[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 14 (Thursday, January 31, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S426-S429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEMOCRATIC ANNOUNCMENTS
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr.
Kerry) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 46, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 7 Leg.]
YEAS--52
Baldwin
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Donnelly
Durbin
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Harkin
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Johnson (SD)
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Manchin
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murphy
Nelson
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--46
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Cochran
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Cruz
Enzi
Fischer
Flake
Graham
Grassley
Hagan
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (WI)
Kirk
Lee
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Moran
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Tester
Thune
Toomey
Vitter
Wicker
NOT VOTING--2
Kerry
Murray
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. REID. Madam President, we have four more votes. They have all
been ordered, just like this one was, as 10-minute votes. We are going
to stick with that. If people are not here--whether you have been here
for 30 years or 3 days--we are going to close
[[Page S427]]
the vote. People have a lot of important things to do this afternoon.
We cannot delay these votes. This vote was 10, 15 minutes over what it
should be. We are not going to do that this afternoon. The next vote
will be 10 minutes, plus the 5-minute penalty period. That is it.
Amendment No. 8
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2
minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to
amendment No. 8 offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Toomey.
The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. TOOMEY. Madam President, the underlying bill we are going to vote
on in a little while suspends the debt ceiling for a period of time, as
we all know. My amendment does not change that fact, but it addresses
one of the consequences of that fact.
The fact is this bill suspends the debt ceiling, but it does not
resolve the underlying problem. So we are going to be back here in a
few months with the same impasse we have had in the past: What do we do
about the mounting debt? What do we do about having reached the debt
ceiling? Will we do anything about curbing the spending that is driving
this problem?
My point is we are going to be back at this situation where we will
have reached the debt limit once again, we will be at this impasse as
to how to resolve this situation, and none of us can possibly know
today how quickly that will be resolved. We cannot know how the other
body will vote, how this body will vote, the President--we cannot know.
It seems to me, given the inherent uncertainty, we ought to at least
have a contingency plan that minimizes any disruption in the event that
the debt ceiling is not raised immediately upon reaching the expiration
of this period. That is what this amendment is all about.
My amendment is about minimizing the risk of disruption in the event
that the debt ceiling is not raised at the moment the time expires.
What it does is it instructs the Treasury Secretary to prioritize three
categories of payments.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. TOOMEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. TOOMEY. This amendment would prioritize interest on our debt,
Social Security payments, Active-Duty military, and authorize the
Treasury to raise the debt ceiling as necessary to cover those three
categories.
I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I appreciate the intent of the Senator
from Pennsylvania. When we stop and think about this amendment, it
reminds us of the movie and the book ``The Hunger Games.'' In ``The
Hunger Games,'' you will recall, children were pitted against each
other until one survived.
Under this amendment, there are three categories that are protected:
military pay, Social Security, and bondholders. Everybody else is out
for him or herself. The Treasury Secretary would have to decide who
gets what money, what funds--whether it is food stamps, whether it is
Medicare, whether it is Medicaid, whether it is the Coast Guard;
whatever it is, it would be total chaos, and people who would find
their food stamps cut would find themselves in greater hunger.
This is a very disruptive amendment. If you think the country is
worried about a lack of confidence now, if this were the law, there
would be less confidence, there would be total chaos in this country. I
cannot think of a more disruptive amendment that would cause so many
problems. It truly is a ``hunger games'' amendment and I urge that we
table the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I move to table the Toomey amendment and
ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr.
Kerry) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 53, nays 45, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 8 Leg.]
YEAS--53
Baldwin
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Donnelly
Durbin
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Hagan
Harkin
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Johnson (SD)
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Manchin
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murphy
Nelson
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--45
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Cochran
Collins
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Cruz
Enzi
Fischer
Flake
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (WI)
Kirk
Lee
McCain
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Thune
Toomey
Vitter
Wicker
NOT VOTING--2
Kerry
Murray
The motion was agreed to.
Amendment No. 9
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2
minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to
amendment No. 9, offered by the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Paul.
Mr. PAUL. This amendment would stop the transfer of F-16s and Abrams
tanks to Egypt. Egypt is in danger of unraveling. Egypt is currently
ruled by martial law. I think it is unwise to give our most
sophisticated weaponry to a country in such disarray. I think it is
unwise to give our most sophisticated weaponry to a country ruled by a
President who recently said that Jews are bloodsuckers and descendents
of apes and pigs.
I hope my colleagues will consider the ramifications of continuing to
arm such an unstable regime, and I urge a vote in support of ending
arms sales at this point to Egypt.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
Would that this amendment were as simple as the junior Senator from
Kentucky described. His amendment would hinder our military assistance
program and licenses for commercial sales of all major military
equipment, including aircraft, ships, tanks, other armored vehicles,
and so on.
Ending these contracts would not only mean a loss of thousands and
thousands of American jobs, it would incur more than $2 billion in
contract termination penalties for U.S. taxpayers. We would also put at
risk our access to the Suez Canal, the overflights of the U.S. Air
Force over Egyptian territory, cooperation on the Sinai, Gaza, Syria,
and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa--a part of the world
where we need all the allies we can get--and our emphasis on the
ability to keep the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement going.
Do I have problems with the way the Morsi government is going?
Certainly. But removing our ability to be involved with keeping that
peace agreement and our ability to influence, this is not the way to do
it.
It is shortsighted and harmful to U.S. security arrangements.
I move to table the amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr.
[[Page S428]]
Kerry) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 79, nays 19, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 9 Leg.]
YEAS--79
Alexander
Ayotte
Baldwin
Barrasso
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boxer
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Chambliss
Coburn
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Flake
Franken
Gillibrand
Graham
Hagan
Harkin
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (SD)
Johnson (WI)
Kaine
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Manchin
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murphy
Nelson
Portman
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Toomey
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS--19
Boozman
Coats
Cornyn
Crapo
Cruz
Fischer
Grassley
Heller
Lee
Moran
Paul
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Thune
Vitter
NOT VOTING--2
Kerry
Murray
The motion was agreed to.
Motion to Commit With Instructions
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2
minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the
motion to commit offered by the Senator from Louisiana.
The Senator from Louisiana.
Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I have a very simple, straightforward
motion to commit. It would commit the bill back to the Finance
Committee for 7 days only with instructions to find savings--cuts--
equal to the amount this bill would increase the debt limit--very
simple, very straightforward, and very reasonable. This would only take
$30 billion to $40 billion a year, which is very doable.
The American people are asking when we are going to turn to the
spending side of the equation. President Obama talked all through the
campaign about balance. Well, we have had the tax increases. Now we are
having the debt increases. When are we going to have any new spending
cuts? This would at least start, in a modest way, on some reasonable
spending cuts.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator wish to call up his motion?
Mr. VITTER. Yes, I call up the motion to commit.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Vitter] moves to commit the
bill H.R. 325 to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the
reading of the motion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The motion is as follows:
Motion to Commit With Instructions
Mr. Vitter moves to commit the bill H.R. 325 to the
Committee on Finance with isntructions to report the same
back to the Senate within 7 days with legislative language
that makes changes in existing programs that reduce Federal
spending by the increase amount required by section 2(b) (as
estimated by CBO) over the period of fiscal years 2013 to
2021.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, we have essentially already voted on
this. It is very similar to the Portman amendment, which lost by a vote
of 54-to-44. This approach was rejected by the House of Representatives
when the Speaker sent over the debt increase to us, which gives us
breathing room. We tried the approach suggested by the Senator in
August 2011--to tie in spending. It didn't work. This moves us
backward, not forward.
I think we should give praise to the Speaker for putting together a
bipartisan approach to, in a way, begin to resolve our debt and debt
limit solutions, and so I ask that this motion be tabled.
I move that this motion, the Vitter motion, be tabled, and I ask for
the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the motion. The clerk will call the
roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr.
Kerry) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). Are there any other Senators
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 53, nays 45, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 10 Leg.]
YEAS--53
Baldwin
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Donnelly
Durbin
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Hagan
Harkin
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Hirono
Johnson (SD)
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Manchin
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murphy
Nelson
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Stabenow
Tester
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--45
Alexander
Ayotte
Barrasso
Blunt
Boozman
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Cochran
Collins
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Cruz
Enzi
Fischer
Flake
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heller
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (WI)
Kirk
Lee
McCain
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Scott
Sessions
Shelby
Thune
Toomey
Vitter
Wicker
NOT VOTING--2
Kerry
Murray
The motion was agreed to.
Severability
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I know that some have raised questions about
whether Section 2 of the bill is constitutional under the 27th
Amendment, though the legislation does not lower pay but rather
withholds it temporarily. Of course, as members of the House knew by
the time they passed the bill, Section 2 is largely moot since the
Senate leadership previously announced our intention to take up a
budget resolution, regardless of whether H.R. 325 is enacted.
In any event, does my colleague agree with me that even if the law is
challenged in court and Section 2 is found to be unconstitutional for
any reason, the first section would remain in force? That is, does he
agree that, in such a circumstance, Section 2 should be severed from
the rest of the legislation, leaving the debt limit suspension
unaffected?
Mr. BAUCUS. I do agree with the majority leader. As we have
discussed, it should be obvious that the overriding, critical purpose
of this legislation is to suspend the debt limit and avoid the
catastrophic implications of a default. This is an entirely different
and severable issue from Section 2, which relates to the budget
resolution and member pay.
Mr. President, it would make no sense to vitiate the suspension of
the debt limit, and risk default, because of an entirely separate
issue. It is hard to believe that many, if any, of my colleagues would
want that result. In fact, were a court to strike down Section 1
because of problems with Section 2, there could be serious
consequences, potentially including uncertainty about the validity of
Treasury securities issued with the full faith and credit of the United
States. Nobody would want that to happen.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 2 minutes of debate equally
divided prior to a vote on passage of the measure.
Who yields time?
All time has expired.
The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
Mr. BEGICH. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
[[Page S429]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the
question is, Shall it pass?
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr.
Kerry) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coons). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 64, nays 34, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 11 Leg.]
YEAS--64
Ayotte
Baldwin
Baucus
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boxer
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Donnelly
Durbin
Feinstein
Franken
Gillibrand
Graham
Hagan
Harkin
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Johnson (SD)
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
McCain
McCaskill
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murphy
Nelson
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Tester
Thune
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NAYS--34
Alexander
Barrasso
Boozman
Burr
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Cruz
Enzi
Fischer
Flake
Grassley
Hatch
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (WI)
Kirk
Lee
Manchin
McConnell
Moran
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Scott
Sessions
Toomey
Vitter
NOT VOTING--2
Kerry
Murray
The bill (H.R. 325) was passed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
____________________