[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 9, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1284-S1286]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TAX EXTENDERS ACT OF 2009

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 4213 which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 4213), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to extend certain expiring provisions, and for other 
     purposes.

  Pending:

       Baucus amendment No. 3336, in the nature of a substitute.
       Reid (for Murray-Kerry) further modified amendment No. 3356 
     (to amendment No. 3336), to extend the TANF Emergency Fund 
     through fiscal year 2011 and to provide funding for summer 
     employment for youth.
       Coburn amendment No. 3358 (to amendment No. 3336), to 
     require the Senate to be transparent with taxpayers about 
     spending.

[[Page S1285]]

       Baucus (for Webb-Boxer) amendment No. 3342 to (amendment 
     No. 3336), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
     impose an excise tax on excessive 2009 bonuses received from 
     certain major recipients of Federal emergency economic 
     assistance, to limit the deduction allowable for such 
     bonuses.
       Feingold-Coburn amendment No. 3368 (to amendment No. 3336), 
     to provide for the rescission of unused transportation 
     earmarks and to establish a general reporting requirement for 
     any unused earmarks.
       Reid amendment No. 3417 (to amendment No. 3336), to 
     temporarily modify the allocation of geothermal receipts.
       McCain-Graham amendment No. 3427 (to amendment No. 3336), 
     to prohibit the use of reconciliation to consider changes in 
     Medicare.
       Lincoln amendment No. 3401 (to amendment No. 3336), to 
     improve a provision relating to emergency disaster 
     assistance.
       Baucus (for Isakson-Cardin) modified amendment No. 3430 (to 
     amendment No. 3336), to modify the pension funding 
     provisions.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana is recognized.


                Amendment No. 3429 to Amendment No. 3336

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, pursuant to the previous order, on behalf 
of the chairmen of the Rules and Budget committees, I call up my 
amendment No. 3429.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Montana [Mr. Baucus] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 3429 to amendment No. 3336.

  Mr. BAUCUS. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be 
dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

    (Purpose: To provide an explanation of the budgetary effects of 
                 legislation considered by the Senate)

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF LEGISLATION PASSED BY THE 
                   SENATE.

       (a) Establishment of Web Page.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the enactment 
     of this Act, the Secretary of the Senate shall establish on 
     the official website of the United States Senate 
     (www.senate.gov) a page entitled ``Information on the 
     Budgetary Effects of Legislation Considered by the Senate'' 
     which shall include--
       (A) links to appropriate pages on the website of the 
     Congressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov) that contain cost 
     estimates of legislation passed by the Senate; and
       (B) as available, links to pages with any other information 
     produced by the Congressional Budget Office that summarize or 
     further explain the budgetary effects of legislation 
     considered by the Senate.
       (2) Updates.--The Secretary of the Senate shall update this 
     page every 3 months.
       (b) CBO Requirements.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed as imposing any new requirements on the 
     Congressional Budget Office.

  Mr. BAUCUS. The first amendment is a simple attempt to improve the 
availability of budgetary information on what Congress does. This 
amendment would require the Secretary of the Senate to create a new Web 
site that clearly provides information from the Congressional Budget 
Office on the legislative actions of the Senate. This is a side-by-side 
amendment to the Coburn amendment on the same subject.
  I believe Senator Coburn has the same purpose in mind, but we have 
drafted this side-by-side amendment to avoid new burdens on the 
Congressional Budget Office. The Rules Committee and Budget Committee 
worked together with us on the drafting of this amendment to assure 
that it would work.
  I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
  I yield the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is all time yielded back? If all time is 
yielded back, the question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 3429) was agreed to.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 3358

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the Coburn 
amendment No. 3358. There is 4 minutes, evenly divided, before the 
vote. The Senator from Oklahoma is recognized.
  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, we just voice voted an amendment that will 
not do anything. What this amendment says is, where we violate our own 
rules in terms of pay-go, we will actually publish both the number of 
times and the amount of dollars we do that. It is about transparency of 
the Senate, being honest with the American people.
  With great fanfare, the Senator from Montana came down and we put 
into law a pay-go law. Since that time, including this bill, we will 
have passed $120 billion of debt to our kids by saying we waive pay-go.
  That is OK. That is the right of the body to do that. But it is not 
OK not to let the American people know that and let them keep track of 
us.
  This amendment is very simple. Anytime we create a new program, 
anytime we pass and violate the pay-go rules by overriding the pay-go 
point of order, then we should list that with the American people so 
they can see what we are doing. It is quite simple, quite 
straightforward. It doesn't require any time. You will spend forever 
going to the Congressional Budget Office to find this. This makes it 
very simple, very straightforward.
  I reserve the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana is recognized.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I think we can vote on this. I yield the 
remainder of my time, but before I do, I think it is a step toward 
transparency, and I urge all my colleagues to vote for it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. COBURN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to 
be. All time is yielded back.
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 100, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 44 Leg.]

                               YEAS--100

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burris
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     LeMieux
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
  The amendment (No. 3358) was agreed to.


                Amendment No. 3356, as Further Modified

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 4 minutes equally divided on the 
Murray amendment No. 3356.
  The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent to use 1 minute and for Senator 
Kerry to have the second minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am offering the youth summer jobs 
amendment to build on the extremely successful summer jobs program that 
made it possible for over 313,000 young people to have a job. I have 
personally heard amazing stories from these young men and women who got 
a job. It changed their lives and gave them the experience they needed.
  This amendment will provide $1.3 billion to create up to 500,000 
temporary jobs this coming summer. It will invest in critical 
employment and learning programs that will help not only these young 
people but the businesses that hire them. The underlying bill is going 
to help millions of families across the country who need a job. This 
amendment will make sure young people get a start in their professional 
lives, firmly planted on their feet and moving toward success.

[[Page S1286]]

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I thank Senator Murray for her work on this 
amendment.
  Today, almost 15 million Americans are unemployed, 9 million can only 
find part-time work, and 25 percent of our Nation's teenagers and 42 
percent of African-American teenagers are unemployed. Both the TANF 
Emergency Fund and the summer jobs program provide desperately needed 
jobs to our Nation's families who are the most vulnerable to our 
economic downturn. According to the Center on Budget and Policy 
Priorities, extending the TANF Emergency Fund will save more than 
100,000 jobs. And providing up to $1.3 billion in funding for the 
summer jobs program will create 500,000 summer jobs.
  I promise my colleagues, provide these summer jobs, and it will save 
far more than that money in the criminal justice system and in other 
social services. This is money well invested.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, why do we keep doing this? Why do we keep 
passing debt on to our children? Why do we keep running program after 
program out here that is shrouded in sweetness and light but not paid 
for?
  We just passed a pay-go point of order 4 weeks ago to great fanfare, 
great breast-beating about how fiscally responsible we were going to 
be. Yet time after time since we passed that pay-go point of order, 
amendments have been brought to the floor which violate it. This is 
another one. This amendment costs $2 billion which is not paid for.
  Summer jobs may be good. I am sure they are. But why do we want to 
put the debt for those summer jobs onto the children of the people who 
are having the summer jobs?
  If this is a priority--and it is--let's pay for it. Let's take the 
money out of some other account. But let's not add to the debt, and 
let's not once again violate the pay-go rules which this Senate has so 
loudly proclaimed is the manner in which we will discipline ourselves 
fiscally. It is a $2 billion item. If we can't stand by pay-go for $2 
billion, we are making a farce out of it.
  As a result of this violation of pay-go, I raise a point of order 
against the amendment pursuant to section 201(a) of S. Res. 21, the 
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2008.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mr. BAUCUS. How much time does the Senator from Washington have?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has consumed her time.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, let me be clear: Working with the Finance 
Committee, this amendment is paid for over 10 years.
  I ask that the budget point of order be waived.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, is this a pay-go point of order violation?
  Mrs. MURRAY. I move that the budget point of order be waived and ask 
for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 55, nays 45, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 45 Leg.]

                                YEAS--55

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--45

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Wicker
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 55, the nays are 
45. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted 
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  The point of order is sustained, and the amendment falls.
  The Senator from New York is recognized.

                          ____________________