[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11856-11857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       SHARED SACRIFICE IN RESOLVING THE BUDGET DEFICIT--Resumed

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what is the pending business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the pending business.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1323) to express the sense of the Senate on 
     shared sacrifice in resolving the budget deficit.

  Pending:

       Reid amendment No. 529, to change the enactment date.
       Reid amendment No. 530 (to amendment No. 529), of a 
     perfecting nature.
       Reid motion to commit the bill to the Committee on Finance, 
     with instructions, Reid amendment No. 531, of a perfecting 
     nature.
       Reid amendment No. 532 (to the instructions (amendment No. 
     531) of the motion to commit), of a perfecting nature.
       Reid amendment No. 533 (to amendment No. 532), of a 
     perfecting nature.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to vitiate the 
action with respect to the pending amendments and motion to commit 
relative to S. 1323.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now withdraw the pending motion to commit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is withdrawn.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now withdraw the pending first-degree 
amendment No. 529.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is withdrawn.


                           Amendment No. 581

(Purpose: To cut spending, maintain existing commitments, and for other 
                               purposes)

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk which is a 
perfecting amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 581.

  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. REID. The yeas and nays are ordered, Mr. President?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays are ordered.


                 Amendment No. 582 To Amendment No. 581

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 582 to amendment No. 581.

  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end, add the following new section:

     SECTION XXX. EFFECTIVE DATE

       The provisions of this Act shall become effective 1 day 
     after enactment.


                Motion To Commit With Amendment No. 583

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a motion to commit the bill with 
instructions, which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] moves to commit the bill 
     (S. 1323) to the Committee on Finance with instructions to 
     report back forthwith with the following amendment numbered 
     583.

  The amendment is as follows:

       At the end, add the following new section:

     SECTION EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The provisions of this Act shall become effective 3 days 
     after enactment.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am sorry. I may not have been listening 
closely enough. Did the Chair order the yeas and nays?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been ordered.


                           Amendment No. 584

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions at 
the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 584 to the instructions of the motion to commit.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment, strike ``3 days'' and insert ``2 days''.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on that 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                 Amendment No. 585 To Amendment No. 584

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 585 to amendment No. 584.

  The amendment is as follows:

       In the amendment, strike ``2 days'' and insert ``1 day''.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what we have done is put in the process our 
efforts, sound legislation to end the budget crisis we are in. It, in 
effect, does everything the Republicans have asked. It is dollar-for-
dollar; that is, it increases the amount of spending cuts we make to 
arrive at $2.7 trillion, which, in effect, would carry the country into 
sometime in 2013.
  It consists of, as I indicated, what Republicans have agreed upon: 
discretionary spending, $1.2 trillion; mandatory, $100 billion; 
something called the Overseas Contingency Fund, which is warfighting, 
that is scored both by CBO and the Office of Management and Budget to 
the tune of about $1 trillion. That saves about $400 billion in 
interest. That is $2.7 trillion.
  There are other issues in this matter, including it allows us to 
finish our appropriations bills for the next 2 years. We have a joint 
committee that will allow us to work to do more for the long term. So 
it is a sound piece of legislation.

[[Page 11857]]

  As I indicated, virtually everything we have in there has been 
suggested by the Republicans, and now they need to take ``yes'' for an 
answer. We have given them ``yes.''
  For example, the Overseas Contingency Fund--this passed the House of 
Representatives with 5 Republicans voting no; 230, approximately, 
Republicans voted yes. Over here in the Senate, the same thing came up. 
Forty Republicans voted for it.
  So we should move on. But the sad part is it appears my friends in 
the House of Representatives are being led by a very determined group 
to have us default on our debt. They are driven by probably 80 
Republicans who seem to be calling the shots. It is unfortunate.
  We cannot have a short-term extension. That is what their legislation 
is that the Speaker indicated he was going to send to us today. Every 
Democrat--not virtually every Democrat--every Democrat will vote 
against that legislation. The President, if there was some way it 
passed--which it will not--would veto it. They are wasting the time of 
the American people. Now is the time to do what legislators must do, 
and that is compromise. But my friends in the House, they do not even 
have to compromise. All they have to do is say ``yes'' because we have 
given them what they have asked for.

                          ____________________