[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 9 (Thursday, January 24, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S270-S274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMENDING THE STANDING RULES AND PROCEDURE OF THE SENATE
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed
to the consideration of the following resolutions en bloc: S. Res. 5,
Harkin; S. Res. 15, a resolution providing a standing order to improve
procedures for the consideration of legislation and nominations in the
Senate; and S. Res. 16, a resolution amending the Standing Rules of the
Senate relative to conference motions and bipartisan cloture motions on
the motion to proceed.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. Further, Mr. President, that the time until 7:55 p.m. be
equally divided between the two leaders or their designees for the
purpose of debating these resolutions concurrently; that the only
amendment in order to any of the resolutions is a Lee amendment to S.
Res. 15, that upon use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to
vote in relation to S. Res. 5; that upon disposition of S. Res. 5, the
Senate vote in relation to the Lee amendment to S. Res. 15; that upon
disposition of the Lee amendment, the Senate proceed to vote in
relation to S. Res. 15, as amended, if amended, and S. Res. 16, in that
order with no intervening action of debate; that S. Res. 15 be subject
to a 60-vote threshold for adoption; further, that S. Res. 16 be
subject to a threshold of two-thirds of those voting for adoption; that
there be no other amendments, motions, or points of order in order to
any of these resolutions prior to the votes in relation to the
resolutions; finally, none of the resolutions be divisible.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolutions by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 5) amending the Standing Rules of the
Senate to provide for cloture to be invoked with less than a
three-fifths majority after additional debate.
A resolution (S. Res. 15) providing a Standing Order to
improve procedures for the consideration of legislation and
nominations in the Senate.
A resolution (S. Res. 16) amending the Standing Rules of
the Senate relative to conference motions and bipartisan
cloture motions on the motion to proceed.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader.
Mr. McCONNELL. I yield the time on this side to the Senator from
Utah.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Utah is recognized.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, in just a moment I will be offering an
amendment to S. Res. 15. The purpose of this amendment is to protect
this institution as the world's greatest deliberative legislative body.
The hallmark characteristics of this body that make it distinct, that
make it both great and
[[Page S271]]
deliberative, include the fact that as individual Senators we are
supposed to have the right to participate in an open and robust debate
that includes an open amendment process. This is historically one of
the things that has defined this institution. It is naturally the
outgrowth of the fact that pursuant to article V of the Constitution,
each State of the Union is entitled to equal representation in the
Senate.
So as we are talking tonight, we have to remember that we are not
talking about the rights of the minority or the majority. We are
talking about the rights of each individual Senator having been duly
elected by the voters in his or her State. I have a concern that some
of the implications of S. Res. 15 could undermine this characteristic
of the Senate. In other words, S. Res. 15, while crafted with the very
best of intentions, could be applied at some point so as to undermine
this right of each and every Senator to offer an amendment.
What my amendment does is to guarantee that once this procedure, the
procedure under the standing order created by S. Res. 15--once it has
been invoked, every Senator in this body would have the right to file,
postcloture, a germane amendment to the pending legislation.
I think the history, the custom, and the tradition of this body and
all the things that have made this body great require nothing less than
that.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment once we bring it up.
I yield my time.
Mr. REID. I yield 1 minute to the Senator from Iowa.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa is recognized.
Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I have long believed that rule XXII does
not define the Senate. The Senate is defined in the Constitution, and
it does not mention rule XXII or filibusters.
Second, I do not believe the dead hand of the past should control any
Senate now or in the future.
Third, I believe the filibuster should be used to slow things down,
to make sure the minority has the right to offer amendments and to have
them debated and voted on. It does not mean the minority has a right to
win, but they have the right to debate and slow things down. The
filibuster should not be used as a method to put things in the trash
can.
As George Washington supposedly said to Jefferson, it was to cool
things down. I can understand that. But the filibuster has been used,
and it will still be used even in the future, so that the minority can
stop the majority. I have long believed the majority should have the
right to enact legislation with due regard for the rights of the
minority to be able to offer amendments and slow things down. But that
is not what is happening and that is what my proposal I first offered
in 1995, and continue to offer today, would do.
Yes, it would protect the filibuster as a means of slowing things
down, but eventually the majority would be able to act, and that is as
I think the Founders and the drafters of our Constitution really meant
it to be.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I believe I have no further requests for
time on this side. If that, in fact, is the case, and the Republican
leader has no request for time, I yield whatever time I have.
Mr. McCONNELL. I yield whatever time we have.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. All time is yielded back. The question is
on agreeing to S. Res. 5.
The resolution (S. Res. 5) was rejected.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The pending business is S. Res. 15.
Amendment No. 3
Mr. LEE. I call up my amendment.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the amendment.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Utah [Mr. Lee] proposes an amendment
numbered 3.
Mr. LEE. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be
dispensed with.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to reform the
filibuster rules to improve the daily process of the Senate)
At the end of the resolution, insert the following:
SEC. ____. REFORM THE FILIBUSTER RULES.
(a) Motions to Proceed.--Paragraph 2 of rule VIII of the
Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by striking ``to
proceed to the consideration of bills and resolutions are
debatable.'' and inserting the following: ``to proceed to the
consideration of any matter, and any debatable motion or
appeal in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more
than 4 hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled
by, the majority leader and the minority leader or their
designees except for--
``(a) a motion to proceed to a proposal to change the
Standing Rules which shall be debatable; and
``(b) a motion to proceed to executive session to consider
a specified item of executive business and a motion to
proceed to consider any privileged matter which shall not be
debatable.''.
(b) No Filibuster After Complete Substitute Is Agreed to.--
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``If a complete substitute amendment for a measure is
agreed to after consideration under cloture, the Senate shall
proceed to the disposition of the measure without intervening
action or debate except one quorum call if requested.''.
(c) One Motion Related to Committees on Conference.--Rule
XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``10. (a) A single motion to disagree with a House
amendment or amendments or insist on a Senate amendment or
amendments, request a conference with the House, or agree to
the conference requested by the House on the disagreeing
votes of the two Houses, and authorize the Chair to appoint
conferees on the part of the Senate shall be in order, shall
not be divisible, and shall not be subject to amendment.''.
(d) Time Pre-cloture.--Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the
Standing Rules of the Senate is amended--
(1) in the first undesignated subparagraph--
(A) by inserting ``for a measure, motion, or other matter
that is subject to amendment, at any time after the end of
the 12-hour period beginning at the time the Senate proceeds
to consideration of the measure, motion, or other matter and,
for any other measure, motion, or other matter,'' before ``at
any time'';
(B) by striking ``any measure'' and inserting ``the
measure''; and
(C) by striking ``one hour after the Senate meets on the
following calendar day but one'' and inserting ``24 hours
after the filing of the motion''; and
(2) in the third undesignated subparagraph, by striking the
second sentence and inserting ``Except by unanimous consent,
no amendment shall be proposed after the vote to bring the
debate to a close, unless it had been submitted in writing to
the Journal Clerk 12 hours following the filing of the
cloture motion if an amendment in the first degree, and
unless it had been so submitted at least 1 hour prior to the
beginning of the cloture vote if an amendment in the second
degree.''.
(e) Ability of Senators to Offer Amendments.--Rule XV of
the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``6. (a) If cloture is invoked on a measure or matter that
is subject to amendment, each Senator who has not offered an
amendment during consideration of the measure or matter may
offer 1 amendment to the measure or matter (without regard to
whether the amendment is actually pending and notwithstanding
the expiration of the time for consideration of the measure
or matter under paragraph 2 of rule XXII or any other rule of
the Senate) if--
``(1) the Senator submitted written notice of the intent of
the Senator to offer an amendment in accordance with this
paragraph not later than 12 hours after the filing of the
motion to invoke cloture on the measure or matter; and
``(2) the amendment is timely filed, germane, and otherwise
meets the requirements for an amendment under paragraph 2 of
rule XXII.
``(b) If a Senator fails to submit written notice in
accordance with subparagraph (a), the right to offer an
amendment under this paragraph is forfeited.
``(c) An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators
duly chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain an appeal
of a ruling by the Chair that an amendment offered under this
paragraph is not germane.''.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the
amendment.
The amendment ( No. 3) was rejected.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is now on agreeing to S. Res.
15.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second. There is a sufficient
second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu)
is necessarily absent.
[[Page S272]]
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Georgia (Mr.
Chambliss), the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Coats), the Senator from
Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr.
Graham).
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the
Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 78, nays 16, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 1 Leg.]
YEAS--78
Alexander
Ayotte
Baldwin
Barrasso
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boozman
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Fischer
Franken
Gillibrand
Grassley
Hagan
Harkin
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (SD)
Kaine
Kerry
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Manchin
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Portman
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Thune
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS--16
Crapo
Cruz
Flake
Hatch
Heller
Johnson (WI)
Lee
Paul
Risch
Rubio
Sanders
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Toomey
Vitter
NOT VOTING--6
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Graham
Landrieu
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The 60-vote threshold having been
achieved, the resolution is agreed to.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 15) reads as follows:
S. Res. 15
Resolved,
SECTION 1. CONSIDERATION OF LEGISLATION.
(a) Motion to Proceed and Consideration of Amendments.--A
motion to proceed to the consideration of a measure or matter
made pursuant to this section shall be debatable for no more
than 4 hours, equally divided in the usual form. If the
motion to proceed is agreed to the following conditions shall
apply:
(1) The first amendments in order to the measure or matter
shall be one first-degree amendment each offered by the
minority, the majority, the minority, and the majority, in
that order. If an amendment is not offered in its designated
order under this paragraph, the right to offer that amendment
is forfeited.
(2) If a cloture motion has been filed pursuant to rule
XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate on a measure or
matter proceeded to under this section, it shall not be in
order for the minority to propose its first amendment unless
it has been submitted to the Senate Journal Clerk by 1:00
p.m. on the day following the filing of that cloture motion,
for the majority to propose its first amendment unless it has
been submitted to the Senate Journal Clerk by 3:00 p.m. on
the day following the filing of that cloture motion, for the
minority to propose its second amendment unless it has been
submitted to the Senate Journal Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on the day
following the filing of that cloture motion, or for the
majority to propose its second amendment unless it has been
submitted to the Senate Journal Clerk by 7:00 p.m. on the day
following the filing of that cloture motion. If an amendment
is not timely submitted under this paragraph, the right to
offer that amendment is forfeited.
(3) An amendment offered under paragraph (1) shall be
disposed of before the next amendment in order under
paragraph (1) may be offered.
(4) An amendment offered under paragraph (1) is not
divisible or subject to amendment while pending.
(5) An amendment offered under paragraph (1), if adopted,
shall be considered original text for purpose of further
amendment.
(6) No points of order shall be waived by virtue of this
section.
(7) No motion to commit or recommit shall be in order
during the pendency of any amendment offered pursuant to
paragraph (1).
(8) Notwithstanding rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the
Senate, if cloture is invoked on the measure or matter before
all amendments offered under paragraph (1) are disposed of,
any amendment in order under paragraph (1) but not actually
pending upon the expiration of post-cloture time may be
offered and may be debated for not to exceed 1 hour, equally
divided in the usual form. Any amendment offered under
paragraph (1) that is ruled non-germane on a point of order
shall not fall upon that ruling, but instead shall remain
pending and shall require 60 votes in the affirmative to be
agreed to.
(b) Sunset.--This section shall expire on the day after the
date of the sine die adjournment of the 113th Congress.
SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF NOMINATIONS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Post-cloture consideration.--If cloture is invoked in
accordance with rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate
on a nomination described in paragraph (2), there shall be no
more than 8 hours of post-cloture consideration equally
divided in the usual form.
(2) Nominations covered.--A nomination described in this
paragraph is any nomination except for the nomination of an
individual--
(A) to a position at level I of the Executive Schedule
under section 5312 of title 5, United States Code; or
(B) to serve as a judge or justice appointed to hold office
during good behavior.
(b) Special Rule for District Court Nominees.--If cloture
is invoked in accordance with rule XXII of the Standing Rules
of the Senate on a nomination of an individual to serve as a
judge of a district court of the United States, there shall
be no more than 2 hours of post-cloture consideration equally
divided in the usual form.
(c) Sunset.--This section shall expire on the day after the
date of the sine die adjournment of the 113th Congress.
Standing Order
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for the Republican
leader and me to have a brief colloquy about the application of the
standing order related to motions to proceed and nominations that the
Senate will consider. The template for this order was a bipartisan
proposal developed by Senators Levin and McCain and other Members on
both sides of the aisle.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. McCONNELL. The proposal, as initially developed, provided that
the bill managers and the floor leaders of the respective parties would
be able to offer one amendment each if the motion to proceed to a
matter were employed as it is available in the standing order. The
majority leader and I thought it important not to codify who would
offer those amendments on each side of the aisle.
Mr. REID. In addition, the amendment process set out in this order is
not to be understood as establishing a ceiling for offering amendments,
but instead setting a floor for offering them. The order sets out a
structure for beginning the amendment process, not ending it.
Mr. McCONNELL. I agree. The Senate works best when all Members have a
reasonable opportunity to offer amendments and put forth the views of
their constituents.
Mr. REID. And although the order provides that in the amendment
sequence, the majority party has the ability to offer the last
amendment, the majority will not use that last amendment to eliminate
or remove language, if any, that the minority was able to add to the
underlying matter through the Senate adopting any of the minority's
preceding amendments.
Mr. McCONNELL. On the subject of nominations, Senate Republicans will
continue to work with the majority to process nominations, consistent
with the norms and traditions of the Senate. One of those customs is
for home-State senators to be consulted on, and approve of, nominations
from their States before the committee on the Judiciary moves forward
with considering those nominations, be it a nomination to serve as a
U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshall, or judicial officer. It is my
understanding that the order does not change, in any way, the Senate's
``blue slip'' process.
Mr. REID. I agree. Furthermore, it is our expectation that this new
process for considering nominations as set out in this order will not
be the norm, but that the two leaders will continue to work together to
schedule votes on nominees in a timely manner by unanimous consent,
except in extraordinary circumstances.
Mr. McCONNELL. Finally, I would confirm with the majority leader that
the Senate would not consider other resolutions relating to any
standing order or rules this Congress unless they went through the
regular order process?
Mr. REID. That is correct. Any other resolutions related to Senate
procedure would be subject to a regular order process including
consideration by the Rules Committee.
[[Page S273]]
Mr. McCONNELL. I thank the majority leader for confirming my
understanding of the application of the standing order.
Mr. REID. In addition to the standing order, I will enforce existing
rules to make the Senate operate more efficiently. After reasonable
notice, I will insist that any Senator who objects to consent requests
or threatens to filibuster come to the floor and exercises his or her
rights himself or herself. This will apply to all objections to
unanimous consent requests. Senators should be required to come to the
floor and participate in the legislative process--to voice objections,
engage in debate, or offer amendments.
In addition, Rule XXII makes provision for 30 hours of debate after
cloture is invoked. Within the 30 hours, Senators have strict
limitations on the amount of time each Senator is allowed to speak.
These limits should be enforced and Rule XXII further says, ``After no
more than thirty hours of debate,'' so 30 hours will be considered the
outside limit of post-cloture debate time.
Finally, we will also announce that when the majority leader or bill
manager has reasonably alerted the body of the intention to do so and
the Senate is not in a quorum call and there is no order of the Senate
to the contrary, the Presiding Officer may ask if there is further
debate, and if no Senator seeks recognition, the Presiding Officer may
put the question to a vote. This is consistent with precedent of the
Senate and with Riddick's Senate Procedure, 1992. See page 716 in
Riddick's and footnotes 385 and 386 on page 764. This can be done pre-
cloture or post-cloture on any amendment, bill, resolution or
nomination.
Mr. McCONNELL. This is consistent with the precedent of the Senate
with the understanding that Senators are given the timely notification
of the Presiding Officer's intention so that they will be able to come
to the floor to exercise their rights under the rules.
Motion to Proceed
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask that Senators Alexander and Barrasso
engage in a colloquy with me about our understanding of the operation
of the standing order that the Senate just adopted related to motions
to proceed and nominations, and our intent in drafting it.
The prospect of the majority, for the first time, changing the
Standing Rules of the Senate by violating the provisions of those very
rules was jarring to me and several of my colleagues, on both sides of
the aisle, who care about this institution and the uniquely important
role it serves in our Republic. Use of this unprecedented tactic for
changing the standing rules would be a nuclear option, for it would
irreparably damage the institution just to accommodate the desires of
the current majority. Over the years Senators of both parties have
eloquently stated where doing this would, in the words of the current
majority leader in 2005, be: ``The end of the U.S. Senate.''
Mr. McCAIN. Some of the most vociferous proponents of this approach
have never served in the minority. They do not appreciate that the
course of action they were urging, if undertaken, ultimately would be
to their disadvantage when they served in the minority, which
inevitably some of them will. So Senators Alexander, Barrasso and I,
along with our former colleague, Jon Kyl, began working with like-
minded Members of the majority to diffuse this situation to meet the
goals of making it easier for the majority to bring legislation to the
floor and making it easier for a member of the minority to offer
amendments to that legislation. We worked together to develop
recommendations for the majority and minority leaders which we all
believed would allow the Senate to function in a fairer and more
effective way.
Mr. ALEXANDER. The Senate works best when committee-approved bills
move to the floor in an orderly way and Senators are freely able to
debate and amend and vote upon the legislation. Unfortunately, under
the current Democratic majority, committee work has been marginalized,
as the majority has too often bypassed committees in the legislative
process.
And on the Senate floor, the twin hallmarks of the Senate, the right
to debate and the right to amend legislation, are barely recognizable:
to an unprecedented extent the majority has moved to shut off debate on
a matter as soon as the Senate has begun to take up the matter, and it
has blocked Members--of both parties--from offering their legislative
ideas for the body to consider.
The proposal we developed addressed a concern of the majority--
namely, the ability of a majority to take up a matter--but it
conditioned its ability to bring that matter to conclusion by giving
the minority the right to have the Senate consider at least two
amendments of the minority's choosing--without any requirement of
germaneness--as well as two amendments of the majority's choosing.
The minority, in fact, would get to offer the first amendment under
this procedure. And while the majority would get to offer the last
amendment, all eight of the Members who developed this idea--four
Republicans and four Democrats--agreed that the majority could not use
its final amendment to strike or eliminate legislative language, if
any, that the Senate adopted from one of the minority's amendments.
Mr. McCAIN. That is correct. And I want to underscore that the
amendment construct we developed is not to be used as a ceiling to
limit the ability of Members of the majority or the minority to offer
just two amendments per side. Rather, we intend it to be used as an
amendment floor--a minimum guarantee of amendments--that would serve to
start the amendment process so as many Members as possible could
participate in that process. Having a robust amendment process,
especially on legislation of major consequence, is how the Senate has
traditionally operated. It is something that has been sorely lacking
for the last several years. And it is something that, when it has
occurred, has invariably led to legislative achievement. It is for the
purpose of strengthening the right to amend legislation that we helped
draft the new procedure of a majority motion to proceed. If the
majority instead begins to use this procedure to limit the minority to
just two amendments before seeking to bring consideration of a bill to
a close, then we would view that as an abuse of this procedure. It
would break faith with us who worked in good faith. Under those
circumstances, we would oppose cloture on the bill and would urge that
our colleagues do the same.
Mr. ALEXANDER. I strongly agree with the understanding of my friend,
the senior Senator from Arizona. I, too, would oppose cloture on a
matter if the majority abused the motion to proceed set out in the
order by using that procedure as the high-water mark for the
consideration of amendments, rather than as a starting point for a
robust amendment process.
Mr. BARRASSO. I agree with the views expressed by my good friends
from Arizona and Tennessee. They and I, and our Democratic colleagues,
worked in good faith on the concepts embodied in the order the Senate
has just adopted. I am hopeful that the majority will use the
procedures in this order in harmony with our good intentions. If not, I
will oppose cloture on legislation or nominations.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, thank you very much.
We are going to have one more vote tonight. The next vote will be on
Sandy and matters relating to Sandy on Monday night at 5:30.
I have spoken with the soon-to-be chair of the Foreign Relations
Committee and Ranking Member Corker. We are going to have a vote after
the business meeting sometime on Tuesday on the new Secretary of State.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to S. Res. 16.
Mr. CORKER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There
appears to be a sufficient second. There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Georgia (Mr.
Chambliss), the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Coats), the Senator from
Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr.
Graham).
[[Page S274]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). Are there any other Senators in the
Chamber desiring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 86, nays 9, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 2 Leg.]
YEAS--86
Alexander
Ayotte
Baldwin
Barrasso
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boozman
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gillibrand
Grassley
Hagan
Harkin
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (SD)
Kaine
Kerry
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Manchin
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Portman
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Risch
Roberts
Rockefeller
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Thune
Toomey
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Vitter
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS--9
Cruz
Johnson (WI)
Lee
Paul
Rubio
Sanders
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
NOT VOTING--5
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Graham
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote the yeas are 86 and the nays are
9. Two-thirds of those voting having voted in the affirmative, the
resolution is agreed to.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and lay that
motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 16) reads as follows:
S. Res. 16
Resolved,
SECTION 1. BIPARTISAN CLOTURE ON THE MOTION TO PROCEED.
Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by
inserting at the end the following:
``3. If a cloture motion on a motion to proceed to a
measure or matter is presented in accordance with this rule
and is signed by 16 Senators, including the Majority Leader,
the Minority Leader, 7 additional Senators not affiliated
with the majority, and 7 additional Senators not affiliated
with the minority, one hour after the Senate meets on the
following calendar day, the Presiding Officer, or the clerk
at the direction of the Presiding Officer, shall lay the
motion before the Senate. If cloture is then invoked on the
motion to proceed, the question shall be on the motion to
proceed, without further debate.''.
SEC. 2. CONFERENCE MOTIONS.
Rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is
amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs 2 through 9 as paragraphs 3
through 10, respectively;
(2) in paragraph 3(c), as so redesignated, by striking
``paragraph 4'' and inserting ``paragraph 5'';
(3) in paragraph 4(b), as so redesignated, by striking
``paragraph 4'' and inserting ``paragraph 5'';
(4) in paragraph 5(a), as so redesignated, by striking
``paragraph 2 or paragraph 3'' and inserting ``paragraph 3 or
paragraph 4'';
(5) in paragraph 6, as so redesignated--
(A) in subparagraph (a), by striking ``paragraph 2 or 3''
and inserting ``paragraph 3 or paragraph 4'';
(B) in subparagraph (b), by striking ``paragraph (4)'' each
place it appears and inserting ``paragraph (5)''; and
(6) inserting after paragraph 1 the following:
``2. (a) When a message from the House of Representatives
is laid before the Senate, it shall be in order for a single,
non-divisible motion to be made that includes--
``(1) a motion to disagree to a House amendment or insist
upon a Senate amendment;
``(2) a motion to request a committee of conference with
the House or to agree to a request by the House for a
committee of conference; and
``(3) a motion to authorize the Presiding Officer to
appoint conferees (or a motion to appoint conferees).
``(b) If a cloture motion is presented on a motion made
pursuant to subparagraph (a), the motion shall be debatable
for no more than 2 hours, equally divided in the usual form,
after which the Presiding Officer, or the clerk at the
direction of the Presiding Officer, shall lay the motion
before the Senate. If cloture is then invoked on the motion,
the question shall be on the motion, without further
debate.''.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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