[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15950]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   THE SENATE'S CALENDAR OF BUSINESS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I point out to our colleagues and friends 
the Calendar of Business for the Senate. This is the calendar of the 
business pending, the unfinished business, and a list of various pieces 
of legislation reported out of the committees.
  The American people probably don't have this at their fingertips, but 
if you take the time to look at this when you visit the library, or you 
can write to Members of the Congress, you will find out that in the 
pending business the first order is a bill to extend programs and 
activities under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 
Right next to it, it says May 1, 2000. That means that this has been 
the underlying and pending piece of legislation. Yet we are denied any 
opportunity to address what is going to be the Federal participation in 
working with States and local communities in the areas of education. We 
didn't address it in the rest of May. We received assurances by the 
Republican leadership that we were going to come back and address those 
issues and questions. We didn't do it in June, and we didn't do it in 
July, although we were told we would be able to address these issues in 
evening sessions and have a disposition of that legislation.
  In the meantime, what have we done? As my friend from Illinois has 
pointed out, we have seen a tax cut of over $1 trillion. We had 
something else done, too. The House of Representatives have given 
themselves a pay increase of $3,800 a year. We didn't see the increase 
in the minimum wage. They didn't vote for that. In fact, when Tom DeLay 
was asked about the increase in the minimum wage, he said: That doesn't 
affect us. What he continued to say is we are not in the business; we 
are overseers of a $2 trillion economy. And he was quite dismissive of 
the problems and challenges that are affecting working families at the 
lower wrung of the economic ladder.
  We have not done the American people's business. We are not 
addressing the questions of smaller class sizes. We are not addressing 
the issue of trying to train teachers to be better teachers. We are not 
addressing the issue of afterschool programs. We are not addressing the 
efforts to try to deal with the problems of the digital divide. We are 
not dealing with the greater kinds of accountability of the 
expenditures of funds in terms of education. That is off the agenda. As 
has been pointed out many times since the founding of the Republic, 
debates on the floor of the Senate are about priorities.
  The majority leaders have effectively dismissed debate, discussion, 
and action on education in order to have a trillion dollar tax cut for 
the wealthiest individuals and a pay increase for themselves. No 
attention to prescription drugs. Thumbs down on that. Thumbs down on a 
Patients' Bill of Rights. We haven't got time to debate a Patients' 
Bill of Rights or a Medicare prescription drug program. We haven't got 
the time to debate a gun issue to try to make our schools safer. But we 
have the time to debate a trillion dollar tax cut and a pay increase of 
$3,800.
  If you take the increase in the minimum wage for 2 years, we are 
talking about half of what the increase would be for a Member of 
Congress. We can't even debate it. We can't discuss it. We can't vote 
on it because that is not part of the agenda of our Republican 
leadership. That is what this is about. It is about priorities. That is 
what this election is going to be about, ultimately. No action in terms 
of the Patients' Bill of Rights, even though we are one vote short of 
being able to get action, to try to ensure that decisions affecting 
families are made by doctors and trained medical officials and not 
accountants for the HMOs. We are not going to have, evidently, action 
on the gun issues to try to make our schools safer and more secure, to 
try to limit the availability of guns to children in our society that 
results in more than 10 children every single day being killed. We are 
not able to do it. We want to indicate to the majority that we are 
going to take every step possible to make sure we are going to address 
those issues. We have been cut out and closed out to date. But we are 
not going to do it.
  Here it is Tuesday morning. Quorum calls all day Monday. Quorum calls 
this morning. Failing to take action on these issues, it is basically 
an abdication of our responsibility. We are not going to go silently 
into the night. I understand the hour of 10 o'clock has arrived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois is recognized.
  Mr. DURBIN. Since there are no Republican Senators on the floor 
seeking


recognition, I ask unanimous consent to speak 10 additional minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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