[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15460-15461]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--H.R. 4520

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments I will be propounding a 
unanimous consent request that we can comment on afterwards. It 
reflects a number of negotiations and back and forth between both sides 
of the aisle that have gone on for several weeks, but aggressively and 
intensively over the last 8 to 9 hours.
  I ask unanimous consent that on Thursday, July 15, immediately 
following morning business, the pending motion to proceed be withdrawn 
and the majority leader or his designee be recognized in order to move 
to proceed to Calendar No. 591, H.R. 4520; provided further that the 
motion be agreed to and that Chairman Grassley then be immediately 
recognized in order to offer S. 1637, as passed by the Senate, as a 
substitute amendment; provided further that Senator DeWine be 
recognized in order to offer a DeWine-Kennedy first-degree amendment 
relating to the FDA and tobacco; further, that no other amendments be 
in order to the bill and that there be 3 hours for debate equally 
divided in the usual form; I further ask consent that following the 
debate, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the amendment at a 
time determined by the majority leader after consultation with the 
Democratic leader and that immediately following the disposition of 
that amendment, the substitute be agreed to, the bill then be read a 
third time, and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of the bill 
with no intervening action or debate; I further ask consent that the 
Senate then insist on its amendment, request a conference with the 
House, and the Chair then be authorized to appoint conferees on the 
part of the Senate with a ratio of 12 to 11.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, what this means is we will be proceeding to 
conference on the FSC/ETI JOBS bill, a bill that overwhelmingly passed 
the Senate and passed the House of Representatives and that prior to 
proceeding to conference, we will have a vote tomorrow on a combined 
bill that has to do with the FDA and a tobacco buyout. That vote will 
follow up to 3 hours tomorrow. The vote will likely be tomorrow 
afternoon, although we will be debating the issue in the morning.
  I am pleased. We all know that the FSC/ETI JOBS bill is a very 
important bill for the United States, for jobs and jobs creation. There 
is a certain time limit involved. In fact, every month that we wait, 
the Euro tax goes up 1 percent every month; it is 9 percent now. It is 
time to take this to conference and pass this bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with the majority 
leader in announcing this agreement tonight. This has not been easy for 
anybody involved in these discussions. We are now prepared to proceed 
with, I think, a very good understanding about how we as Members of the 
Senate will present ourselves in the conference. I am very confident 
that we can reach a successful conclusion.
  Mr. FRIST. I want to discuss with the Democratic Leader an approach 
that might enable us to move forward to conference on the JOBS bill, S. 
1637. The Senate JOBS bill reflects overwhelming bipartisan support, 
passing by a margin of 92-5. Much work remains to be done on this bill 
and it is important we start as soon as possible.
  There are significant differences with the House bill, so this is 
likely going to be a challenging process. I want to make sure that all 
Senators know that it is unrealistic to expect that the House will 
agree with all our provisions and that we will likely have to make 
changes to S. 1637.
  But as we make those changes, we should make them together. The JOBS 
bill we passed was a model of bipartisan cooperation that was marked by 
good faith on both sides. And that is the essence of the agreement I am 
proposing--a commitment from both sides that they will work in good 
faith in the conference to get the best possible result. I have spoken 
to Senator Grassley and he has agreed that he will not pursue a 
conclusion to the conference--nor sign any conference report--that 
would alter the text of S. 1637 in a way that undermines the broad 
bipartisan consensus S. 1637 achieved on final passage.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I thank the Majority Leader for his leadership. I have 
discussed this with my colleagues and can commit wholeheartedly to the 
good faith process you have proposed. Our side understands that changes 
will have to be made to S. 1637; but, as they are made, these changes 
will be the result of the mutual agreement of the lead Senate 
conferees, as well as the Majority Leader and the Democratic Leader, 
acting in good faith.
  By moving S. 1637 through the Senate, Senators Grassley and Baucus 
have already demonstrated that they can make that process work. If the 
process should break down due to disagreements over either corporate 
tax policy or extraneous provisions, then we understand that such a 
conference report will not be brought to the floor.
  Mr. FRIST. That is correct, so long as the Democratic conferees are 
acting in good faith. And I have every expectation they will. I agree 
that it is our mutual goal to reach a conference agreement that 
reflects the balance and broad bipartisan consensus S. 1637 achieved. 
That will be the test of good faith for both sides. I think we can do 
that, and we will not bring a bill to the Senate floor if it does not 
reflect that commitment. I want to thank the Democratic Leader for his 
leadership and willingness to address this process.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I appreciate the majority leader's work 
in reaching the agreement and the good faith that I believe we need to 
demonstrate on a bipartisan basis to move forward. This accommodates 
the concerns on both sides. We have made some real progress. We have a 
lot of work to do. There are a lot of differences with the House. But I 
am confident that Democrats and Republicans are now in a position to 
work very closely together to come up with the best result.
  There are no predetermined conclusions as to what the result may be, 
but we do this with a full appreciation of the need to work together to 
accomplish what is clearly a real opportunity to move forward on a jobs 
bill, on legislation that I believe is a must-pass piece of legislation 
prior to the time we adjourn for the year.

[[Page 15461]]

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I congratulate the majority leader and 
the Democratic leader for what I think is an excellent agreement made 
in good faith. It gives us a chance to pass one of the most important 
pieces of legislation that Congress will consider in the second session 
of the 108th Congress.
  It has not been easy getting to this point. I wanted to say, 
particularly on behalf of those of us who represent States in which 
tobacco farmers are slowly having their assets stripped from them, that 
this agreement gives the buyout a chance. It doesn't guarantee an 
outcome, but it certainly gives the buyout a chance to be considered in 
conference. Getting to conference on this bill is a significant move in 
the right direction from the point of view of those of us who represent 
tobacco growers.
  I thank the leaders for what I think is an excellent agreement to 
move this into conference and have a chance to pass a very important 
bill.

                          ____________________