Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

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

Mr. CONRAD. The 12:30 hour having arrived, this is time controlled by Senators Schumer and Brownback.

Mr. CONRAD. The Senator is correct. That is the intention. After the amendments of Senator Grassley are discussed and debated, we would then be able to turn to a discussion of SCHIP with both sides participating, Senator Kyl thereafter to be recognized to offer an alternative to the amendment offered by the Senator from Montana. We await the Senators whose time has been reserved. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, is there anything in this amendment that would prevent it from being invested in some other securities other than Government bonds?

Mr. CONRAD. Is there anything that would prevent the funds from going to private accounts?

Mr. CONRAD. That raises a whole series of questions, and that is another thing I wanted to ask the Senator about. If it is set aside, if it is not used to pay down the debt, how would those funds be invested under the amendment from the Senator?

Mr. CONRAD. Could the Senator tell us how he pays for the amendment?

Mr. CONRAD. Yes, these are both very important elements to maintaining our economic edge.

Mr. CONRAD. That is correct.

Mr. CONRAD. Yes, I agree.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, would the Senator be open to some questions with respect to his amendment so we might clarify it so we might have a floor understanding of the intention of the Senator?

Mr. CONRAD. Let me first say that in large measure, I am in agreement with what I hear the Senator saying. I have always thought we are engaged in ``funny money'' accounting around here, taking Social Security money and using it to pay other bills. That is the object of the Senator's amendment; is that correct?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I wish to comment very briefly on the amendment that was offered. I commend Senator Bingaman and Senator Alexander for one of the most thoughtful amendments I have seen being offered on the budget resolution. It is bipartisan. It is something that has been very well thought through. It is almost a model for how things ought to be done in this Chamber. So I especially commend Senator Bingaman and Senator Alexander for this effort, and many other colleagues who have been involved in it. I hope it serves as an example for everybody about how we do business around here. I thank the two Senators very much. Mr. President, we now have Senator DeMint who wants to comment briefly on the Bunning amendment and also lay down an amendment. We have an understanding we have the potential of a side-by-side amendment with the DeMint amendment, if that becomes necessary. Senator Gregg and I have talked about that. Importance of Education

Mr. CONRAD. Yes, I think we should set aside the Bunning amendment so that the Bingaman amendment may be offered. The Senator from Tennessee could speak on that. We did ask them to come at this time to do so. I apologize to Senator DeMint. We were not aware that he was on his way to the floor. In fairness, that is what we should do.

Mr. CONRAD. I think in fairness to the other two Senators, we should let them go forward with their amendment. Then we could come back to the Senator from South Carolina for his comments on the Bunning amendment.

Mr. CONRAD. Would the Senator from New Hampshire provide the Senator from Tennessee with time off his side on this amendment?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask the Senator to withhold for 1 minute.

Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, unfortunately, we have two Senators and we have about 12 minutes remaining. Senator Reed, how much time do you need? Mr. REED. Five minutes.

Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Senator for his answers to those questions. Has the Senator sent the amendment to the desk?

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

Mr. CONRAD. The problem is, all the money is spoken for. So to add the Kyl amendment would drive us back into deficit, substantial deficit. I say to my colleagues, I think that would be a mistake. Unless the Senator provides an offset--there are things that are in his amendment for which I might have some sympathy. I personally believe we ought to have a goal of keeping rates low and having a broad base to our tax system so we can pay our bills and at the same time be a strongly competitive economy. In fact, my own conclusion from all of the debates on both sides is we need fundamental tax reform, and it is that, in part, for which this budget resolution tries to create an incentive. We have some time because we do not face any of these tax measures expiring for the next 3 years. But during that time, I think we have to engage in a discussion of fundamental tax reform. The bottom line is, I hope very much that colleagues will support the Baucus amendment. I hope very much they will resist the Kyl amendment at this point because it is not paid for, it is not offset, and it will take us back to the deficit in a substantial way. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. CONRAD. Does the Senator have some rough idea of what the amendment costs?

Mr. CONRAD. I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 476

Mr. CONRAD. I appreciate that. We have an understanding that if there is a desire to have a side-by-side amendment, that will be open to our side. I thank the Senator for answering those questions and for offering the amendment.