[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14782-14783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               SPORTSMEN'S ACT OF 2012--MOTION TO PROCEED


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, pursuant to rule 
XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, 
which the clerk will state.

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 504, S. 3525, a bill to protect and 
     enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing, and 
     shooting, and for other purposes.
         Harry Reid, Jon Tester, Joe Manchin III, Jeanne Shaheen, 
           Sheldon Whitehouse, Debbie Stabenow, Ron Wyden, Max 
           Baucus, Daniel K. Inouye, Kent Conrad, Mark Pryor, 
           Christopher A. Coons, Michael F. Bennet, Kay R. Hagan, 
           Robert P. Casey, Jr., Richard Blumenthal, Ben Nelson.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are now 2 minutes equally divided.
  The Republican leader is recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I am going to proceed very briefly on my leader time. 
I ask consent that the next vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to 
S. 2535 be vitiated and the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of H.R. 4089, which is at the desk and is the House-
passed Sportsmen's Heritage Act, the bill be read a third time and 
passed with the motion to reconsider laid upon the table.
  For the record, again, this will allow a bill to get to the 
President's desk immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The majority leader.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President, the House 
bill is this big. It has three provisions. The bill we are going to 
vote on has 20, supported by over 50 groups--NRA, Ducks Unlimited, and 
more than 50 others, a wonderful piece of legislation that is robust, 
it is conclusive, and it is not partisan. It is a very good piece of 
legislation. It should be widely accepted. It is a fine piece of 
legislation supported by conservation groups, sportsmen's groups all 
over America.
  I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, very briefly, we could have tonight 
passed the House-passed Sportsmen's bill. It would have gone straight 
to the President for signature. That having been thwarted by our 
friends on the other side, I certainly think it is appropriate to vote 
to proceed to the measure before us and I intend to vote aye.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 2 minutes equally divided. The 
Senator from Montana is recognized.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, as the majority leader pointed out, this 
Sportsmen's Act is a compilation of 19 bills. Hunting season has 
already started. This bill benefits 90 million Americans who hunt, 
fish, and watch wildlife, supported by 56 groups from the Nature 
Conservancy to the NRA. It reduces our deficit by some $7 million due 
to net gain over 10 years. This is an economic driver of outdoor 
industry, some $646 billion in direct spending to our economy. I urge a 
``yes'' vote on the motion to proceed and since it is 20 after 1, I 
would like to have a voice vote on it.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to explain my vote in support of 
cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 3525, the Sportsmen's Act of 
2012. I am supporting cloture in an effort to move this important bill 
forward. It is a compilation of almost 20 different pieces of 
legislation that are important to the sportsmen's community. The 
Sportsmen's Act will increase habitat conservation while improving 
access to recreational fishing and hunting lands. The Senate deserves 
the chance to debate this bill, and I support invoking cloture on the 
motion to proceed in an effort to make it the pending business before 
the Senate.
  However, I want to voice my opposition to a provision in this bill 
dealing with polar bears. The provision would allow hunters who killed 
polar bears in Canada before a ban was put in place to bring their 
remains into the United States. I believe this provision could 
encourage further hunting of polar bears, increase demand for polar 
bear trophies, and lead to a rise in poaching or illegal trade of polar 
bear parts. It could also stimulate demand for other exotic and 
endangered animal parts from around the globe.
  Polar bears are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered 
Species Act. Their habitat is being threatened by global warming. We 
need to do everything we can to curb the hunting of these creatures for 
sport and avoid the unintended consequence of putting polar bears and 
other endangered species at risk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. REID. I yield back all time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call 
has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
motion to proceed to S. 3525, a bill to protect and enhance 
opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing, and shooting, and for 
other purposes be brought to a close?
  The yeas are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer) 
and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Burr), the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller), the Senator from Oklahoma 
(Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn), the Senator from 
Illinois (Mr. Kirk), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller) 
would have voted: ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 84, nays 7, as follows:

[[Page 14783]]



                      [Rollcall Vote No. 200 Leg.]

                                YEAS--84

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blunt
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--7

     Blumenthal
     DeMint
     Kyl
     McCain
     Menendez
     Paul
     Reed

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Boozman
     Boxer
     Burr
     Coburn
     Heller
     Inhofe
     Kirk
     Murray
     Vitter
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). On this vote, the yeas are 
84, the nays are 7. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn 
having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  The majority leader.

                          ____________________