[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 22]
[Senate]
[Pages 30779-30780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--S. 2164

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, as part of a bipartisan action this 
morning, Democrats and Republicans agree to send a reconciliation bill 
back to the House of Representatives for further consideration. Even 
though the vast majority of this bill hurts working families and the 
most vulnerable among them, there were a handful of important proposals 
that we support in that bill that need to be enacted immediately. That 
is why I am going to be asking unanimous consent in just a moment for 
the Senate to pass the Health and Welfare Relief Act of Senator 
Stabenow of Michigan.
  This bill prevents the scheduled reduction in Medicare physician 
payments while holding Part B premiums harmless for beneficiaries. The 
bill extends TANF and transitional medical assistance, TMA, for an 
additional year. Finally, the bill provides temporary Medicaid relief 
to Katrina victims.
  We should all be able to agree, even if there are parts of the bill 
subject to a point of order, parts that will be debated, there are many 
provisions in that bill that meet pressing needs that are important and 
need to be addressed on a timely basis. Many of them are taken directly 
from the conference report my friends across the aisle have just 
supported. I hope we can take up this bill and pass it today.
  Therefore, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of S. 2164, the Health and Welfare Relief Act 
of 2005, introduced earlier by Senators Stabenow, Reid, Baucus, and 
others; that the bill be read three times, passed, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table without any intervening action or 
debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I object.

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