[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5202-5218]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR THE FISCAL 
                          YEAR 2006--Continued


                           AMENDMENT NO. 188

  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, how much time is remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 2 minutes 13 seconds on the side of 
the Senator from California, and 7\1/2\ minutes on the other side.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, this is a bipartisan sense of the 
Senate. President Bush, when he was Governor, used this program. The 
Governor of my State, Governor Schwarzenegger, supports it. It is a 
huge item, as has been stated by Senators Kyl and Cornyn, for border 
States.
  This is a tremendous responsibility to the Federal Government. It is 
an unfunded mandate. It is a program that should not be allowed to 
lapse.
  We have come to the floor with this sense of the Senate to ask the 
Senate to pass this resolution so that those of us on the authorizing 
committee and on Appropriations can move to get this job done.
  As I mentioned, this is a 7-year reauthorization. The amounts 
requested for each year are spelled out in the resolution. This is a 
total Federal responsibility, and I am hopeful that the Senate will 
accept their responsibility.
  I yield the floor at this time and reserve the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, what is the time situation?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California has 1 minute 
remaining; the Senator from New Hampshire has 7\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, this is a sense-of-the-Senate resolution. 
Therefore, it has no impact that involves actual events or activity. It 
expresses the sense of the Senate as to what we think we should do on 
something. We have had a few of those.
  The attempt has been, of course, to reduce the number of sense-of-
the-Senate amendments. This would be subject to a 60-vote point of 
order on a sense-of-the-Senate budget resolution. I will not make that 
point of order.
  I will say this: We will probably take this sense of the Senate. This 
is about SCAAP. SCAAP has some serious problems. That is why it has 
always been looked at in a fairly suspect way, not only by the Bush 
administration but before that the Clinton administration had concerns 
about it. And the concerns are these: It essentially is a revenue-
sharing event. Essentially these

[[Page 5203]]

dollars go back to the States in very large amounts of money. They go 
to the border States, primarily California and Texas, New Mexico and 
Arizona, but primarily California and Texas are the two major 
beneficiaries of this program. But they go back without any strings 
attached.
  The theory is that they are going to be spent to relieve some of the 
burden that is put on these States relative to incarcerating illegal 
aliens who are captured in those States and are detained within those 
States in State prison facilities. That is a legitimate purpose. We 
should be assisting those States in that area because we are putting 
pressure on those States in a unique way. Other States don't have the 
same pressure. But there is nothing to say the money has to be spent 
that way. It is literally a check which the Federal Government writes 
to the States of Texas, California, or Arizona. And if the Governors 
want to use it to build a road or use it to buy a new school or for 
some other activity, the Governors can do that.
  I have always said let us put some language into this which makes it 
clear that this money is going to go to the States for the purpose of 
giving those States assistance with detaining illegal aliens but isn't 
going to end up being used, as I suspect, for primarily a basic State 
commitment to its own correctional system.
  I think you can make a pretty good case that there is a history here 
of this money essentially being used to supplement efforts on the part 
of the States in their own correctional systems.
  I hope when we reauthorize this language, which will come through the 
Senate's Judiciary Committee, that type of language which makes it 
clear this money has to be used for the purpose for which it is 
designated will be included. That is a debate between the authorizing 
committee and the appropriating committee. The Budget Committee doesn't 
have any direct impact on that. We don't do programmatic activity at 
the Budget Committee level.
  I haven't read the sense of Senate yet, but I suspect we will simply 
accept it. After I read it, I may change my mind. That can be a 
mistake, as we know, around here. That is my concern and reservation 
about the program.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham). The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I respond to the distinguished Senator 
that essentially what he said is correct. I have no objection to an 
amendment in the program. My State is a big user of this program at 
$111 million last year. He is right, Texas, California, and the big 
immigrant States are the States that are most affected by this program.
  Moneys go to every single State. I have no objection to mandating the 
money must go directly into the State prison system or the county jail 
system, whatever that might be.
  I point out also to the Senator when I was mayor, we had a revenue-
sharing program. We had a community block grant program, all of which 
looked as though they were going to go by the boards, certainly CDBG 
with this budget. This is a total Federal responsibility. For our 
Government not to take that responsibility and recompense those States 
that provide the incarceration--these people are not in Federal prison, 
they are in State prisons--is a huge mistake.
  I have objection, certainly, to mandating where the funds would go. 
If the managing Senator wishes to move this by unanimous consent, I 
certainly have no objections to that, either.


                           Amendment No. 240

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are now 15 minutes of debate equally 
divided on the Byrd amendment on highways.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, the Senator from West Virginia is not here 
at this moment, so I yield myself a couple of minutes for the 
proponents of the amendment.
  I strongly support this amendment. There are many Senators who are 
very distressed with the very low level in the amount of transportation 
obligation funds passed out of the Environment and Public Works 
Committee the other day. There are donor States that are very upset 
with the donor levels not being high enough, and the so-called donee 
States are concerned that they are not properly taken care of. There 
are States that believe the minimum obligation should be higher.
  In my experience, I have never experienced such consternation among 
so many Senators so concerned we are not paying enough for our 
infrastructure and our highways as is the case now, compared with the 
previous highway bill we passed a few years ago; that is, with TEA-21, 
which was passed about 6 years ago.
  In the meantime, the Finance Committee is working on a provision to 
administer money to the highway bill. Chairman Grassley and I are 
working diligently to find a way to administer money to the highway 
bill. We hope to bring that amendment to the floor. We will not raise 
gasoline prices. We will not raise gasoline prices. There will be 
offsets, so it will be budget neutral. The offsets will be in the 
nature of fuel fraud, to prevent fuel fraud, and close corporate or tax 
loopholes which we all agree should be closed.
  I strongly urge Members to recognize we do need more money. We all 
know that. We are finding ways in the Finance Committee to find more 
money. I do not know the exact amount, but it will not be a significant 
amount. It will help solve the problems that Senators have in meeting 
their legitimate concerns as we try to meet the formula and have enough 
money in the highway program to build our roads and streets. This 
amendment will not be a huge amount, but it will be helpful.
  I urge Members to support the amendment that is offered by the senior 
Senator from West Virginia. Senator Byrd is in the Senate, and I highly 
compliment the Senator for his work. He has been a champion over the 
years. I am so impressed with the efforts he undertook about 6 years 
ago when they got TEA-21 up and passed. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from 
Montana for his overly charitable and very gracious comments concerning 
my efforts. I thank him for his work, likewise.
  Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment to allow the Senate to 
once again pass a $318 billion highway bill. That is precisely the bill 
that the Senate approved last year by a vote of 76 to 21.
  Now, my good friend, the chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator 
Gregg, was among the 21 Senators who voted against last year's highway 
bill. I don't have any expectations he will support the amendment. My 
plea is to the 73 Senators still serving in the Senate who voted for 
that highway bill last year, Republicans and Democrats alike. We must 
reverse the continuing deterioration of the highways and transit 
systems in our State. We know the right vote was cast in February of 
last year when we approved a $318 billion highway bill despite the veto 
threats of the President.
  We know that the highway and transit needs in the States have not 
diminished one thin dime since that vote last year. Today I am asking 
my colleagues to vote again for a budget that will allow for a $318 
billion highway bill.
  Just yesterday, the Environment and Public Works Committee marked up 
a new highway will. The bill marked up yesterday in committee provides 
far less funding than the bill passed last year, so that the bill's 
total would stay within the level of funding that President Bush has 
said he would accept, namely, $284 billion. That lower level of 
funding, $284 billion, is the level incorporated in the budget 
resolution before the Senate. The product of yesterday's committee 
markup is harsh medicine--harsh medicine, indeed--to all 50 States in 
our Nation. The bill approved in committee yesterday distributes almost 
$25 billion less to our States in formula funds than the bill approved 
by more than three-quarters of the Senate last year.
  We now see precisely the amount of money that States will lose as a 
result of this retreat because it represents the elimination of almost 
1.2 million jobs

[[Page 5204]]

that would have been created without that lost funding. A major benefit 
of the committee having marked up its bill yesterday is that every 
Senator can see what their State will lose as a result of this retreat.
  Currently sitting on every Senator's desk is a table comparing the 
amount of funding that was distributed by a formula to every State 
between 2005 and 2009 under the bill approved by the Senate last year 
and the smaller bill approved by the Environment and Public Works 
Committee yesterday. I have taken the liberty of including in this 
table the size of the job loss that results from these funding 
reductions. I ask unanimous consent this table be printed in the Record 
at this point.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                          BYRD-BAUCUS HIGHWAY AMENDMENT
 [Allows for $318 billion highway bill as passed by the Senate in 2004 (S. 1072) instead of $284 billion bill as
          reported by the EPW Committee yesterday. Comparison of formula highway funds (2005-2009)\1\]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Committee mark
                State                    S. 1072 ($318       ($284 billion       Dollars lost       Job impact
                                         billion bill)           bill)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.............................      $3,967,449,985      $3,472,225,781       -$495,224,205         -23,523
Alaska..............................       2,326,918,084       2,036,548,572        -290,369,512         -13,793
Arizona.............................       3,556,974,477       3,121,926,693        -435,047,784         -20,665
Arkansas............................       2,597,760,761       2,273,503,615        -324,257,145         -15,402
California..........................      18,750,888,489      16,344,615,836      -2,406,272,652        -114,298
Colorado............................       2,793,809,201       2,326,138,934        -467,670,267         -22,214
Connecticut.........................       2,293,088,141       2,290,133,475          -2,954,666            -140
Delaware............................         862,695,605         755,012,396        -107,683,209          -5,115
District of Columbia................         864,263,485         822,116,229         -42,147,257          -2,002
Florida.............................       9,548,774,411       8,246,098,078      -1,302,676,334         -61,877
Georgia.............................       7,115,765,835       6,082,989,118      -1,032,776,717         -49,057
Hawaii..............................         826,702,443         781,329,399         -45,373,044          -2,155
Idaho...............................       1,513,187,851       1,324,372,488        -188,815,363          -8,969
Illinois............................       6,884,778,734       5,862,481,848      -1,022,296,886         -48,559
Indiana.............................       4,740,670,388       4,593,762,346        -146,908,042          -6,978
Iowa................................       2,372,759,973       2,086,840,102        -285,919,871         -13,581
Kansas..............................       2,232,304,505       2,027,523,441        -204,781,063          -9,727
Kentucky............................       3,449,665,049       3,019,071,686        -430,593,363         -20,453
Louisiana...........................       3,194,285,787       2,767,992,424        -426,293,364         -20,249
Maine...............................         973,735,177         864,100,335        -109,634,842          -5,208
Maryland............................       3,221,907,656       2,781,180,790        -440,726,866         -20,935
Massachusetts.......................       3,463,753,865       2,996,476,126        -467,277,739         -22,196
Michigan............................       6,557,195,753       5,567,499,010        -989,696,743         -47,011
Minnesota...........................       3,340,524,677       2,859,562,905        -480,961,772         -22,846
Mississippi.........................       2,452,424,244       2,143,929,053        -308,495,191         -14,654
Missouri............................       4,597,342,251       4,114,985,174        -482,357,077         -22,912
Montana.............................       1,952,017,932       1,708,506,206        -243,511,726         -11,567
Nebraska............................       1,578,571,858       1,397,005,328        -181,566,530          -8,624
Nevada..............................       1,428,924,158       1,236,850,936        -192,073,221          -9,123
New Hampshire.......................         864,818,872         787,790,327         -77,028,545          -3,659
New Jersey..........................       5,284,405,725       4,500,421,114        -783,984,611         -37,239
New Mexico..........................       1,930,483,549       1,689,597,705        -240,885,844         -11,442
New York............................       8,607,728,987       8,073,731,680        -533,997,306         -25,365
North Carolina......................       5,615,881,566       4,867,103,624        -748,777,942         -35,567
North Dakota........................       1,305,293,542       1,142,642,190        -162,651,352          -7,726
Ohio................................       7,226,566,093       6,212,521,762      -1,014,044,330         -48,167
Oklahoma............................       3,133,178,446       2,655,098,512        -478,079,934         -22,709
Oregon..............................       2,293,629,067       2,069,306,196        -224,322,871         -10,655
Pennsylvania........................       8,425,351,109       7,624,587,002        -800,764,106         -38,036
Rhode Island........................       1,112,169,279       1,007,600,842        -104,568,437          -4,967
South Carolina......................       3,290,202,776       2,796,636,275        -493,566,501         -23,444
South Dakota........................       1,421,096,306       1,243,712,523        -177,383,783          -8,426
Tennessee...........................       4,408,379,071       3,826,099,458        -582,279,614         -27,658
Texas...............................      16,368,596,229      13,936,619,918      -2,431,976,311        -115,519
Utah................................       1,540,948,466       1,346,529,810        -194,418,656          -9,235
Vermont.............................         954,366,407         860,265,456         -94,100,951          -4,470
Virginia............................       5,222,632,481       4,460,488,633        -762,143,848         -36,202
Washington..........................       3,741,040,933       3,267,728,615        -473,312,317         -22,482
West Virginia.......................       2,202,672,830       1,927,731,267        -274,941,563         -13,060
Wisconsin...........................       3,546,203,750       3,066,054,558        -480,149,192         -22,807
Wyoming.............................       1,367,566,340       1,191,647,378        -175,918,961          -8,356
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Total.........................     199,322,352,596     174,458,693,169     -24,863,659,427      -1,181,024
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Extrapolated from FHWA data.

  Mr. BYRD. I ask every Senator to take a close look at this table 
before voting on this amendment. Senators should be aware of precisely 
the amount of investment and the number of jobs their State will be 
losing if they vote against this amendment. In my state of West 
Virginia, failure to adopt this amendment will mean a loss of almost 
$275 million and this amendment will mean a loss of almost $275 million 
and more than 13,000 desperately needed jobs.
  For several larger States--such as Florida, Georgia, and Ohio--the 
loss over a 5-year period to each State is more than $1 billion and 
more than 50,000 jobs.
  Mr. President, before any Senator argues that my amendment just 
increases spending without ensuring it will be spent on highways and 
mass transit, let me point out that my amendment restores the special 
highway and transit budget categories. Every additional penny provided 
by this amendment will be required to be spent on our highways or mass 
transit programs.
  The offset for my amendment is the very same type of financing 
mechanism that served to enhance the receipts to the highway trust fund 
and were included in last year's highway bill with the bipartisan 
support of the Senate Finance Committee.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, may I ask for 1 additional minute?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I know that some Members are saying that it 
is foolhardy to try to pass a highway bill at $318 billion because the 
President has already vowed to veto a measure of that size. But I wish 
to remind my colleagues that our job--our job here--is to legislate 
based on our recognition of what is needed by our States and by the 
Nation. It is the President's job to either sign that bill or veto it.
  So I ask my colleagues, why do our constituents send us here if we do 
not look out for their needs? We have been sent here to vote our 
conscience and to stand for the needs of our constituents. So in 
offering this amendment today, I am saying to my colleagues, let's do 
our job. Let's adopt a budget that will enable us to pass a highway 
bill that we believe addresses the transportation and commerce needs of 
the Nation. The President will review that piece of legislation, and he 
will either sign or veto it. That is his job. That is his prerogative. 
But now is not the time to back away from the country's transportation 
needs.

[[Page 5205]]

  When the roll is called on this amendment, Senators will be faced 
with a stark choice. They can either vote for the level of highway 
spending that they received in last year's highway bill or they can 
resign their constituents to ever worsening congestion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair and implore my colleagues to vote for the 
amendment.
  Mr. President, I send the amendment to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from West Virginia [Mr. Byrd], for himself and 
     Mr. Baucus, proposes an amendment numbered 240.

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       On page 3, line 10 increase the amount by $1,458,000,000.
       On page 3, line 11 increase the amount by $3,536,000,000.
       On page 3, line 12 increase the amount by $3,605,000,000.
       On page 3, line 13 increase the amount by $2,922,000,000.
       On page 3, line 14 increase the amount by $2,316,000,000.
       On page 4, line 7 increase the amount by $8,920,000,000.
       On page 4, line 8 increase the amount by $8,332,000,000.
       On page 4, line 9 increase the amount by $8,332,000,000.
       On page 4, line 10 increase the amount by $9,568,000,000.
       On page 4, line 16 increase the amount by $1,458,000,000.
       On page 4, line 17 increase the amount by $3,536,000,000.
       On page 4, line 18 increase the amount by $3,605,000,000.
       On page 4, line 19 increase the amount by $2,922,000,000.
       On page 4, line 20 increase the amount by $2,316,000,000.
       On page 15, line 15 increase the amount by $8,920,000,000.
       On page 15, line 16 increase the amount by $1,458,000,000.
       On page 15, line 19 increase the amount by $8,332,000,000.
       On page 15, line 20 increase the amount by $3,536,000,000.
       On page 15, line 23 increase the amount by $8,332,000,000.
       On page 15, line 24 increase the amount by $3,605,000,000.
       On page 16, line 2 increase the amount by $9,568,000,000.
       On page 16, line 3 increase the amount by $2,922,000,000.
       On page 16, line 7 increase the amount by $2,316,000,000.
       On page 48, line 6 increase the amount by $579,000,000.
       On page 48, line 7 decrease the amount by $40,372,000,000.
       On page 48, line 8, after ``outlays for the discretionary 
     category'' add the following ``and $34,740,000,000 for the 
     highway category and $7,099,000,000 for the transit 
     category''.

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I urge all our colleagues to support 
Senator Byrd's amendment, because our Nation's interstates, roads, and 
subways are at the breaking point, and our future economic health is at 
stake.
  This shouldn't be a hard vote, because we did it before. Just last 
year, the Senate voted 76-21 to support the funding levels called for 
by the Byrd amendment.
  Senators Bond, Baucus, Inhofe, Jeffords, Shelby, and Sarbanes have 
worked hard to construct a transportation bill under the constraints 
they have been placed, but the fact is they don't have enough money.
  The White House has issued an edict: $284 billion or nothing. Let's 
do what we know is right for our States, for our economy, for our 
Nation's future.
  The U.S. DOT says that each $1 billion of transportation investment 
supports and sustains 47,000 jobs.
  Let's pass the Byrd amendment, and reaffirm our commitment to a 
strong U.S. economy and good-paying American jobs.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. Can I ask the Chair what the status of the time is, Mr. 
President?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 7 minutes 30 seconds at his 
disposal.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, this proposal increases spending over the 
bill by approximately $30 billion. That is a fairly significant amount 
of money. It also raises taxes by $14 billion, which is also a 
significant amount of money. We are now at a point where amendments 
offered from the other side of the aisle increase spending by 
approximately $100 billion and increase taxes by approximately $60 
billion. At some point you must ask the question, What is the purpose 
of a budget if the only purpose is to simply increase taxes and 
increase spending?
  From my viewpoint, the purpose of the budget is to actually try to 
put in fiscal discipline and have some controls over spending and, as a 
result, have some controls over the amount of money we are taking out 
of people's pockets. Remember, it is their money, not our money, and 
spending it for them rather than allowing them to spend it themselves.
  So I obviously oppose this amendment. As the Senator from West 
Virginia noted, I voted against the $318 billion when it came through 
the first time. And I do note that, yes, there were a number of people 
who voted for that at the time. But I do note the President, working 
with the Members of the Congress, has reached an agreement as to what 
we can afford in the area of highway funds, and that agreement is $284 
billion.
  Now, we put that in the budget. That is what we put in the budget. 
Now, some might say, well, that is not enough, but actually I think it 
is almost $50 billion more than where we started. I think we started at 
$236 billion for this highway bill, or somewhere in that range.
  So there has been a fair amount of movement upward toward trying to 
address the issue of infrastructure in this country and making sure 
that highway construction is adequately funded. So $284 billion is not 
a small amount of change. It is a rather significant amount of money 
and is a very strong commitment to the highways.
  There is a second amendment floating around here on the issue of 
highways, which is offered by the Senator from Missouri, and was 
discussed earlier today, which would change the way that we might add 
money into the highway bill. We put in the budget resolution a reserve 
fund which essentially said that more dollars could go into the highway 
bill, you could get to the number the Senator from West Virginia 
proposed, if you legitimately raised revenues to pay for it. And 
legitimately raising revenues means having proposals which actually 
will produce revenues as versus ones that are a lot of smoke and a lot 
of mirrors.
  So the language is not overly restrictive, it is reasonable. But it 
does expect that if we raise this highway fund up, it will be done in a 
way that is paid for appropriately out of highway-related activity, not 
out of the general fund.
  That is a very important point because when this highway bill was put 
together there was some movement of dollars from the general fund into 
the highway fund through basically moving around the accounting 
mechanism for the ethanol tax. So we put in place this reserve fund 
which does allow for the dollars spent on highways to go up.
  I put that in because there were a lot of people here who believed 
$284 billion was not an acceptable number.
  Now, the President says it is an acceptable number. In fact, he said 
he will veto anything over that number. But I believed as long as it 
has hard pay-fors we will consider it. And that is reasonable.
  Now, the amendment that is floating around here would basically take 
those hard pay-fors and move them back to what I would call, not 
illusory because they are not that specious, but they really are not 
very hard pay-fors. There could be a lot of games played with the 
language that is being proposed relative to what the pay-fors would be, 
and you might end up, unfortunately, spending the money but not ever 
getting the revenues in to cover those costs.
  So I oppose that language, too, because I do feel very strongly that 
if we are going to go above the $284 billion level, we need to go above 
it with hard pay-fors that come out of highway activity, not out of the 
general fund.
  So these two amendments are floating around here. I guess they are 
going

[[Page 5206]]

to be voted in sequence probably. I just want to point out that I think 
both of them do damage to this budget in the area of fiscal discipline. 
And the one that is before us right now would raise taxes by $14 
billion and increase spending by $35 billion, which is just too much to 
handle in the context of this budget, where the highway number is an 
agreed-to number between the two bodies and the President.
  Mr. President, I yield the remainder of my time on this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.


                           Amendment No. 241

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to reporting the amendment?
  Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Bunning] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 241.

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: to repeal the 1993 tax increase on Social Security benefits)

       On page 3, line 9, decrease the amount by $0.
       On page 3, line 10, decrease the amount by $4,800,000,000.
       On page 3, line 11, decrease the amount by $12,500,000,000.
       On page 3, line 12, decrease the amount by $14,000,000,000.
       On page 3, line 13, decrease the amount by $15,600,000,000.
       On page 3, line 14, decrease the amount by $17,000,000,000.
       On page 3, line 18, decrease the amount by $0.
       On page 3, line 19, decrease the amount by $4,800,000,000.
       On page 3, line 20, decrease the amount by $12,500,000,000.
       On page 3, line 21, decrease the amount by $14,000,000,000.
       On page 4, line 1, decrease the amount by $15,600,000,000.
       On page 4, line 2, decrease the amount by $17,000,000,000.
       On page 4, line 23, decrease the amount by $0.
       On page 4, line 24, decrease the amount by $4,800,000,000.
       On page 4, line 25, decrease the amount by $12,500,000,000.
       On page 5, line 1, decrease the amount by $14,000,000,000.
       On page 5, line 2, decrease the amount by $15,600,000,000.
       On page 5, line 3, decrease the amount by $17,000,000,000.
       On page 5, line 6, increase the amount by $0.
       On page 5, line 7, increase the amount by $4,800,000,000.
       On page 5, line 8, increase the amount by $17,300,000,000.
       On page 5, line 9, increase the amount by $31,300,000,000.
       On page 5, line 10, increase the amount by $46,900,000,000.
       On page 5, line 11, increase the amount by $63,900,000.
       On page 5, line 14, increase the amount by $0.
       On page 5, line 15, increase the amount by $4,800,000,000.
       On page 5, line 16, increase the amount by $17,300,000,000.
       On page 5, line 17, increase the amount by $31,300,000,000.
       On page 5, line 18, increase the amount by $46,900,000,000.
       On page 5, line 19, increase the amount by $63,900,000.
       On page 30, line 16, increase the amount by $4,800,000,000.
       On page 30, line 17, increase the amount by 
     $63,900,000,000.

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, today, I rise to offer a very important 
amendment dealing with taxes on Social Security benefits. For too many 
years, senior citizens have carried an unnecessary and unfair tax 
burden on their shoulders. Today we have an opportunity to remove it.
  Historically, Social Security benefits were not taxed. However, in 
1983, Congress changed the rules of the game. That year, Congress 
passed legislation to begin taxing up to 50 percent of a senior's 
Social Security benefit if their income was over $25,000 for a single 
individual or $32,000 for a couple.
  This move subjected many seniors across the country to an 
unanticipated tax increase and forced them to send a portion of their 
Social Security benefit back to the IRS.
  In 1993, Congress was at it again, and that year the Clinton tax was 
passed. The Clinton tax allows 85 percent of a senior's Social Security 
Benefit to be taxed if their income is above $34,000 for a single and 
$44,000 for a couple.
  The additional money this tax raises doesn't even go to help Social 
Security's solvency--instead it goes into the Medicare program.
  I was in Congress in 1993, and I fought with many of my colleagues 
against the Clinton tax. Unfortunately, we lost that fight and the tax 
went into place.
  Some people may argue that this is a tax only on so-called ``rich'' 
seniors, but that just isn't the case. In fact, the income thresholds 
both for the 50 percent tax and the 85 percent tax haven't changed 
since they were first enacted back in 1983 and 1993.
  A lot has changed in the last two decades, and more and more seniors 
are being affected by these taxes. In fact, it is estimated that over 
15 million beneficiaries pay taxes on their Social Security benefits.
  Eleven million of these pay taxes on up to 85 percent of their Social 
Security benefit.
  On one hand, we tell seniors to plan and save for retirement, and on 
the other we tax them for doing just that. In the past, there have been 
efforts by members of Congress--including myself--to remove the Clinton 
tax.
  Today, the amendment I am introducing finally takes steps to repeal 
the Clinton tax. The amendment provides additional money under 
reconciliation so that this tax can be rolled back.
  This means that the 85 percent tax tier would be eliminated and the 
maximum amount of Social Security benefits that could be taxed would be 
50 percent.
  This amendment will allow millions of seniors to keep more of their 
Social Security benefits in their pocket. Some of us have been trying 
to undo this tax for years, and this amendment finally gives us an 
opportunity to do that.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and to end this unfair 
tax on seniors and their Social Security benefits.
  Mr. President, I yield back my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time off the Republican debate 
time?
  The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, Senator Gregg and I will work out how the 
time is used right here. It will either come out of the time in 
opposition or perhaps we could work out how we are using the balance of 
the time here, the 7\1/2\ minutes. Did the Senator want to use the time 
in opposition or should I use this time?
  Mr. GREGG. The Senator may use the time.
  Mr. CONRAD. I will use the time and talk about the side by side. So 
we will be using the 7\1/2\ minutes on the other side of this 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. It is the best way, I say to my colleagues, to try to 
keep this all on track. We are trying to get to the 1 o'clock mark and 
be able to proceed with all of the amendments that are stacked.


                           Amendment No. 243

  Mr. CONRAD. I send to the desk an amendment and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from North Dakota [Mr. Conrad] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 243.

  Mr. CONRAD. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be 
dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To express the sense of the Senate that the tax cuts assumed 
in the budget resolution should include the repeal of the 1993 increase 
             in the income tax on Social Security benefits)

       At the appropriate place insert the following:

     SEC. ___. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON REDUCING THE TAX ON SOCIAL 
                   SECURITY BENEFITS.

       It is the sense of the Senate that the tax cuts assumed in 
     this resolution include repeal of the 1993 law that subjects 
     85% of certain Social Security benefits to the income

[[Page 5207]]

     tax, provided that the revenue loss to the Medicare Hospital 
     Insurance Trust Fund is fully replaced so that the seniors' 
     access to health care is not adversely affected. If the 
     inclusion of these proposals would otherwise cause the cost 
     of the tax cuts to exceed the level authorized in the 
     resolution, any excess should be fully offset by closing 
     corporate tax loopholes.

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, this amendment is very simple. It says it 
is the sense of the Senate that the tax cuts assumed in this resolution 
include repeal of the 1993 law that subject 85 percent of certain 
Social Security benefits to the income tax, provided that the revenue 
lost to the medical hospital insurance trust fund is fully replaced so 
that seniors' access to health care is not adversely affected. If the 
inclusion of these proposals would otherwise cause the cost of the tax 
cuts to exceed the level authorized in the resolution, any excess 
should be fully offset by closing corporate tax loopholes.
  We are proposing eliminating that tax on Social Security, as Senator 
Bunning is proposing. We are proposing doing it in a way that the 
revenue lost to the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund is fully 
replaced so that seniors' access to health care is not adversely 
affected. As I have indicated, if the inclusion of these proposals 
would otherwise cause the cost of the tax cuts to exceed the level 
authorized in the underlying resolution, any excess should be fully 
offset by closing corporate tax loopholes.
  This will now be in the queue, along with the Bunning amendment.
  I retain my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. I ask the Senator from North Dakota, through the Chair, if 
he would mind yielding a couple of minutes off the 7\1/2\ minutes to 
the Senator from Kentucky to respond to the Senator's point.
  Mr. CONRAD. I am happy to yield 2 minutes to the Senator.
  Mr. BUNNING. It won't take long. I am encouraged that the Senator 
from North Dakota agrees with me that this is an unfair tax. Everybody 
here knows what a sense of the Senate is. It does not get into law. It 
is just how we feel and makes ourselves feel good by offering a sense 
of the Senate. The amendment I have offered actually removes the 35 
percent increase that was put on in 1993. The sense of the Senate 
doesn't touch it. It just says: We should take a look at it. We feel 
good about doing it. But we are not going to do it at this time.
  I urge all of my colleagues who are watching, listening, if they want 
to really reduce the tax on Social Security recipients, they should 
vote for the Bunning amendment. If they want to feel good about what 
they are doing and not really remove the 35 percent tax, then I would 
encourage them to vote for the amendment of the Senator from North 
Dakota.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Let's be very clear: The legal effect of our two 
amendments is precisely the same--precisely the same. Why is that the 
case? Because a budget resolution cannot compel the Finance Committee 
to do anything in terms of policy. That is just a fact. I know it is 
confusing to our colleagues, but the chairman has said a dozen times at 
least on the floor of the Senate that the budget resolution cannot 
compel the Finance Committee to make any specific policy determination 
with respect to revenue. All we are doing is telling them how much 
revenue to raise. That is the same with respect to the appropriations 
committees. A budget resolution does not tell the appropriators what 
specific way they are to reach the numbers. It just gives them a 
number.
  So let us be absolutely clear--the force and effect of our two 
amendments is no different. Senator Bunning is attempting to send a 
signal to the Finance Committee about how they should treat the 
reconciliation process. That is what my amendment does as well. We are 
sending the same signal in the sense that we are both saying, take this 
Social Security benefits tax as it relates to income tax off the table.
  The place where I think he has made a very important point is that, 
since these taxes were put in place back in 1993, there has never been 
any change in the income levels that it relates to.
  That is something that I think we can absolutely agree on. This just 
doesn't make any sense. It is indefensible that there has not been any 
adjustment. So we are sending this amendment to our colleagues with the 
hope and the expectation that they will pay the same attention to it 
that they will pay to the amendment of the Senator from Kentucky. We 
are about to enter the time when we will cast a series of votes. I 
don't know how many votes we now have in the queue; I think it is 
approaching 30 amendments. It may be useful at this point to send a 
message to our colleagues about how we are going to try to conduct 
these votes.
  We are going to be asking our colleagues to accept short time limits 
on the votes. People will have a chance to make arguments for and 
against the amendments to remind people of the subject of their 
amendments. It is important for colleagues to structure their schedules 
for the remainder of the day that will allow them to stay in or close 
to the Chamber. We don't want colleagues to miss votes.
  At the same time, we want to move these votes as expeditiously as 
possible. Thirty votes is just the beginning. Let us alert our 
colleagues one more time. In addition to the 30 votes, or thereabouts, 
already in the queue, we have dozens and dozens of additional 
amendments that have been noticed. When the first vote starts, we will 
be asking the leadership--at least on our side, and the Senator can 
speak to his side--to go to Members who have noticed amendments and ask 
them to sharply reduce the number of amendments they intend to offer.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I will yield 1 minute off of my time, if 
the Senator from Kentucky needs it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 3 minutes left on Senator Bunning's 
time.
  Mr. BUNNING. The only thing I want to say is that my amendment gives 
the Finance Committee the resources to do this. A sense of the Senate 
does not give the Finance Committee the resources to make the changes 
in the law that reduces the 35 percent tax on senior citizens.
  I yield back my time.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what is the next amendment in order?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Clinton amendment.
  Mr. REID. It is my understanding that on this amendment there are 20 
minutes equally divided.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Fifteen minutes equally divided.


                           Amendment No. 244

  (Purpose: To expand access to preventive health care services that 
  reduce unintended pregnancy (including teen pregnancy), reduce the 
    number of abortions, and improve access to women's health care)

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of 
Senator Clinton and others.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

  The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid], for himself, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. 
Kerry, Mr. Corzine, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mrs. Feinstein, 
proposes an amendment numbered 244.

  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, 
Democrat or Republican, this amendment advances goals we should all 
share: reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions, and 
improving access to women's health care.
  This amendment would allow us to increase funding for national family 
planning, title X, pass the measure Senator Snowe and I have worked on, 
and improve awareness of emerging contraception and improved teen 
pregnancy prevention programs.
  One-half of the unintended pregnancies in this country wind up with 
abortion. Why can't we move forward with this amendment? It should be 
bipartisan. It is an amendment that would really help--$100 million to 
help these programs. These moneys come

[[Page 5208]]

from closing tax loopholes for corporations that go overseas and, I 
believe, cheat Americans out of their rightful tax dollars. This money 
would stay in America.
  There was a column in the paper yesterday that said this bill--now 
this amendment--has been greeted with the sound of one party clapping: 
the Democrats. Why can't we get support from the majority party for 
this amendment? We continually talk about the issue of abortion. Here 
is a way to cut as many as 3 million abortions over a 2-year period of 
time. That seems like a worthy goal. That is what this amendment is all 
about. It is about fairness, about making progress in a problem that is 
creating problems in this country. We should hold our heads high in 
doing this.
  I hope this doesn't become a pro-life, pro-choice issue. This is an 
American issue. It is good for the American people, and it is 
especially good for young girls, teenagers. We need to stop the scourge 
of teenage pregnancy. There are only a couple of nations in the world 
that we are behind in teenage pregnancies. I hope that this amendment 
will be adopted by an overwhelming vote. I have some doubts that it 
will be, because we seem to be in partisan mode here, and that is too 
bad.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum and ask that the time run equally.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. How much time remains on both sides?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 4\1/2\ minutes for Senator Clinton 
and 7 minutes for the majority.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I am going to use time off Senator 
Clinton's time on this amendment.
  We have before us a budget resolution that purports to be fiscally 
responsible. This budget resolution before us is anything but that. The 
hard reality is that the budget before us increases the debt every year 
of its terms by over $600 billion.
  When they say this is going to cut the deficit in half, their own 
document shows their projections of debt increase are over $600 billion 
a year, each and every year of this budget. That is not fiscally 
responsible.
  I see that the Senator from New York has arrived in the Chamber. I 
advise her that she has about 3 minutes left of her time.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I thank my friend, who knows more about 
the budget than I think anybody in Washington. He has, once again, done 
a tremendous job in trying to help educate all of us about the 
consequences.
  I strongly endorse the amendment that Senator Reid and I have 
offered, the Prevention First amendment. This is an area where Senator 
Reid and I absolutely agree that we need to do more to cut the rate of 
unintended pregnancies; therefore, the rate of abortions in our 
country.
  The statistics are pretty stark that half of the pregnancies in the 
United States are unintended, and nearly half of those are terminated. 
Making contraception more accessible will help us reduce the number of 
unintended pregnancies and abortions.
  The Prevention First amendment will ensure there is money in the 
budget that will provide more family planning services and that will 
change our health insurance law to give women equal rights of access to 
prescription contraception. It just boggles my mind that insurance 
companies pay for Viagra and they will not pay for birth control. I do 
not understand that at all. That is just backward, in my mind.
  It increases the title X services that are so important in providing 
that support, as well as ending insurance discrimination when it comes 
to contraceptive coverage.
  It provides better public awareness for emergency contraception, 
which could prevent many thousands of abortions. It is a prescription 
drug that, if FDA approves over the counter, does not interrupt or 
disrupt an established pregnancy. According to the Journal of the 
American Medical Association, there is no risk associated with 
emergency contraception.
  Finally, this amendment provides funding to programs dedicated to 
decreasing teen pregnancy. In my husband's 1995 State of the Union 
Address, he made that a goal of his administration, and we accomplished 
a lot. But we still have a long way to go.
  If you are pro-choice or pro-life, if you believe we should do more 
to find common ground on this often difficult and contentious issue, 
and if you want to spend some money to save money and decrease 
abortions and unintended pregnancies, then please support the Clinton-
Reid amendment to the budget.
  I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. I suggest the absence of a quorum, with the time to be 
charged equally.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. Parliamentary inquiry: In terms of the time, when we are 
charging the time equally at this point, we are charging time equally 
off the amendment; is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: What is left in the 
queue, so colleagues who are watching can be informed where we stand 
with respect to the schedule?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is the Lautenberg debt limit amendment 
with 10 minutes equally divided, and Senator Gregg has 5 minutes 40 
seconds on the Clinton amendment remaining.
  Mr. CONRAD. To recap, if I can, so colleagues understand about where 
we are, is this correct, that we would have 10 minutes on the 
Lautenberg amendment equally divided which is in relationship to debt 
limit?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. CONRAD. And then Senator Gregg has 5 minutes in relationship to 
the Clinton amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. CONRAD. Then the schedule of going to the votes that are in 
sequence would start at 1 o'clock?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. CONRAD. So our colleagues should be advised that the voting will 
begin at or about 1 o'clock. Can the Chair advise us of how many 
amendments are pending?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 25 amendments pending, with the 
Lautenberg amendment. The Senator from North Dakota has 9 minutes of 
manager time still left which he can use at any time. The Senator from 
New Hampshire has 15 minutes remaining.
  Mr. CONRAD. So I think it is fair, in terms of advising our 
colleagues, very shortly we are going to start on a voting sequence 
that will include--is it 25 amendments?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, 25.
  Mr. CONRAD. So 25 amendments are in queue. We can generally do--
correct me if I am wrong--we can roughly do three votes an hour.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Maybe four.
  Mr. CONRAD. I just say, I have never seen us accomplish four. We have 
tried.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina is in the

[[Page 5209]]

chair; we will do four, but he is leaving in a few minutes.
  Mr. CONRAD. With 25 votes stacked, we are talking about 8 hours of 
voting; would that not be correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The math seems sound, yes.
  Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair. We are awaiting Senator Lautenberg to 
take up the 10 minutes on his amendment, unless Senator Gregg wants the 
remaining time on the Clinton amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, will the Chair advise us when the time on 
the Clinton amendment has been eliminated and the time on the 
Lautenberg amendment commences?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 1 minute 37 seconds left on the 
majority side. All time has expired on the minority side.
  Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair. I again suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be 
set aside.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 187

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I call up amendment No. 187 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Lautenberg], for himself 
     and Mr. Schumer, proposes amendment numbered 187.

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

    (Purpose: To strike the debt ceiling reconciliation instruction)

       On page 30, strike lines 19 through 23.

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Schumer be added 
as a cosponsor to amendment No. 187.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, this budget resolution includes a 
reconciliation instruction to raise the debt limit by $446 billion. 
That is a lot of money. That is $1,510 for every man, woman, and child 
in America. I think the Senate ought to have a debate on whether to add 
$1,500 to the indebtedness of each and every American, and that is why 
I am offering this amendment.
  The amendment is to strike the reconciliation instruction. This 
budget resolution includes a debt limit increase automatically for one 
reason: that my friends on the other side of the aisle do not want to 
have a debate about how exploding budget deficits are piling up our 
national debt. Instead, what we see is an attempt to hide yet another 
debt limit increase by burying it deep in the budget.
  We used to have debt limit increase debates on a regular basis, and 
we made it hard to increase the debt limit because we knew ultimately 
the deficits would overwhelm us.
  This record-setting deficit the administration is running will have 
real consequences for every family. As the Government borrows more 
money, much of it from foreign central banks, eventually it is going to 
cause interest rates to go up. It is inevitable. When interest rates go 
up, it hurts each and every American. Houses cost more. Cars cost more. 
College certainly costs more. Investment capital for small businesses 
costs more.
  We often hear the money our Government spends is the people's money. 
That is true, but it is also true that the money our Government borrows 
is the people's debt.
  We passed a bankruptcy bill that I think is punitive to working 
Americans who lose their jobs, have a catastrophic illness or an 
injury, or run up their credit card debt to try to pay their bills. 
Over and over again, our friends on the other side say people have to 
pay their debts. Well, is this any different?
  What I have here is the Bush administration's credit card. We like to 
use this as a reference. It is issued by the Bank of Our Children's 
Future. That is what it says. It says the President is over the limit. 
That is because public debt under this administration has been run up 
to $7.7 trillion and each American's share of that debt is over 
$26,000. Hear this: Every American is going to be saddled with a debt 
amounting to $26,000 as a result of our increasing indebtedness. But 
$7.7 trillion apparently is not enough, which is where we are. 
President Bush wants this credit limit increased.
  When they make that kind of request, it usually needs some scrutiny. 
The majority party in the Senate wants to give him that increase, but 
they want to do it without anybody noticing, without any conversation 
about it. So they bury it in the budget resolution.
  We need to discuss whether it is a good idea to increase this credit 
limit because each and every American gets stuck paying the bill, 
including our children and our grandchildren.
  We should be talking about paying off the debt on this card, as we 
did in 1997. I was then the ranking member of the Budget Committee.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I ask unanimous consent for an additional 30 seconds.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Let us face up to our responsibility. Let us quit 
piling debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. I urge my 
colleagues, support this amendment, let the debate begin, and let us 
examine it in the light of day.
  I ask for the yeas and nays, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, what is the time situation?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire has 4\1/2\ 
minutes.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, it is not a unique procedure to use 
reconciliation to address the debt limit. The debt limit is something 
that as a Government we have to do. If the debt is run up, the debt 
limit has to be run up or else the bonds cannot be issued in order to 
set up the debt properly.
  If that is not done, what happens? The Government shuts down. So in a 
number of instances, and I believe even in the Democratic Party, in two 
instances when the Democratic Party controlled the Senate, 
reconciliation included the debt limit. So it is the responsible thing 
to do to have this vehicle available.
  That does not mean the Finance Committee will use it. It may be that 
we will not use it. But we need to have this vehicle available in order 
to make sure the Government continues to operate. In fact, one could 
argue that if this amendment were to pass, it would put in jeopardy at 
some point down the road the operation of the Government because the 
debt limit might be put in the position where it could not pass. That 
is not hyperbole. That is a distinct possibility and a hypothetical 
that could actually occur.
  So the responsible thing to do is to have debt limit reconciliation 
instructions as one of the elements. That is why the Budget Act allows 
for it. Interestingly enough, this is not something we created. It was 
created by the

[[Page 5210]]

Budget Act which was, of course, written under a Democratic Congress. 
As I mentioned, it has been used twice when the Democratic Party was in 
the majority. So it is a reasonable approach. It is something that 
needs to be included within the budget, and I would certainly hope this 
amendment would be rejected.
  I yield back the remainder of my time on the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, is there a response time available on 
this?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
  Mr. CONRAD. I yield an additional minute to the Senator from New 
Jersey.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is yielded an additional minute.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I thank the Senator.
  Mr. President, I say to the distinguished chairman of the Budget 
Committee, yes, we have to pay our bills. We cannot ignore our 
obligations. But when one borrows money, there is a contract that is 
signed and it is done with an open mind. Here we are being asked to 
take on more debt without having any discussion about what it is that 
would compel us to increase the national debt.
  The national debt is going to drown us and we now have a chance to 
examine it in the light of day, and that is what I would like to see us 
do. That is why we should take it from this budget resolution and 
discuss it in an open debate.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: Having now reached 
the hour of 1, the order would provide that the votes start at 1; is 
that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Votes may begin at this time. Each manager has 
additional time that does not have to be utilized.
  Mr. CONRAD. The chairman of the committee and I have agreed we will 
put in a quorum call at this moment, and we will remind colleagues that 
we will begin the voting very shortly.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Martinez). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the time remaining 
which I have and the Democratic manager has, Senator Conrad, that we be 
able to reserve that time and use it at a later period in the day, 
during the voting.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I now move that we go to the first issue, 
which is going to be the Medicaid amendment offered by Senator Frist, 
the majority leader, and I yield myself a minute on that. Each side has 
a minute?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized for 1 minute.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I make a point of order a quorum is not 
present.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when we begin 
to vote the order of votes will be as follows, for the initial set of 
amendments.
  We will begin with the majority leader's amendment relative to 
Medicaid, which is No. 229; followed by the Bingaman for Senator Smith 
amendment on Medicaid, No. 204; followed by the Carper amendment on 
full consideration of tax cuts, No. 207; followed by the Snowe-Wyden 
drug pricing amendment, No. 214; followed by the Harkin vocational 
education amendment, No. 172; followed by the Hutchison-Ensign Border 
Patrol amendment, No. 218; followed by the Landrieu National Guard 
amendment, No. 219; followed by the Salazar-Conrad rural education and 
health amendment, No. 215; followed by the Dorgan runaway corporations 
amendment, No. 210; followed by the Lieberman-Collins first responder 
amendment, No. 220; followed by the Vitter port security, amendment, 
No. 223; followed by the Vitter Corps of Engineers amendment, No. 224; 
followed by the Allen, as modified, NASA amendment, No. 197; followed 
by the Sarbanes CDBG amendment, No. 156, followed by the Coleman CDBG 
amendment, No. 230; followed by the Cochran emergency retirement 
amendment, No. 208; followed by the Kennedy education amendment, No. 
177; followed by the Baucus-Conrad amendment No. 234, agriculture; 
followed by the Biden COPS amendment, No. 239; followed by the 
Feinstein State Criminal Assistance Program, No. 188; followed by the 
Byrd highways amendment, No. 240; followed by the Talent highway 
amendment, No. 225; followed by the Conrad sense of the Senate 
regarding Social Security tax, No. 243; followed by the Bunning repeal 
of Social Security tax, No. 241; followed by the Clinton-Reid 
prevention first amendment, No. 244; followed by the Lautenberg debt 
limit amendment, No. 187.
  That is the first group of amendments which we will be taking up.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we are going to move to the Frist amendment 
in a few minutes, and begin to vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, through the Chair to the two managers of the 
bill, it is my personal feeling we shouldn't have the 1 minute on each 
side. It is an inordinate amount of time. It never amounts to 1 minute. 
I think we should just vote. When we take 1 minute when we have 25 or 
30 votes, it will add an inordinate amount of time to these amendments. 
I have not spoken to the majority leader, but it would be my feeling 
that the Members have had their say and we should run right through the 
votes.
  Mr. GREGG. I think the Democratic leader has made a very constructive 
suggestion for the process. I would be happy to accept that.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I personally think that would be a 
mistake. My experience here has been when we have so many votes 
occurring that if there is not some explanation, people literally may 
not know what they are voting on. If we want to reduce it to 30 
seconds, I think you need at least a moment for people to have it 
brought to their attention what the vote pertains to.
  I urge us to have at least a limited amount of time for those who are 
for and against to have some explanation before the vote.
  Mr. REID. This can only be done by unanimous consent, obviously. One 
of the managers of the bill doesn't agree. I should tell everyone this 
is going to add at least an hour to the votes--I will bet more than 
that. We have staff here. We have nice staff. If people do not know 
what the votes are, that is unfortunate. But, anyway, it takes 
unanimous consent, and I understand that.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, if I could say this: Yes, people have 
staff. But the staff who are here are the staff of those of us who are 
managing this resolution. Many individuals don't have staff in this 
Chamber. I have found that when we start having 25 or 30 votes in a 
row, Members can get almost disoriented about what they are voting on. 
I think it would be a mistake not to have a chance to say what it is.
  Mr. REID. Does the Senator think that 30 seconds for each side would 
be better than the 1 minute? Could we accept that? I am indicating that 
if everything goes well, we will be finished with this stuff at 12 or 1 
o'clock tonight.
  Mr. CONRAD. I absolutely agree with the Senator on the need to 
compress the time. As the Senator knows, we have been working 
diligently to try to organize this in a way that reduces the

[[Page 5211]]

time. I would accept going to 30 seconds on a side.
  Mr. GREGG. I am happy to go to 30 seconds for each side.
  Mr. REID. I have not checked with Senator Frist. I wouldn't want to 
do anything without checking with him. I don't think it would be 
appropriate. If he doesn't agree to this, I would be happy to rescind 
the unanimous consent request. In the meantime, I ask unanimous consent 
the time between votes be 30 seconds per side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, recognizing that the first amendment to be 
considered is the Frist amendment, are the yeas and nays ordered?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. They are not.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all amendments 
after this amendment be 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, before we start, I know the majority leader 
would agree. We have to keep a better tab on the time around here. It 
is possible to speed things up. I am sure this vote will take more than 
10 minutes. After that I think we should enforce the 10-minute rule. If 
people can't get here to vote because they have business to conduct, 
they may have to miss some votes.
  I hope the majority would allow the 10-minute vote to be a 10-minute 
vote. I understand that if there is a vote which is close and people 
have to play around the votes a little bit, that stalls a little bit. 
The majority has the right to call votes to a close. I hope they would 
do it, recognizing that every minute they allow these votes to go 
beyond the 10 minutes is additional time people could be doing other 
things.


                           Amendment No. 229

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 30 seconds on each side.
  The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I rise on behalf the majority leader, who 
is detained at another location. The majority leader's amendment simply 
accomplishes the best of both worlds in the sense that he continues the 
reconciliation instruction so we will move forward with Medicaid 
reform.
  This year, he also sets up a commission which makes it very clear 
that Medicaid reform will not impact services to children or people who 
are in need but would, rather, look at how we improve this process of 
delivering Medicaid services without undermining the process of 
Medicaid services.
  As I said before, if we do not move forward with reconciliation this 
year, we are not going to do it at all.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, 200-plus groups who support the Smith-
Bingaman amendment believe this would be a poison pill. I fear the same 
because it tries to put the Senate on record as requiring the Senate 
Finance Committee, under the Damocles sword of reconciliation, to 
report out an agreement that Secretary Leavitt may reach with any group 
of Governors--not even a majority, not even from the National Governors 
Association.
  I urge a ``no'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment. 
The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 57 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

                                NAYS--51

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Smith
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Wyden
  The amendment (No. 229) was rejected.


                           Amendment No. 204

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2 
minutes of debate on the Smith amendment.
  Mr. GREGG. It is my understanding that the proponents will speak 
first. We will let the time run.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon is recognized.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, briefly, all the arguments have been made. 
Everybody knows we are dealing with a Damocles sword when you put 
reconciliation on Medicaid that covers the most vulnerable Americans. I 
think right now is simply the time to say vote your conscience.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, to the extent there is a Damocles sword, it 
is hanging over the generations to come who are going to have to pay 
the bills for our generation. The failure to address those bills today 
is going to make it virtually impossible for our children and their 
children to have the quality of life we have had because of the tax 
burden we are going to pass on. I hope people vote ``no.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 48, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 58 Leg.]

                                YEAS--52

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--48

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 204) was agreed to.
  Mr. GREGG. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. FRIST. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). The majority leader.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I make another appeal to our colleagues. We 
are going to start strictly cutting off the votes. We are going to ask 
people to stay in the Chamber or right outside the Chamber. Again, we 
have a lot of votes. We have to get through them.
  I also want to take 2 minutes to address an issue that I mentioned 
this

[[Page 5212]]

morning in opening, and it has to do with a particular case in Florida, 
the Terri Schiavo case. Over the course of the day and, indeed, 
yesterday, we have been working together, both sides of the aisle, to 
bring resolution to an issue that has fallen to us which we, for the 
most part in this body, agree we need to address before leaving today.
  I am going to propound two unanimous consent requests. We do not want 
to have at this point a large debate or discussion on the issue, but it 
is important that we act now because in working with the House of 
Representatives, we do, at the end of the day, want to pass 
legislation. And because they will be going out shortly over the course 
of the day, we want to make it clear it is an issue we are all working 
toward and I believe we can solve today and, thus, I will propound will 
have these two unanimous consent requests. I will explain very briefly 
the first of the two unanimous consent requests. The House has a bill 
they have passed. It is a bill that, for the most part, on both sides 
of the aisle there has been some concern that we have not been able to 
get unanimous consent just in our discussions. That will be the first 
unanimous consent request.
  The second unanimous consent request will be a private relief bill 
that is targeted to this particular case. It is a bill that both sides 
are discussing, and it is a bill on which I think over the next several 
hours we can come to some sort of mutual agreement.
  What is important is that this body act. If we do not act, there is a 
possibility that a woman who is alive today--and everybody agrees she 
is alive today--while we are on recess will have termination of all 
feeding and water. She will be starved to death. Without going into a 
lot of details--a lot of people are discussing it--that is what we 
would do from a procedural standpoint.
  The first unanimous consent request relates to a House bill that many 
people told me is unacceptable. The second unanimous consent request 
relates to a bill on which we worked together and is very targeted.


                 Unanimous Consent Request--H. R. 1332

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of H.R. 1332, the House-passed legislation 
relating to Theresa Marie Schiavo, that the bill be read a third time 
and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that 
any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. WYDEN. I object, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The majority leader has the floor.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 653

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 653, a bill introduced by 
Senator Martinez regarding Theresa Marie Schiavo, that the bill be read 
a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. WYDEN. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, we are working with a number 
of Senators on this side of the aisle to see if we can work out 
something on this legislation. So I tell the majority leader that we 
need more time because there is a number of Senators who have concerns. 
So I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. CONRAD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader has the floor.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be happy to yield to the floor 
manager.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise as a strong supporter of the bill 
of the Senator from Florida. I think it is absolutely imperative that 
we as a body take action to give a Federal court an opportunity to 
review this determination.
  A woman's life is at stake, and it is absolutely imperative that we 
take action today. We are working diligently on both sides--I thank the 
majority leader and I thank the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Santorum--and we are going to take action today. So we have to try to 
work through some issues to make certain we get that opportunity. But I 
pledge as the manager of this bill that we will interrupt this bill at 
any time when we have a resolution so that we can take action to save 
this woman's life or to give a court an opportunity to review this 
case.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there will be opportunities later when we 
address the bill for people who feel passionately about it to speak. We 
are on the budget resolution. People know we are working in a 
bipartisan way to resolve this matter to save her life which, at the 
end of the day, is the goal.
  I request people not say a lot right now so we can proceed with the 
budget votes unless there is something new to be said; otherwise, we 
will have an opportunity later tonight.
  Mr. REID. I ask for the regular order.
  Mr. FRIST. Regular order.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the amendment of the 
Senator from Delaware.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Excuse me?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the amendment of the 
Senator from Delaware.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. May I make a point of parliamentary inquiry?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I would like to know with whom this 
legislation has been shared? It certainly has not been shared with me, 
and I do not intend to just sit here while we change the nature of all 
of these things to put this in the political arena without a hearing.


                           Amendment No. 207

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 30 seconds on each side on the Carper 
amendment No. 207. Who yields time?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, this is a simple amendment.
  This is a straightforward amendment. If my colleagues agree with me, 
a U.S. Senator who wants to reduce taxes in a way that decreases the 
budget deficit, it is OK to do that.
  For this Senator or any Senator who wishes to reduce taxes, we can do 
that under this amendment, but if those taxes increase the budget 
deficit and the debt for this country, we need to muster 60 votes. The 
moneys for the offset can come from other taxes or they can come from 
reducing spending to provide the offset.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's 30 seconds have expired.
  Mr. CARPER. I urge a ``yes'' vote, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the effect of this amendment is 
obviously to take the reconciliation process out of the budget. The 
reconciliation process is going to guarantee to the Senate the 
opportunities to get things done that need to be done without making 
tax issues a political football. That tax policy was made in 2001 and 
2003 to keep that current law. We have seen too many times that laws 
that have widespread political support are filibustered and do not get 
passed.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 207.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 59 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper

[[Page 5213]]


     Chafee
     Clinton
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     McCain
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Voinovich
     Wyden

                                NAYS--51

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 207) was rejected.


                           Amendment No. 214

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The next order of business is amendment No. 
214 by Senators Snowe and Wyden. There is 1 minute evenly divided. Who 
yields time?
  The Senator from Maine
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I am going to be speaking for 30 seconds 
for both myself and Senator Wyden on this amendment.
  This is the one initiative before the Senate that addresses the 
escalating costs with respect to Medicare Part D that, as we know, has 
been reestimated by the administration from $400 billion to $534 
billion.
  The CBO has stated that our amendment would be able to negotiate real 
savings. They said there is a potential for some savings if the 
Secretary were to have the authority to negotiate prices with the 
manufacturers of single source drugs. Former Secretary Thompson said he 
wished that he had the opportunity to negotiate. He said that in his 
press conference upon his resignation.
  Finally, 80 percent of seniors support this authority, and so does 
the American Medical Association for the first time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time in opposition? The Senator 
from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am surprised that there are so many 
wise Members of this Senate who know exactly how the prescription drug 
bill is going to work when it doesn't even start until January 1, 2006. 
We took language in Democratic proposals on this subject and put them 
in a bipartisan bill so that there was a consensus of what ought to be 
done. Now they want to strike them out.
  The chief actuary and OMB says this will not save money. It will not 
increase competition because we have competition written into this by 
the plans competing against each other. Don't strike that out.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Ohio (Mr. Voinovich).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 50, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 60 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

     Akaka
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     McCain
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--50

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bond
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Voinovich
       
  The amendment (No. 214) was rejected.


                           Amendment No. 172

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The next order of business is the amendment 
No. 172 by Senator Harkin. There is 1 minute equally divided.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, this amendment restores the Perkins 
Vocational Education Program and pays for it by eliminating two tax 
provisions that haven't even come into force yet. We are not raising 
anyone's taxes. We are not rolling back anything. There are two items 
in the 2001 tax bill called PEP and Pease. They start next year. They 
don't have to go into effect.
  Who gets the benefits? Ninety-seven percent of the benefits go to 
people making more than $200,000 a year, and 54 percent go to people 
making over $1 million a year.
  I am just saying, don't let that go into effect. That saves $146 
billion over 10 years. This amendment would reduce the deficit with the 
money, and also put the money into restoring the Perkins Vocational 
Education Program.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, this amendment increases taxes by $24 
billion and purports to give $7.5 billion to vocational education. The 
bill only controls the top discretionary number Government-wide. So the 
motion isn't enforceable and would likely be ignored by the committee 
of jurisdiction. The money could go over into some other account. There 
is no guarantee that the tax-and-spend amendment will result in one 
dollar of education.
  The subcommittee chairman and the chairman for Education have looked 
at the budget, and there is money available for it. We know where to 
get it to make sure vocational education happens. That is why we put 
the Perkins through already.
  I ask the Senate to reject it.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 44, nays 56, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 61 Leg.]

                                YEAS--44

     Akaka
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed (RI)
     Reid (NV)
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--56

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 172) was rejected.

[[Page 5214]]




                  Amendments Nos. 218 and 215, en bloc

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The next order of business is proposed by 
Senators Ensign and Hutchison, amendment No. 218.
  Mr. GREGG. I ask unanimous consent we accept the Hutchison-Ensign 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  Mr. CONRAD. I ask unanimous consent we accept the Salazar amendment 
No. 215.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendments 
en bloc numbered 218 and 215.
  The amendments (Nos. 218 and 215) were agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 219

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coleman). The next amendment in order is 
No. 219 proposed by Senator Landrieu, with 1 minute equally divided.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, the time will run.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coleman). The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator 
Lindsey Graham be added as a cosponsor on Senator Landrieu's amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, has the minute run?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time has been used.
  Mr. GREGG. I suggest we go to a vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back.
  Mr. GREGG. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on the amendment.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 100, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 62 Leg.]

                               YEAS--100

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Dayton
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden
  The amendment (No. 219) was agreed to.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, can I have order. I am going to suggest 
something, and I would like to get everyone's attention.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will come to order.
  Mr. GREGG. We are going to move to the Dorgan amendment.
  Mr. CONRAD. Could we have order because we are going to be talking 
about something Members need to hear.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will come to order.


                           Amendment No. 223

  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, to begin with, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Vitter amendment No. 223 on port security, a sense of the Senate, 
be agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 223) was agreed to.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we are now going to go to the Dorgan 
amendment for which we will have the 10-minute vote, but we have 
decided--Senator Conrad and myself, after consulting with the 
leadership--that for the next 3 amendments there will be 5-minute 
votes. There will be no statements between the votes. That will be the 
Lieberman-Collins amendment on first responders, the Vitter amendment 
on the Corps of Engineers, and the Allen amendment, as modified, on 
NASA. I ask unanimous consent that be the order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, let me very quickly explain why we are 
going to try this experiment on three votes. Here is the situation we 
face. In 2 hours we have done six amendments. We have 26 amendments in 
this queue. We have 40 or 50 amendments after that. You do the math: 20 
and 40 is 60; three amendments an hour; that is 20 more hours of 
voting.
  Now, we can either subject ourselves to that or try to find a way to 
break through this morass and make more progress. The leadership has 
agreed to try on three amendments an experiment: 5-minute votes. 
Please, colleagues, let's see if we can't make this go more 
efficiently.


                           Amendment No. 210

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pending question is the Dorgan amendment.
  The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, are we doing 1 minute a side?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Thirty seconds.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, the purpose of this amendment is to repeal 
the provision of the Tax Code that actually rewards companies to shut 
down their American plant and move their jobs overseas. Yes, we 
actually reward companies in the current Tax Code for shutting down 
their American plants and moving jobs. It is the most pernicious part 
of the Tax Code. In my judgment, this is only a baby step in the right 
direction.
  A vote against this amendment is a vote against fairness and a vote 
against American jobs. I hope this Senate will approve this amendment.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  Is all time yielded back?
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk to called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kyl).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 40, nays 59, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 63 Leg.]

                                YEAS--40

     Akaka
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Carper
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--59

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

[[Page 5215]]



                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Kyl
       
  The amendment (No. 210) was rejected.


                           Amendment No. 220

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Isakson). The question is on agreeing to 
the Lieberman-Collins amendment No. 220.
  The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, at the request of a number of Senators who 
are sponsors of amendments, we have decided that we are going to 
restore the minute that was equally divided so Members can explain 
their amendments. But we are staying with the 5-minute vote for the 
next three amendments. However, we are skipping over Senator Allen's 
amendment because we hope to work that out. That would mean that 
Senator Sarbanes' amendment on CDBG would be the third 5-minute vote. 
But there will be a minute equally divided before the votes.
  I believe we are now on the Lieberman amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time on the Lieberman amendment?
  The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, the amendment Senator Lieberman and I 
have offered would restore homeland security grant funding to last 
year's level for the first responder programs and for port security. It 
is a very modest amendment. Let us remember that when disaster strikes, 
our citizens do not dial the 202 Washington, DC, area code, they dial 
911. It is our firefighters and police officers and our emergency 
medical personnel who are first on the scene. It is fully offset.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time in opposition?
  The time is yielded back.
  The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 220.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 63, nays 37, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 64 Leg.]

                                YEAS--63

     Akaka
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     Martinez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Talent
     Thune
     Vitter
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--37

     Alexander
     Allard
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Inhofe
     Kyl
     Lott
     McCain
     McConnell
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Thomas
     Voinovich
  The amendment (No. 220) was agreed to.


                     Amendment No. 223, As Modified

  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 
223, agreed to earlier, be modified with the language at the desk. It 
has been cleared on both sides.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 223), as modified, is as follows:

       On page 63, line 24, after the second period insert the 
     following: ``In dealing with homeland security assistance 
     grants that relate to port security, Congress should (1) 
     allocate port security grants under a separate, dedicated 
     program intended specifically for port security enhancements, 
     rather than as part of a combined program for many different 
     infrastructure programs that could lead to reduced funding 
     for port security, (2) devise a method to enable the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security to both distribute port 
     security grants to the Nation's port facilities more quickly 
     and efficiently and give ports the financial resources needed 
     to comply with congressional mandates, and (3) allocate 
     sufficient funding for port security to enable port 
     authorities to comply with mandated security improvements 
     taking into consideration national, economic, and strategic 
     defense concerns, ensure the protection of our Nation's 
     maritime transportation, commerce system, and cruise 
     passengers, strive to achieve funds consistent with the needs 
     estimated by the United States Coast Guard, and recognize the 
     unique threats for which port authorities must prepare.''.


                           Amendment No. 224

  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 
224 be agreed to, regarding the Corps of Engineers.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 224) was agreed to.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, the previous Vitter amendment is vitiated 
because this is a replacement--it is modified.
  Mr. GREGG. Yes.
  Mr. CONRAD. Modified by 224.


                           Amendment No. 156

  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we are now on the Sarbanes amendment. If 
this experiment is going to work--and I am not sure it is--I think it 
would be more likely to succeed if everybody sat at their desks as the 
clerk called the roll. Again, we are on the Sarbanes amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). The Senator from Maryland is 
recognized.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, this is a community development block 
grant amendment. Our mayors, Governors, and county officials are all 
desperate for this program. This restores the cuts, keeps it in HUD. 
Bernardi, the Deputy Secretary, said:

       We must continue to support and build upon programs that 
     work, those that have a proven record of flexibility and the 
     ability to fit in the local determined needs. CDBG is such a 
     program and ranks among our Nation's oldest and most 
     successful programs.

  This amendment would fund it by using the closing of tax loopholes, 
which previously passed this body. I urge support for the amendment.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, it has the practical effect of increasing 
spending by $1.9 billion and increasing taxes by $1.9 billion. Of 
course, there is no binding language that would have any effect on the 
Appropriations Committee. Jurisdiction as to how this money would be 
spent would be entirely with the Appropriations Committee, and they 
could spend it any way they want. It breaks the cap and raises taxes. I 
hope we oppose it.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 65 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Coleman
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Voinovich
     Wyden

                                NAYS--51

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson

[[Page 5216]]


     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 156) was rejected.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.


                             Change of Vote

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, on rollcall No. 65, I voted ``yea''. 
It was my intention to vote ``nay.'' Therefore, I ask unanimous consent 
that I be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the 
outcome.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The foregoing tally has been changed to reflect the above order.)
  Mr. GREGG. We have now done a 5-minute vote two times. Senator Conrad 
and I were wondering what the reaction of the Chamber is. We thought we 
would ask for a show of hands.
  How many want to keep going 5 minutes or go back to 10 minutes? All 
those in favor of 5 minutes raise your hand.
  (Showing of hands.)
  Mr. GREGG. How many want to stay at 10 minutes?
  (Showing of hands.)
  Mr. GREGG. We are going to try 5 minutes some more. What a democracy. 
It is very impressive.


                           Amendment No. 230

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the Coleman amendment No. 
230. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, my amendment is simple. It says no cuts 
in the Community Development Block Grant Program or other programs such 
as the Community Service Block Grant Program, the Brownfield 
Redevelopment Program, and the Rural Housing and Economic Development 
Program.
  My amendment is fully offset by function 920.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
  Mr. COLEMAN. Yes, I yield.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, having lost the previous amendment, I 
support the amendment of the Senator from Minnesota. It is not my 
preference to do an across-the-board cut of other programs, but the 
CDBG Program is so important that we should adopt this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, of course, the committee of jurisdiction 
will have the decision on how these monies are spent and what decisions 
are made. But the practical effect--I think Members should know this--
the practical effect of a 920 cut is an across-the-board cut. So, for 
example, a $2 billion item such as this means a billion dollars comes 
out of defense and a certain percentage comes out of education, a 
certain percentage comes out of health care, a certain percentage comes 
out of homeland security. That is the way this would work were the 
Appropriations Committee to follow these instructions.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is agreeing to amendment No. 230.
  Mr. SARBANES. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Bayh) and 
the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 68, nays 31, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 66 Leg.]

                                YEAS--68

     Akaka
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Burns
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     Martinez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Talent
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--31

     Alexander
     Allard
     Bennett
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Inhofe
     Kyl
     Lott
     McCain
     McConnell
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Thomas

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Lieberman
       
  The Amendment (No. 230) was agreed to.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, please recognize Senator Bayh.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana is recognized.


                             change of vote

  Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, on rollcall vote No. 66, I was present and 
voted ``aye.'' The official record has me listed as ``absent.'' 
Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the official record be 
corrected to accurately reflect my vote. This will in no way change the 
outcome of the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The foregoing tally has been changed to reflect the above order.)
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on amendment No. 
230 to change my vote. I voted ``nay''. I ask unanimous consent to 
change my vote to ``yea''. This change does not alter the outcome of 
the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The foregoing tally has been changed to reflect the above order.)
  Mr. COLEMAN. I move to reconsider the vote.
  MR. SARBANES. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 208

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 1-minute debate on Cochran amendment 
No. 208.
  The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, this amendment seeks to ensure that it is 
Congress who sets the discretionary caps and enforces them. It does not 
transfer to the President a new power of enforcement. If the President 
submits an urgent supplemental, as he has done now, and the House 
passes a supplemental bill and it comes to the Senate, if we add an 
emergency designation for an item, you can make a 60-vote point of 
order against that if it exceeds the caps, and we enforce that cap in 
that fashion.
  This adds that the President has to enforce it by specifically 
agreeing that it is an emergency. That is not in the law now, and it 
should not be added on this resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, this returns us to a point of order that 
existed in prior days when the President participated in emergency 
designations relative to nondefense activity. It only applies to 
nondefense activity. It avoids issues such as placing in emergency 
bills items which are clearly not emergency issues unless the President 
agrees they are emergency issues also.
  I think it creates a much more balanced approach to how we address 
spending, and it protects the cap and does not allow the emergency 
bills to basically circumvent the cap.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 
208.
  Mr. GREGG. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Pennsylvania, (Mr. San-torum).

[[Page 5217]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 73, nays 26, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 67 Leg.]

                                YEAS--73

     Akaka
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Craig
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Martinez
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Talent
     Thune
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--26

     Alexander
     Bayh
     Chafee
     Coburn
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Inhofe
     Kyl
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     McCain
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Sununu
     Thomas
     Vitter
     Voinovich

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Santorum
       
  The amendment (No. 208) was agreed to.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. CRAIG. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                     Amendment No. 177, as Modified

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 1 minute of debate on the Kennedy 
amendment.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I have a modification at the desk and ask 
that my amendment be modified.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 177), as modified, is as follows:

(Purpose: To maintain college access and close corporate tax loopholes 
 by an amount equal to $5.4 billion, enough to: (1) restore education 
program cuts slated for vocational education, adult education, GEAR UP, 
  and TRIO, (2) increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship to $4,500 
  immediately, and (3) increase future math and science teacher loan 
         forgiveness to $23,000 without increasing the deficit)

       On page 3, line 10, increase the amount by $723,0000.
       On page 3, line 11, increase the amount by $3,803,000,000.
       On page 3, line 12, increase the amount by $666,000,000.
       On page 3, line 13, increase the amount by $227,000,000.
       On page 3, line 14, increase the amount by $55,000,000.
       On page 3, line 19, increase the amount by $723,000,000.
       On page 3, line 20, increase the amount by $3,803,000,000.
       On page 3, line 21, increase the amount by $666,000,000.
       On page 4, line 1, increase the amount by $227,000,000.
       On page 4, line 2, increase the amount by $55,000,000.
       On page 4, line 7, increase the amount by $5,389,000,000.
       On page 4, line 8, increase the amount by $5,000,000.
       On page 4, line 9, increase the amount by $15,000,000.
       On page 4, line 10, increase the amount by $25,000,000.
       On page 4, line 11, increase the amount by $40,000,000.
       On page 4, line 16, increase the amount by $723,000,000.
       On page 4, line 17, increase the amount by $3,803,000,000.
       On page 4, line 18, increase the amount by $666,000,000.
       On page 4, line 19, increase the amount by $227,000,000.
       On page 4, line 20, increase the amount by $55,000,000.
       On page 17, line 16, increase the amount by $5,389,000,000.
       On page 17, line 17, increase the amount by $723,000,000.
       On page 17, line 20, increase the amount by $5,000,000.
       On page 17, line 21, increase the amount by $3,803,000,000.
       On page 17, line 24, increase the amount by $15,000,000.
       On page 17, line 25, increase the amount by $666,000,000.
       On page 18, line 3, increase the amount by $25,000,000.
       On page 18, line 4, increase the amount by $227,000,000.
       On page 18, line 7, increase the amount by $40,000,000.
       On page 18, line 8, increase the amount by $55,000,000.
       On page 30, line 16, decrease the amount by $723,000,000.
       On page 30, line 17, decrease the amount by $5,474,000,000.
       On page 36, line 21, increase the amount by $8,000,000.
       On page 36, line 22, increase the amount by $8,000,000.
       On page 36, line 23, increase the amount by $93,000,000.
       On page 36, line 24, increase the amount by $93,000,000.
       On page 48, line 6, increase the amount by $5,381,000,000.
       On page 48, line 7, increase the amount by $715,000,000

  Mr. KENNEDY. I have cleared that both with the majority leader and 
minority leader.
  Mr. President, my amendment as modified increases the education 
funding by $5.4 billion paid for by the corporate tax loophole closure 
and now includes no additional deficit reduction.
  The amendment does three things. No. 1, it will make immediately 
available the Pell grant increase to $4,500. No. 2, it provides for the 
protection of the GEAR UP Program, the TRIO Programs, and vocational 
education. No. 3, it will ensure 60,000 math and science teachers every 
single year. That is effectively what this amendment does.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time has expired.
  The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I would agree that this amendment does 
increase taxes by $5.4 billion. I could not agree that it will actually 
wind up adding money for education. It gives the nonbinding suggestion 
that it be directed toward various higher education programs, but it 
does not guarantee it. The Budget Resolution controls the top-line 
discretionary number government-wide. No such suggestion is 
enforceable. There is no guarantee that this tax-and-spend amendment 
will result in one new dollar for education, let alone the programs 
suggested by the amendment. I ask that my colleagues vote no.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 177, as modified.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 49, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 68 Leg.]

                                YEAS--51

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--49

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 177), as modified, was agreed to.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. KERRY. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 234

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 1 minute each on the next amendment. 
Senator Baucus is recognized.

[[Page 5218]]


  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, could we have order, please?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order. The Senator from 
Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, this amendment strikes the cuts in the 
budget resolution with respect to agriculture. Two main points: Today, 
agricultural spending constitutes 1 percent of total Federal spending. 
These cuts here constitute 16 percent of the cuts in the budget 
resolution. It is just not right to single out agriculture 16 times 
more than other cuts in this resolution.
  No. 2, the Europeans today spend $37 billion a year on agricultural 
price supports. We spend about $17 billion, half of what they spend. We 
should not unilaterally disarm now, before the Doha WTO talks.
  Two points why the amendment should be agreed to. We should not make 
these cuts.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, the Senator from Montana is correct; 
that the cuts in agricultural spending now constitute 16 percent. That 
is another good reason why we should have supported Medicaid savings. 
We wouldn't be in this position now.
  What we committed to do relative to agriculture savings is, first of 
all, not to change the policy in the farm bill. We are not going to do 
that. We are simply not going to change policy.
  Lastly, let me just say that over the last 3 years, farmers 
themselves have saved $5 billion per year from the projected farm bill 
expenditures in 2002. If we cannot find $2.8 billion over the next 5 
years, then something is wrong. We are going to find it. We are going 
to treat every commodity fairly and equitably, and every title of the 
farm bill fairly and equitably in achieving these savings. I urge a 
``no'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 46, nays 54.

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 69 Leg.]

                                YEAS--46

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--54

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 234) was rejected.


                           Amendment No. 239

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 1 minute equally divided on the Biden 
amendment.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, if we might have a moment to review for 
our colleagues where we stand, I think it is important to do so at this 
moment. I alert our colleagues that we have nine more amendments in 
this queue. We have 33 additional amendments noticed. That is 42 total. 
We are doing just over four amendments an hour. If we continue on this 
course, we are going to be here until 2 or 2:30 this morning.
  There are a number of colleagues who have multiple amendments still 
noticed. I am asking colleagues to please notify leadership, please 
notify the whip, of what amendments you can wait on until another 
vehicle and another time.
  At this point, I plead with colleagues. Let us not have a situation 
in which we are here until 3 o'clock this morning. This is our 
opportunity now during these votes for Members to notify which 
amendments they are willing to hold off on. Please do that.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the manager of our bill, the Senator from 
North Dakota, is very busy, and his person to work with on these 
amendments is Senator Durbin. If people would help Senator Durbin and 
Senator Conrad and help us move through amendments on our side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, my amendment restores $1 billion for local 
law enforcement, three big programs that have essentially been zeroed 
out, the COPS Program, the law enforcement block grants. Four years ago 
we spent $2.3 billion helping local law enforcement. It is down to $118 
million.
  My friend from New Hampshire said we are going to prove we can end 
the program. Let us pick one that is not working to end. This one 
works.
  I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, the COPS Program was a program put in place 
by President Clinton. It was supposed to have expired 5 years ago. It 
was fully funded under President Clinton, and 100,000 police officers 
were put on the streets; in fact, 110,000. It continues to exist even 
though it has served its purpose, and there was a consensus that it 
would not go any longer. It is time to ask the program to be 
terminated.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 45, nays 55, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 70 Leg.]

                                YEAS--45

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--55

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
  The amendment (No. 239) was rejected.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MARTINEZ. I ask unanimous consent the call for the quorum be 
rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________