[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 209 (Thursday, December 21, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8235-S8236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY BLUE CAMPAIGN AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the 
Senate the message to accompany H.R. 1370.
  The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message 
from the House of Representatives:

       Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the 
     Senate to the bill (H.R. 1370) entitled ``An Act to amend the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security to issue Department of Homeland Security-
     wide guidance and develop training programs as part of the 
     Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign, and for other 
     purposes.'', with an amendment.


                            Motion to Concur

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment 
to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1370.
  I ask unanimous consent that Senator Paul be recognized for up to 2 
minutes to make a budget point of order; that Senator Collins or her 
designee be recognized for up to 2 minutes to make a motion to waive 
the point of order; that Senator Leahy be recognized for up to 5 
minutes; that following the use or yielding back of that time, the 
Senate vote on the motion to waive; and that following the disposition 
of the motion to waive, the Senate vote on the motion to concur, with a 
60 affirmative vote threshold, all without any other intervening action 
or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, the question is, Do deficits matter? We have 
had a lot of debate over deficits and people complaining that tax cuts 
add to deficits. Well, tonight we will have a vote on whether we should 
honor what are called pay-go budget caps. We have had these in place 
for about 6 years. Congress has disobeyed their own rules 30 times as 
of tonight. These budget caps would keep spending in order. Yet we are 
going to have them waived tonight.
  My budget point of order would actually say that we should not waive 
these budget caps. We should honor them because deficits do matter.
  We borrow $1 million a minute. The deficit this year will be over 
$700 billion. The overall debt is $20 trillion. We have a spending 
problem. We have rules to keep spending in check, and we disobey our 
own rules.
  With that, I make a point of order on the statutory pay-go scorecard 
that says we should spend within certain limits. This budget point of 
order is pursuant to section 306 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, we simply cannot allow these harmful, 
indiscriminate budget cuts to be triggered. It is so disturbing to see 
our seniors worried about the possibility of a $25 billion cut in the 
Medicare Program. That is a 4-percent reduction. That would affect 
healthcare providers and healthcare services. There is no need for this 
indiscriminate cut to occur.
  It is critical that Congress act tonight, act immediately, so that 
seniors and our disabled citizens do not have the anxiety of wondering 
whether the tax bill will somehow negatively affect their healthcare. 
By voting to waive the point of order, we can remove that anxiety and 
prevent the indiscriminate cuts in Medicare and other essential 
programs from occurring.
  Pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and 
the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, I move to waive 
all applicable sections of that act and applicable budget resolutions 
for purposes of the House message to accompany H.R. 1370, and I ask for 
the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I yield back the time on this side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now occurs on agreeing to the 
motion to waive.
  The yeas and nays were previously ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  The result was announced--yeas 91, nays 8, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 324 Leg.]

                                YEAS--91

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--8

     Crapo
     Cruz
     Flake
     Kennedy
     Lee
     Paul
     Risch
     Sasse

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     McCain
       
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 91, the nays are 8.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to and the point of order falls.


                        Vote on Motion to Concur

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
concur.
  Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.

[[Page S8236]]

  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Georgia (Mr. Isakson) and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. 
McCain).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 66, nays 32, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 325 Leg.]

                                YEAS--66

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Nelson
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--32

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hirono
     Klobuchar
     Lee
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Paul
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Isakson
     McCain
       
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

                          ____________________