[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17108]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS

  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I come to the floor again to try to 
achieve what I think is a very simple and straightforward but important 
objective: to get a clear up-or-down vote on a pure disclosure proposal 
I have. This proposal would say that the elections all of us make as 
Members of the Senate and all of the House Members make with regard to 
how our offices go to the ObamaCare exchange as mandated by statute do 
not go through this end runaround of the OPM rule. That is simply 
public information. How each office handles the situation is public 
information.
  Whatever we believe about the Washington exemption from ObamaCare, 
whatever we believe about that debate and that exemption and that 
subsidy, it should be a no-brainer, not partisan debate, how each of us 
and how each of our offices handle whether this election is public 
information. Right now it is not. A lot of Members, including me, have 
explained what they are doing, but certainly not all have, and that is 
not public information. This amendment which I am proposing would 
simply produce full disclosure and have that be public information.
  I am open to any way to get a clear vote on that this calendar year, 
so I am completely flexible on how that happens--on this bill before 
us--and I would certainly like to expedite consideration and passage of 
this bill; or an amendment on the Defense bill next week--that would be 
another possibility; or a quick debate on my freestanding bill--that 
would be a third possibility. None of those would take significant time 
in the Senate. In fact, all of those would expedite Senate business, 
including leading to the passage of the bill now on the Senate floor 
right now, today. So it would actually expedite the process and 
expedite consideration.
  With that, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that my amendment 
No. 2024 be called up, that a Democratic side-by-side amendment be in 
order to be called up, and that those be the only amendments in order 
other than those currently pending; that both those amendments be 
subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold for adoption; I further ask 
that there be a total of 2 hours of debate equally divided on both 
amendments and that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the 
Senate proceed to a vote on the Democratic amendment, followed by a 
vote on my amendment; that following the disposition of the amendments, 
the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider 
be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action 
or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, I have made statements over 
the past many weeks about why I object to this. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, reclaiming the floor, again I am open to 
any reasonable way to get a simple vote on a pure disclosure provision 
anytime this calendar year. In that spirit, I have an alternative.
  I ask unanimous consent that all remaining time on the motion to 
proceed to H.R. 3204, the compounding bill, be yielded back; that the 
Senate proceed to H.R. 3204; that the bill be read a third time and 
passed right now and the motion to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table; I further ask that the Senate then proceed to the 
consideration of S. 1197, the Defense authorization bill; that my 
amendment which is at the desk be called up and that a Democratic side-
by-side amendment be in order to be called up; that notwithstanding 
rule XXII, those amendments remain in order and that both amendments be 
subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold for adoption.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, the Senator from Louisiana 
has been holding up things in the Senate for weeks. What he has now 
requested of the Senate is that every other Senator take second fiddle 
to him. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, again, I am open to any reasonable path 
forward that would produce this one, simple, straightforward vote on 
pure disclosure, information that I think should clearly be public 
information. So as a third alternative, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged 
from further consideration of S. 1629 and the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration; I further ask consent that there be 60 minutes 
of debate divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back 
of time, the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote 
on passage of the bill; and that a 60-affirmative vote threshold be 
required for passage.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. REID. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, reclaiming the floor and wrapping up, I 
continue to find that very unfortunate and, frankly, really 
unreasonable. We, each of us as Members of the Senate, made an 
important election about how to handle this ObamaCare exemption issue. 
Some folks have classified a good part of their staff as not official 
staff--magic wand, somehow. They work here, they get a paycheck, they 
are on government property, they do official business, but they are not 
official staff. This is a charade, and at a minimum I think the public 
should know how each office and each Member is handling that situation. 
That is the only thing my disclosure proposals, which I have been 
asking for a vote on, would require. That is the only thing I am asking 
for a vote on this calendar year. I think offering these three 
unanimous consent routes to that is very reasonable and would also 
expedite consideration of many other matters, including the bill on the 
Senate floor right now. It is unfortunate that that reasonable route 
forward was not chosen and blocked in multiple ways, but I will 
certainly continue pursuing this important objective.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Connecticut is recognized.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Senator Blumenthal pertaining to the introduction of 
S. 1714 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, 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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