Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

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. President, have we reconsidered and moved to lay on the table all of the votes this morning?

Mr. CONRAD. Let's have a blanket move to reconsider and move to lay on the table of the votes for this morning.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Sanders amendment be considered from now until 1:30; that then Senator Enzi be recognized for an amendment until 2 o'clock; that Senator Carper be recognized at 2 o'clock; that at 2:15, Senator Coleman be recognized-- --

Mr. CONRAD. For an amendment; that at 2:45, Senator Lincoln be recognized for an amendment; and that at 3:15, Senator Kyl be recognized for an hour equally divided on his amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. Further, as part of that unanimous consent, I ask unanimous consent that the Kyl amendment be voted on before 11 o'clock tomorrow, at a time to be determined by the two leaders; that there be, before the Kyl amendment, 6 minutes evenly divided; that there be a side-by-side amendment reserved on the Democratic side with the Kyl amendment, and that the same rule pertain that there be 6 minutes equally divided.

Mr. CONRAD. I am happy to yield to my colleague.

Mr. CONRAD. Let me just understand that final point.

Mr. CONRAD. That the Sanders amendment would be the first amendment; is that what the Senator is saying?

Mr. CONRAD. No, that would not be typically the order.

Mr. CONRAD. The second degree would be voted on first. So our amendment would be, in effect, the second degree, and so in the regular order it would be voted on first.

Mr. CONRAD. Yes, side-by-sides reserved for all the amendments. And votes would be on or in relationship to the subjects that we have identified here.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I would like to now take up Grassley amendment No. 502 in regard to the Smithsonian. We have agreement from Senator Grassley and others to take that amendment on a voice vote.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. Mr. President, if the Presiding Officer could read back to me the final timing for the unanimous consent agreement we have just entered into--the GOP amendment, which is the Kyl amendment, would be offered at 3:15 this afternoon, and that would be an hour equally divided, and that would leave us at 4:15?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask my colleague if we could then agree for 10 minutes equally divided on the Bayh amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. We will get a copy, and perhaps we can work that out. Mr. President, I yield to Senator Sanders.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, before the Senator departs, I wish to again thank him for his unfailing courtesy as we work through this budget resolution. I appreciate very much all of the constructive help he has provided as we have tried to get this done. I thank him very much.

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

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Maryland, Senator Cardin.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I thank Senator Cardin, the Senator from Maryland, an extremely valuable member of the Budget Committee. He came to this Chamber after an extremely well-respected career in the House of Representatives, where he served in the most powerful committee in the House of Representatives, the Ways and Means Committee. Senator Cardin is known as a Congressman's Congressman. He is somebody who does his homework. We have already seen that on the Budget Committee. He is already an extraordinarily valuable member there. I rely on him heavily. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have Senator Cardin on the Budget Committee. He has a wealth of knowledge, which has been put to good use as we have crafted this budget resolution. So I commend him and thank him publicly for the contribution he has made. This is the kind of serious-minded person this Senate needs and the Congress of the United States needs. We are delighted he is on the Budget Committee. I would like to speak for a minute on the Enzi amendment. Senator Enzi, on the other side of the aisle, is somebody I not only like but I respect. Senator Enzi was an accountant in his private life. He brings those skills and that discipline to his job. He is well regarded on both sides of the aisle because he is serious about the job. I wish to start by saying I do like and admire the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Enzi. On his amendment, let me give my reactions. I think it is entirely well intended. What I worry about are the unintended consequences with this amendment. Let me say why. Currently, there is a 60-vote point of order against legislation that would impose unfunded mandates against State, local, and tribal governments above a certain threshold. That threshold right now is $66 million in any 1 year. In addition to that point of order, there is a 50-vote point of order against legislation that would have an unfunded private sector mandate above a certain threshold. That, currently, as I recall, is $131 million in a year. But that is not a 60-vote point of order; it is not a supermajority. It is a simple majority. The amendment that Senator Enzi has presented would make the private sector unfunded mandate point of order a 60-vote one, a supermajority. I think the Senator would acknowledge that. He has altered it somewhat from what he offered in committee. It applies to the extent that the mandate affects small businesses. So this amendment could result in a budget point of order against legislation that has no Federal, State, local or tribal budget impact; but it would have an effect if a mandate affects small businesses and it has an effect of over $131 million in any year. So far, so good. The difficulty I see with the amendment is, first, once again, the Budget Committee does not have the authority to make this kind of policy determination. We don't. I would like to. Many times as the Budget Committee chairman, I wish we had this kind of authority, but we simply don't. If legislation such as this were adopted--and again, it can't be adopted in a budget resolution--but if it were adopted separately, my staff informs me it could affect legislation in the following areas: It could actually create a 60-vote point of order against the mental health parity legislation of Senator Domenici--legislation, by the way, of which Senator Enzi is a cosponsor. It could create a 60-vote point of order against the 2007 Defense authorization bill. It could create a 60-vote point of order, a supermajority hurdle, against minimum wage legislation, bankruptcy reform, pension reform, and a host of other bills. That is the concern I have about this amendment in terms of a policy. We have not had a hearing. It requires further exploration before we would go forward with this particular amendment. Again, the desire the Senator has to have unfunded mandates points of order on issues that would affect small business is entirely reasonable, but I am very concerned about the unintended consequences. I am very concerned about creating a 60-vote hurdle, a supermajority vote, that could affect issues such as the mental health parity legislation of Senator Domenici, such as the 2007 Defense authorization bill, such as the minimum wage bill, such as the bankruptcy reform legislation, such as pension reform. I sense there is danger here, and I urge my colleagues to think about it carefully before they vote for the amendment. I understand we are getting to the end of the time. Does Senator Enzi have time remaining?

Mr. CONRAD. Perhaps Senator Enzi wishes to use his time at this point.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we are now awaiting the arrival of Senator Carper. I ask the staff to call the Senator's office because we are ready to go to Senator Carper's amendment. Mr. President, could you give us an update on the time situation?

Mr. CONRAD. We are prepared to yield back all time on both sides of the Enzi amendment. I see Senator Coleman is here. Will Senator Coleman be available to go forward with his amendment? Senator Carper is not in the Chamber.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask the manager on the other side if that is acceptable with him.

Mr. CONRAD. Why don't we do that. We thank Senator Coleman very much. We will go to Senator Carper after Senator Coleman has completed.