay, since the House would 
not be in session to override the veto and the scheduled physician 
payment reductions would go into effect at the end of June. There was 
an expectation that the Senate would extend the current physician 
payment rate for 30 days and prevent the pending reduction from going 
into effect. However, when this legislative extension was offered by 
Senate Republican Leader McConnell it was objected to by Majority 
Leader Reid.
  This vote was a crass partisan political exercise. The majority 
leader has been aware of this issue for some time and scheduling should 
have accommodated for the amendment process. I have consistently voted 
in favor of increasing Medicare physician payments and will continue 
to, but I am not going to vote in favor of cloture when there is no 
opportunity to amend the legislation that comes before the Senate. I 
will not submit to procedures that prevent the Senate from performing 
its traditional duty. This is why I voted against cloture on the motion 
to proceed to H.R. 6331. I expect that this very important issue will 
be taken up as soon as we return from the Independence Day recess so we 
can correct this grave problem in a manner that allows the Senate to 
work its will.

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