[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Page 31626]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             SERVICE MEMBERS HOME OWNERSHIP TAX ACT OF 2009

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I think you are going to report the 
bill. Regular order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, is not the regular order to return to 
the health care bill?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the pending business.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3590) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers credit in the case 
     of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal 
     employees, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Reid amendment No. 2786, in the nature of a substitute.
       Dorgan modified amendment No. 2793 (to amendment No. 2786), 
     to provide for the importation of prescription drugs.
       Crapo motion to commit the bill to the Committee on 
     Finance, with instructions.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader is recognized.


                             cloture motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we have been trying for days to get an 
agreement to have votes on the health care measure, which our friends 
on the other side have said is so important to the American people and 
must be acted upon before Christmas. Specifically, the pending Crapo 
amendment has been there since last Tuesday. It now becomes clear to me 
the majority simply does not want to have any more votes, presumably 
pending these discussions that are going on behind closed doors on a 
bill that almost nobody in the Senate has seen.
  Therefore, I send a cloture motion to the desk on the Crapo 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the pending 
     Crapo motion to commit H.R. 3590, a bill to amend the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time 
     homebuyers credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces 
     and certain other Federal employees.
         Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, Judd Gregg, Lamar 
           Alexander, Johnny Isakson, David Vitter, Sam Brownback, 
           George S. LeMieux, Pat Roberts, Jeff Sessions, Bob 
           Corker, John Barrasso, Jon Kyl, John McCain, Saxby 
           Chambliss, Thad Cochran, Lindsey Graham.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I hope we can bring to fruition a 
consent agreement to allow us to begin to vote. Yesterday, against 
considerable opposition on my own side, I basically backed down and 
offered the consent agreement the majority leader had offered a few 
days ago, which would have allowed our Democratic friends to have a 
side-by-side with their own amendment on the issue of drug 
reimportation and a side-by-side with Senator Crapo's amendment on 
taxes. The majority objected, essentially, to the consent that they had 
previously offered a few days before.
  I hope we can get back on track. The commitment was made by the 
majority at the beginning of this debate that we would have plenty of 
amendments. We had a process where we went from one side to the other, 
back and forth, smoothly. Either side was able to offer side-by-side 
amendments if they chose to. I think it is not fair to the American 
people--not fair to the American people to deny them the opportunity to 
have votes on what has been called the most important issue of our era, 
so important it has to be done before Christmas.
  In the meantime, they are in some secret meeting, trying to come up 
with a bill that not only not all Senators have seen, not even 
Democratic Senators, but the American people have not seen it. We know 
what the core of the bill is. There are amendments the American people 
would like to see us debate and vote on and that is why I filed cloture 
on the Crapo amendment. Hopefully, we will not have to have that 
cloture vote, we can get back on track, as we were until things began 
to bog down midweek.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois, the majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the majority side offered a unanimous 
consent, I believe on three successive days, to the Republican side, 
which they did not accept. Then yesterday the minority leader offered a 
variation on that, which is being considered at this moment by the 
majority leader. We are not prepared--I am not prepared to make a 
statement until the majority leader has made a final decision, having 
talked over the new offer with our members. The time may come. I cannot 
predict whether it will.
  I do believe we have to work on it some more. In the meantime, I 
think the floor should be open for comments. I ask unanimous consent 
the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators 
permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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