Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we are prepared to go to final passage. We cannot do that without first thanking people. This has been a marathon, and people--many people--have worked around the clock to get us to this position. Let me thank a colleague because we would not be finishing at 7:15 without the extraordinary work of Senator Patty Murray. Thank you, Patty. She convinced literally dozens of our colleagues to drop amendments tonight; otherwise, we would have been here until 2 o'clock in the morning. So special thanks to her. And thanks to my staff director, Mary Naylor; and John Righter, my deputy staff director; Lisa Konwinski, my counsel; and, most of all, my chart master, Kobye Noel. And thanks to the staff of Senator Gregg: Scott Gudes and Denzel McGuire, outstanding professionals. Of course, my personal thanks to the chairman of the committee, who has been so decent to deal with, and so honorable to deal with. On our side, Mr. Chairman, we thank you for your courtesies. With that, let me conclude on the budget itself.

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, this is truly a sweeping amendment. I hope colleagues are listening. This amendment seeks to lock in the current level of discretionary spending, not just for this year but permanently. I hope colleagues are listening. This seeks to lock in the current level of spending for homeland security, for veterans health, for NIH, not just for 1 year but permanently because it would take 67 votes to increase it. I hope my colleagues will reject this amendment. This is an amendment which goes against every democratic impulse of this body.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I move to lay that motion on the table.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I am prepared to withdraw my amendment No. 3148 and Senator Hagel is also prepared to have his amendment No. 3127 withdrawn. We are also prepared to withdraw Lincoln amendment No. 3047. We have managed to work out an understanding on all of these matters, so I ask unanimous consent to have those amendments withdrawn.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield the time to the ranking member on the Finance Committee, Senator Baucus.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, it is also our understanding that Senator Grassley would not offer his amendment that was the matching amendment to the Lincoln amendment that has now been withdrawn.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, could I just alert colleagues, we have now done a vote count. We have over 60 votes pending. We can only do three votes an hour. That would take us 20 hours. I urge colleagues--there are other vehicles coming. We have had a lot of votes already on this budget resolution. We have a lot more votes scheduled. I would urge colleagues to come to us and remove some of their amendments from consideration. I thank the Chair.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we have made significant progress in reducing the number of amendments. This is the good news--really dramatic progress. The bad news is, with the amendments that are still pending we will be here until 2 o'clock in the morning. It is in the hands of Members of this body. If everybody sticks to their guns and insists on their amendments, we are going to be here until 2 o'clock in the morning. I ask colleagues to please show some forbearance. We have other vehicles that are coming--the appropriations bills--and other opportunities to make Members' views known.

Mr. CONRAD. No objection.

Mr. CONRAD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I thank the chairman again for his courtesy. Amendment No. 3148 Mr. President, I want to say to the Senator from Nebraska that while on this side we agree that we have long-term challenges, very deep long-term challenges, with the fiscal health of the country, we believe the amendment the Senator from Nebraska has offered is too narrow in scope. Mr. President, for that reason, I send an amendment to the desk to be considered at the same time as the amendment offered by the Senator from Nebraska. Basically, the difference is this: We think everything ought to be on the table. We think everything ought to be on the table, not just entitlements but domestic discretionary spending, the revenue side of the equation, that all ought to be considered.

Mr. CONRAD. I will be happy to.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, we don't have on our list the amendment of the Senator from Pennsylvania. I am told that is OK. That has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have a letter printed in the Record from AARP in opposition to the Hagel amendment, indicating they agree that the Hagel amendment is too narrow in scope, and that we ought to have a broader look at all of the problems facing our fiscal future, not just focus on one part.

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

Mr. CONRAD. Might we put in a quorum call? We have a little bit of a glitch.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, if we could ask colleagues' indulgence for a few more minutes here, we are very close. We have made enormous progress in the last 20 minutes, 30 minutes. We are very close. If we could have colleagues' indulgence for a few more minutes, we could rapidly come to conclusion.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, can I alert colleagues again? We have colleagues who are missing votes. They are missing votes because of the time deadline. We have had Democrats missing votes and we have had Republicans missing votes. We don't want you to miss votes. We want you to make votes but at the same time we have to stay on schedule.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield time to the Senator.

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

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, if we could ask our colleagues, we know the list that has been put in, and if colleagues who have amendments about to be considered will be closely attentive to what is happening here so we don't have dead time, that would be very helpful to the process. After this amendment, next is the Lieberman amendment. So we alert Senator Lieberman and his staff. Then we will have the Lautenberg amendment. If those Senators can be ready to go.

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, on our side it is Senator Stabenow, Senator Akaka, Senator Lincoln. I should intercede, Senator Vitter will be paired with Senator Landrieu on an amendment for Louisiana.

Mr. CONRAD. Very well.