[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2561-2562]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 1254

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 435, 
H.R. 1254, the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2007; that 
the committee-reported amendments be considered and agreed to; that the 
bill, as amended, be read a third time, passed, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any statements relating to 
the bill be printed in the Record, as if read, without further 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I ask the 
Senator to modify his request to include

[[Page 2562]]

an amendment I have at the desk which makes the bill applicable to 
Presidents serving on or after January 21, 2009.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator so modify his request?
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, there is an objection. I 
object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator declines to modify his original 
request. Is there an objection to the request as originally stated?
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I want to clarify why I am objecting to 
the passage of H.R. 1254, the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act, 
in its current form.
  In the past, I supported a bill very similar to this. I have always 
supported transparency in these matters.
  My concern is in the fairness of passing this legislation today. When 
this legislation was introduced at the very beginning of this 
administration's tenure, I supported it because it would have provided 
sufficient notice to the new administration of a change in reporting 
requirements.
  However, this administration's final term is near an end, and I do 
not believe it is fair to change the rules on them.
  This administration has complied with the existing procedures. 
Changing them now would put a greater burden on them than any other 
past administration which already finished collecting the majority of 
donations for their libraries.
  Enacting this bill to apply only to future administrations would 
solve this problem, and put them on notice of the new reporting 
requirements and procedures.
  I have an amendment to this bill so that it will be enacted only to 
apply to administrations serving on or after January 21, 2009. If this 
amendment is accepted, I will be happy to support the legislation.

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