[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19299-19300]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I appreciate the announcements regarding 
the schedule of the distinguished majority leader. I simply say that I 
think the debate on homeland security this week has been a good one. I 
credit the chairman, as well as our ranking member, Senator Byrd, for 
the vigorous debate we have had on a number of issues relating to 
homeland security. We still have a number of amendments left to be 
resolved today, and I expect it will take a good part of the day before 
we are able to finish.
  I can also appreciate the majority leader's desire to get as much 
work done prior to the August recess as possible, and his desire to 
move to other appropriations bills is understandable. However, I must 
say--and I have said privately and publicly--that his decision to wait 
until next week to begin and then finish the Energy bill leaves open 
the possibility that we will not finish, unless he is prepared to stay 
longer than next Friday. We have 382 amendments. That is about 77 
amendments a day. I know some of those amendments will melt away, as 
oftentimes happens. But we have not seen the electricity title.
  I am told there are other portions of the bill that are being revised 
as we speak. Senators cannot even offer amendments to those portions of 
the bill because they have not seen the draft. So it presents some 
logistical as well as really substantive questions and problems that, 
unfortunately, complicate the schedule even more and the majority 
leader's understandable desire to finish.
  So I just warn my colleagues that, as much as I would like to see an 
Energy bill passed, we have a lot of concerns and some misgivings about 
the current

[[Page 19300]]

bill. We hope we can address the renewable portfolio standard, the 
conservation issues, and a whole array of issues that have yet to be 
resolved. We have not been able to do that. So we are rolling the dice, 
in a way, and gambling, in a sense, that we can somehow accommodate all 
of these questions, all of this debate, and these very serious issues 
in a matter of a couple of days. I do not know how one does that. 
Obviously, it is certainly the majority leader's right to make these 
decisions so long as we all are aware of the challenges it presents and 
the complications to completion it would anticipate.
  I again warn my colleagues and certainly in a most sincere way 
express a desire to complete the work, but we have to have time to do 
that. We do not have, in my view, adequate time with that schedule to 
complete the work on the Energy bill, as much as we would like to do 
that.


                            Child Tax Credit

  I also note the majority leader talked to another issue we have been 
discussing on and off for a long time. I believe it is 48 days since we 
made the effort initially to reinstate the tax credit that was 
eliminated when the tax bill was signed into law for those whose 
incomes fall below $26,000. There are 12 million children--200,000 
children of military families--who were intentionally left out of the 
legislation the majority leader referenced a moment ago. That has 
troubled us.
  We have attempted on several occasions to reinstate that tax credit 
for those millions of families left out. We had a motion to proceed a 
couple of weeks ago, and we have indicated that we will continue to ask 
unanimous consent to ensure we have an opportunity, once more, to send 
as clear a message about the unfairness, the inequity, the 
extraordinary insult this represents to those families who are even, I 
would argue, more deserving of a tax credit than families with higher 
incomes.
  So far our efforts have been unsuccessful because of the opposition 
expressed by our colleagues on the other side. But we will continue 
every day to find a way to see if this matter can be resolved prior to 
the time we leave for the August recess.


                       Unanimous Consent Request

  I again renew the request. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1434; that 
the bill be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table. This is the Lincoln-Snowe child tax 
credit bill for those working Americans who will not get checks this 
week and which we have attempted to address now for several weeks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I 
will be objecting, let me say to my good friend, the Democratic leader, 
that discussions continue between the two chairmen of Ways and Means in 
the House and Finance in the Senate. We are still optimistic that we 
will be able to move forward on something related to this matter in the 
near future. But in the meantime, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I appreciate the optimistic forecast of 
the distinguished assistant Republican leader. I will say, we have 
heard this now for some 48 days. The House leaves tomorrow, and they 
will have left without addressing this issue. So as checks are received 
for millions of families whose incomes exceed $26,000, all of those 12 
million kids whose incomes are below $26,000 are going to be left 
empty-handed, in part because of objections, in part because of 
intransigence on the other side, in part simply because, by design, 
they were left out when this bill was written several months ago.
  It is unfortunate but, as I say, we will continue to draw this matter 
to the attention of our colleagues, continue to find a way to resolve 
this so that some measure of equity can be provided, especially with 
regard to families who need it the most.
  Mr. President, I know there are some Democratic Senators wishing to 
come to the Chamber soon to offer amendments. I understand we have 
morning business until 10 o'clock. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if there is no one wishing to speak, I 
wish to make a short comment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. STEVENS. I know the order is for time on the other side. I ask to 
use about 5 or 7 minutes.

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