Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, on behalf of the Senator from Michigan, Ms. Stabenow, who had the time in opposition, I wish to indicate that what the Senator is talking about is not part of the chairman's mark. The chairman's mark provides an energy initiatives reserve fund. It is entirely up to the committees of jurisdiction what legislation they write to reduce our dependence on foreign energy, to deal with global climate change. This resolution makes absolutely no determination about what those committees will report. The effect of this amendment, to me, is a nullity because it is creating a budget point of order against something that does not exist in the chairman's mark. I ask my colleagues to oppose this amendment, on behalf of Senator Stabenow.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we have not seen the modification.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, Senator Bennett can conclude his remarks.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, the Senator's amendment would eliminate 20 percent of the economic recovery package we passed weeks ago. The Senator's amendment would cut defense by over $2 billion, would cut veterans by over $400 million, would cut areas in education, health, and infrastructure. If there is one thing that united this body, it was investments in infrastructure, much of what would be cut under this amendment. I urge my colleagues to vote no.

Mr. CONRAD. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we are now making significant progress on putting together a managers' package and on putting together those amendments that will require a vote. We still have a certain amount of clearing to be done in order to be ready to go to those final lists and get them locked in, but that work is going on right now between the two sides. Let me just give a status report, if I could. We are down to about 55 amendments. That is pretty good, given the fact we started at 231. But 55 at 3 an hour would be another 18 hours. So the word needs to go out that we are asking colleagues who can withhold on amendments that they have filed to use them for a later date. Those who would be willing to accept a voice vote, if they could make certain our staffs are notified of that, we will then be able to proceed in the most efficient way possible. Mr. President, we also should notify Members that at 8 p.m., give or take a few minutes, we intend to vote on the amendment on estate tax. That is the Lincoln-Kyl amendment. We just want to give people a heads- up that the amendment will be voted on at about that time--roughly 8 p.m., give or take. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we need to alert colleagues that we really need them, if they have amendments, to be on the floor or in the cloakroom. We have amendments that we are ready to go to, but we can't find the Senators. So let me just tell you, if we can't find the Senators, they are going to lose their chance to offer their amendment. We are going to give a 5-minute grace period, but if Senators have amendments, they have to be in a place where we can reach them. Amendment Nos. 889, 881, 955, 809, 912, 794, 876, 899, 883, 970, 820, 887, 917, 838, and 916 Mr. President, we are ready to go to the next managers' package. I ask unanimous consent that the managers' package be considered en bloc and agreed to en bloc. It includes the following: Klobuchar amendment No. 889, Dorgan amendment No. 881, Dodd amendment No. 955, Brown amendment No. 809, Begich amendment No. 912, Pryor amendment No. 794, Lincoln-Snowe amendment No. 876, Lincoln-Snowe amendment No. 899, Collins amendment No. 883, Hatch amendment No. 970, Enzi amendment No. 820, Klobuchar amendment No. 887, McCaskill amendment No. 917, Dorgan amendment No. 838, and Tester amendment No. 916.

Mr. CONRAD. Enzi. That is correct.

Mr. CONRAD. I raise the germaneness point of order.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I thank all our colleagues for cooperating on these managers' packages. We are working to clear additional amendments right now. I think at this point, until Senator Gregg returns, we need to note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, the next amendment that requires a vote is the Lautenberg amendment as it affects Amtrak. The Senator is not quite ready. We will give him a minute to do that. While we are waiting, let me indicate to colleagues, we need Senators who have amendments to be here or to be in the cloakroom. We have dead time here because, for amendments that are going to require a vote, Senators who are insisting on votes are not here. That is not going to work. We have now worked on another group of amendments. Momentarily we will be prepared to offer another managers' amendment. I remind colleagues that the estate tax amendment of Senator Lincoln and Senator Kyl will be voted on about 8 o'clock. We need to keep that in mind as we plan the time. I say to the Senator, we are ready to accept that amendment by unanimous consent. If the Senator wishes to speak, he could, for a minute, or we could take the amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we are prepared to take that amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, Senator Cornyn is prepared with an amendment. Would the Senator describe his amendment?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I would ask the Senator from Texas, would he be willing to allow us to take this on a voice vote or by unanimous consent?

Mr. CONRAD. Can I put this another way? This amendment is not germane. So we can have a vote on it, it probably will not succeed, or we could voice vote it and you would succeed.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, the Senator certainly has that right. Let me raise the germaneness point of order. Let me ask the Parliamentarian, is the amendment of the Senator germane?

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, if we could have the attention of the Members so we can explain what we are trying to do. I say to Senator Bond, yours will be the first vote when we come back. I say to colleagues, we need to take a break to try to put together a managers' package and determine the final amendments that require a vote. That will take a little bit of time to best organize so we do not waste everyone's time. In addition, some people have not had a break who have not eaten. They have not had any breaks since 11 o'clock this morning, especially the staff. We wish to emphasize we need to take this 45-minute break. Members who have multiple amendments, at least with respect to our side, are going to have a much better chance getting some amendment accepted if they are a little reasonable on their other amendments; in other words, prioritize, please. Let's try to work down. Some people have six amendments remaining. We need to try to prioritize. During this period, if people who have remaining amendments can come to us and tell us what are their priorities; we can't do them all. I thank the Chair and yield the floor. We will resume at 6 o'clock.