[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 25, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 672. Mr. FLAKE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 11, setting forth the 
congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 
2016 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal 
years 2017 through 2025; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the end of subtitle A of title IV, add the following:

     SEC. 4__. SENATE POINT OF ORDER AGAINST LEGISLATION THAT 
                   CONTAINS EARMARKS.

       (a) In General.--It shall not be in order in the Senate to 
     consider a bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment, 
     amendment between the Houses, or conference report that 
     includes an earmark.
       (b) Supermajority Waiver and Appeal in the Senate.--
       (1) Waiver.--This section may be waived or suspended in the 
     Senate only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 
     Members, duly chosen and sworn.
       (2) Appeal.--An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 
     Members of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be 
     required in the Senate to sustain an appeal of the ruling of 
     the Chair on a point of order raised under this section.
       (c) Consideration.--
       (1) Procedure.--Upon a point of order being made by any 
     Senator pursuant to subsection (a) against an earmark, and 
     such point of order being sustained, such earmark shall be 
     deemed stricken.
       (2) Conference report and amendment between the houses 
     procedure.--When the Senate is considering a conference 
     report on, or an amendment between the Houses, upon a point 
     of order being made by any Senator pursuant to subsection 
     (a), and such point of order being sustained, such material 
     contained in such conference report shall be stricken, and 
     the Senate shall proceed to consider the question of whether 
     the Senate shall recede from its amendment and concur with a 
     further amendment, or concur in the House amendment with a 
     further amendment, as the case may be, which further 
     amendment shall consist of only that portion of the 
     conference report or House amendment, as the case may be, not 
     so stricken. Any such motion in the Senate shall be debatable 
     under the same conditions as was the conference report. In 
     any case in which such point of order is sustained against a 
     conference report (or Senate amendment derived from such 
     conference report by operation of this subsection), no 
     further amendment shall be in order.
       (d) Definitions.--
       (1) Earmark.--For the purpose of this section, the term 
     ``earmark'' means a provision or report language included 
     primarily at the request of a Senator or Member of the House 
     of Representatives as certified under paragraph 1(a)(1) of 
     rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate--
       (A) providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific 
     amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, 
     or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan 
     guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with 
     or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or 
     Congressional district, other than through a statutory or 
     administrative formula-driven or competitive award process; 
     or
       (B) that--
       (i)(I) provides a Federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, 
     or preference to a particular beneficiary or limited group of 
     beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
       (II) contains eligibility criteria that are not uniform in 
     application with respect to potential beneficiaries of such 
     provision; or
       (ii) modifies the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
     States in a manner that benefits 10 or fewer entities.
       (2) Determination by the senate.--In the event the Chair is 
     unable to ascertain whether or not the offending provision 
     constitutes an earmark as defined in this subsection, the 
     question of whether the provision constitutes an earmark 
     shall be submitted to the Senate and be decided without 
     debate by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, 
     duly chosen and sworn.
       (e) Application.--This section shall not apply to any 
     authorization of appropriations to a Federal entity if such 
     authorization is not specifically targeted to a State, 
     locality, or congressional district.
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