[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6421-6422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 767

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be 
determined by the majority leader, the Senate proceed to the 
consideration of Calendar No. 90, S. 767, under the following 
limitations: 1 hour of debate on the bill equally divided in the usual 
form; that no amendments to the Senate bill are in order.
  I further ask that at the conclusion or yielding back of time, the 
bill be placed back on the calendar; that then the House bill, which is 
the text of H.R. 1376 as printed in the Record, following consent, be 
read a third time and a vote occur on passage, all without any 
intervening action, motion or debate.
  If I could explain, before the Chair rules on this, this is the bill 
that would provide relief for our military men and women who are now--
many of them--unexpectedly on short notice serving in the zone where 
the bombing is occurring, to have these tax benefits and lock this in 
so that they know, today, that they will be able to count on that 
change.
  That is my request.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mrs. BOXER. Reserving the right to object, and I do not plan to 
object, I want to have an opportunity to let the Senate know I have 
been trying to work with my friends to get a very straightforward sense 
of the Senate attached to the Senate bill that would simply say that 
the armed services would do everything in their power to ensure that 
where there is a child of a military couple, that the husband and wife 
are not deployed into a combat zone. This is something that we have 
done in the past--during the gulf war--after we found out that, indeed, 
we did have a mom and dad in a combat zone together. I think it is very 
appropriate, as we give benefits to our brave men and women, that we 
protect the children at the same time.
  As I understand it, we are going to discuss the Coverdell bill, but 
we will actually pass the House bill. I ask my leader if that is, in 
fact, the case? If there was a Senate bill, I would object, because I 
would like the opportunity to have this particular Senator's amendment 
included, but understanding that

[[Page 6422]]

it will be the House bill, I won't stand in the way. Do I have the 
assurance that the vote will be on the House bill?
  Mr. LOTT. That is correct.
  Mrs. BOXER. Then I will not object.
  I look forward to working with my friends to ensure that we can 
protect the children of our brave men and women in the armed services.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LOTT. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. COVERDELL. I want to respond briefly to the Senator from 
California. Of course, the question has been answered. Frankly, I have 
personal sympathy for the language in your proposal. The Senator from 
California understands the complexities of this institution as well as 
anybody. It is being run through the committee of jurisdiction. I don't 
know what their response will be. I want to make a point there is a 
clock ticking. Nothing else we are talking about has a finite 
conclusion, which was why I wanted to do what we could do to get this 
done, so that the comfort--I think yours relates to comfort, too--can 
be settled for all the families because they are busily trying to 
comply with this tonight. I think this sends a message to all of those 
troops, their spouses, and their Nation that this is, indeed, going to 
happen.
  Mrs. BOXER. If my friend will yield, I appreciate that. I am fully 
supportive of the legislation. I look forward to voting for the 
legislation.
  I am only saying as we look to the financial burden of our men and 
women in uniform and as we look at these refugees and the way those 
kids look at their parents, it is no different from our families here 
when there is a disruption in family life.
  I look forward to working with my friend to see that we can at some 
future time, very soon--because it could happen soon; they are talking 
about calling up the Reserves now in the Air Force--that we would 
protect those children and those families. We don't want to have a 
child go through the trauma of losing a mother and father in a combat 
zone. We don't have to do that.
  I thank the Senator very much for his cooperation. I look forward to 
working with him on this matter.

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