Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we are now ready to offer a draft managers' package No. 1. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be considered en bloc and adopted en bloc, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. The amendments are as follows: Boxer, No. 816, dependent care; Bennett of Utah, No. 885, DOE pensions; Dodd, No. 872, firefighter grants; Collins, No. 827; Carper, No. 764; Barrasso, No. 788; Pryor, No. 795; Bunning, No. 817; Dorgan, No. 837; Bunning, No. 818; Landrieu, No. 874; Roberts, No. 839; Reed of Rhode Island, No. 877; Burr, No. 797; Pryor, No. 802, and Enzi, No. 826.

Mr. CONRAD. That is being considered in the next tranche. We are working on that right now.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, that is very helpful. That cleared a lot of amendments on both sides. I now go to Senator Hutchison for the purpose of withdrawing her amendment. Amendment No. 868 Withdrawn

Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Senator. That is very gracious of her. We could go to the Reid amendment. I ask unanimous consent that Reid amendment No. 730 be adopted.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I renew my request.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, that takes us to the Thune amendment No. 803.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, would the Senator accept a voice vote? It would help a great deal in terms of moving the agenda and in terms of the disposition of the chairman on results out of the conference committee.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I propose we go next to Enzi amendment No. 824. It has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I especially thank Senator Enzi, who demonstrates once again why everybody regards him as a gentleman here. I appreciate his being gracious. Madam President, that takes us next to the Conrad AMT amendment, which I will not pursue, and we will go directly to the Grassley amendment on the alternative minimum tax. Amendment No. 950

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, we already have 3 full years of alternative minimum tax protection in the chairman's mark--3 full years. We have never had that much before in any resolution. The amendment of the Senator would add $117 billion to the debt. After we lost $2 trillion in the CBO forecast, we had to insist that some additional things be paid for. I urge my colleagues to defeat the Grassley amendment and understand we have 3 full years of alternative minimum tax protection in the chairman's mark. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that under the rules we have been operating on for each of the tranches, that we next go to Inhofe No. 742; followed by Sanders, No. 811; followed by Stabenow, No. 879; followed by Bond, No. 926; followed by Coburn, No. 894; followed by Bennett, No. 954.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, that would take us next to the Inhofe amendment. If the Senator would describe his amendment. Amendment No. 742

Mr. CONRAD. Will the Senator from Oklahoma be agreeable to a voice vote on this amendment?

Mr. CONRAD. I ask unanimous consent that we accept the Inhofe amendment, No. 742.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, that takes us then next to the Sanders amendment, No. 811.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, just for the information of colleagues, very soon we are going to need to take a break. Floor staff have not eaten; they have not had a break. So we are going to have to take a break. Before we do that, I would like to dispose of the remaining amendments in this tranche, and I would ask Senator Bond if we would be willing to take a voice vote on his amendment if Senator Stabenow would take a voice vote on hers?

Mr. CONRAD. So I take that as----

Mr. CONRAD. Well, OK. That means two more votes. I do not know how many times we voted on this already. But if people are insistent on having votes, we will get to stay here.

Mr. CONRAD. That is probably a pretty fair estimate. The Budget Committee does not have the authority to tell committees of jurisdiction the specifics of legislative outcomes. These are message amendments, and the truth is, we all do it. We do it on both sides. But I have to say to my colleagues, it has run amok this year. For some reason this year we have hundreds of amendments out there, and people are just stuck. Even when they could get a voice vote and it pass, they still want votes. We have had votes that were nine in opposition. But that is a Senator's right.

Mr. CONRAD. The problem is, that would take unanimous consent. It is very clear we cannot get unanimous consent. Is Senator Coburn in the Chamber? I ask unanimous consent that we set aside for a moment the Stabenow and Bond amendments for the purpose of going to the Coburn amendment because I am told that Senator Coburn would be willing to take a voice vote; is that correct?

Mr. CONRAD. Even better. I ask unanimous consent that the Coburn amendment, No. 894, be adopted.

Mr. CONRAD. I thank our colleague. That takes us back to Stabenow amendment No. 879.

Mr. CONRAD. I would just say to the Senator, we would be willing to take yours on a voice vote, Senator Stabenow's on a voice vote, then go to the Bennett for a vote. And we could take a break because people have not had a break. We have voted on this over and over and over. I do not think the record could be more clear.

Mr. CONRAD. That is in a separate category. We will have a vote on yours.