[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PENSION FUNDING EQUITY ACT OF 2003

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
resume consideration of H.R. 3108, the pensions bill, and that the 
Senate insist upon its amendment, request a conference with the House, 
and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on behalf of the 
Senate at a ratio of 3 to 2.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chambliss) appointed Mr. Grassley, Mr. 
Gregg, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Baucus, and Mr. Kennedy conferees on the part 
of the Senate.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the Senate has been at a standstill since 
late last month over the pension bill.
  It passed on January 28 with an overwhelming 86-9 vote, 2 weeks ago.
  Of course, the regular order on a bill of this type would have been 
to insist on the Senate position and appoint conferees to begin 
negotiations with the House over the contents of this bill. Normally, 
this would occur without comment.
  Sadly, that has not been the case.
  Instead, the Senate has been diverted into an argument over past 
patterns and practices--how many times a bill has gone to conference, 
or been pre-
conferenced, or simply agreed to by the other body; or, who has been at 
what meeting, when, or where. This argument may mean much to a few, but 
it stands in the way of the many.
  The Senate and the House are different institutions, with different 
rules, different pressures, different Members, and different outlooks. 
The most reasonable way for them to blend these differences is 
together, with representatives from both bodies sitting down at a 
table, reconciling legislation that each house has endorsed as its best 
idea to resolve pressing national problems.
  The pension legislation passed both the House and the Senate with 
large bipartisan majorities. In the Senate, the legislation was 
developed over 3 months with bipartisan input from across the 
ideological and party spectrum. Both leaders, as well as the chairmen 
and ranking members of the HELP and the Finance Committee, wrote the 
bill, negotiated with multiple interested members, and spearheaded the 
legislation to passage.
  When it comes to the pension legislation, I have listened carefully 
to what the minority leader has said. I am gratified by the leader's 
assurance, given on the floor February 4, that he is ``not asking for 
any predetermined outcome,'' and that he is ``not asking for a certain 
set of expectations with regard to the legislation itself.'' Such an 
expectation on the part of any Member would be a change about how we do 
our work here.
  It is the regular order that we go to conference on this legislation. 
I have discussed this with the minority leader and will share with my 
colleagues that I also believe it is the regular order that our Senate 
conferees, majority and minority, participate in conference 
deliberations as compromise between the House and Senate is developed.
  I certainly can make plain to the minority leader that I will work 
with my Senate majority colleagues to validate that commitment. We 
should not be stymied over process when there is so much substance for 
us to work on as the year progresses.

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