[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 186 (Thursday, December 11, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2008--MOTION TO PROCEED


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the clerk will 
report the motion to invoke cloture.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 1128, H.R. 7005, the Alternative 
     Minimum Tax Relief Act.
         Harry Reid, Debbie Stabenow, Byron L. Dorgan, Robert P. 
           Casey, Jr., E. Benjamin Nelson, Joseph Lieberman, 
           Sherrod Brown, Claire McCaskill, Carl Levin, Daniel K. 
           Akaka, Barbara A. Mikulski, Charles E. Schumer, 
           Christopher J. Dodd, Patty Murray, John D. Rockefeller, 
           IV, Richard Durbin, Frank R. Lautenberg.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call is waived.
  The question, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the motion 
to proceed to H.R. 7005, an act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 to provide alternative minimum tax relief for individuals for 
2008, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), 
the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are 
necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``yea.''
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), 
the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Craig), the Senator from South Carolina 
(Mr. Graham), the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Hagel), the Senator from 
Oregon (Mr. Smith), the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Stevens), and the 
Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), 
the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), and the Senator from South 
Carolina (Mr. Graham), would have voted ``no.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Klobuchar.) Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 52, nays 35, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 215 Leg.]

                                YEAS--52

     Akaka
     Bayh
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown
     Brownback
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Clinton
     Collins
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse

                                NAYS--35

     Allard
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bunning
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Corker
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lincoln
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Reid
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Tester
     Thune
     Vitter
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--12

     Alexander
     Biden
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Graham
     Hagel
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Smith
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Wyden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 52, the nays are 
35. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by 
which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to H.R. 7005.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is entered.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, the night is late. Morning is fast 
approaching. I appreciate everyone's cooperation. We are going to be in 
a series of pro forma sessions and likely we will be doing no more work 
until we come back after the reconvening of the new Congress.
  I appreciate everyone's work over the past many hours. I have already 
given my remarks. I only say that I would hope the President, who has 
worked so well with us the past few weeks on this legislation, would 
now consider using TARP money to help the auto industry and the workers 
of this country. Any conditions that were proposed by all Senators--
Senator Corker, Senator Dodd; anything they wanted to put in there, 
they could do anything they wanted. I would hope they would consider 
that and do it as early as tomorrow.

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