Robert Dole

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, let me indicate to my colleagues on both sides, I think there are a couple hundred amendments pending. We did not dispose of very many today. It is my understanding there are about 19 cleared on this side. And we hope we might be able to dispose of those this evening if they can be cleared on the other side. They are both Democratic and Republican amendments, and not controversial, as I understand it. I have not seen the amendments myself. But I think we have indicated--at least I have indicated, and I think the Democratic leader, the distinguished Senator from South Dakota, Senator Daschle, agrees--we ought to complete action on this bill Thursday, that on Friday take up the State, Commerce, Justice appropriations bill, and either complete action on that Friday--the chairman would like it Friday or Saturday, that bill, because we do need to complete action on the remaining appropriations bills and go to conference and send them down to the President before October 1. And so there is a lot of pressure on us to get the work done. We still have the six appropriations bills to do. Two or three will take some time. A couple of them may go rather quickly. So I would suggest that we have got a lot of work to do in a rather short time. I know that some of my colleagues will have problems in the first week in October because of religious holidays. And we want to accommodate everybody, try to accommodate everybody, as we should. But hopefully we will have the appropriations bills done, so it will be easier to accommodate those who have particular concerns in that area. So I would urge my colleagues to cooperate with the managers on each side so we can complete action on this bill on Thursday evening. I will be sending a cloture motion to the desk. In fact, I will do it right now.

Mr. DOLE. I will be happy to yield to the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. DOLE. I think the only point I would make--I am not certain we could do that. We do not want to get to one amendment at 5 o'clock tomorrow and be on it for the rest of the day. If I could get consent, before I move to the Graham amendment, on the previous three amendments, Ashcroft, Shelby--no time agreements.

Mr. DOLE. I will just say for my colleagues, we have two Republican amendments, and then we have three amendments from Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and then the amendment of Senators Graham and Bumpers. I assume following that there would be a Republican amendment, and then we can accommodate.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. DOLE. That is OK. Mr. President, I will just modify my request.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, as all Senators know, the Senate is a place of tradition, and one tradition we have is honoring those colleagues who preside over the Senate for more than 100 hours a session. Compared to Cal Ripken's 2,131 games, 100 hours may not seem like a long time, but presiding over the Senate can be very tough duty. There are periods, of course, when absolutely nothing is happening, but there are also periods when rulings from the Chair may change the course of legislation or of history itself. Many Senators have presided over the Senate, but I am told that no Republican Senator has ever presided for over 100 hours in a shorter period of time than the current occupant of the Chair, Senator Mike DeWine, of Ohio. It is a pleasure to announce that he is the first recipient of the Golden Gavel Award in the 104th Congress. And when Senator DeWine departs from the chair today, I will invite him back to the cloakroom where we have a cake in his honor. I know all Senators join me in congratulating the presiding officer on this occasion. [Applause, Senators rising.]

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. It is all right with this Senator.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I wonder whether, rather than waste time in a quorum call, I could have consent to modify an amendment? If I could just extend that consent to follow disposition of the Moynihan amendment?

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I am going to modify my amendment. But if I could briefly put in a quorum and indicate that on this side of the aisle the bill will be managed by a number of members on the Finance Committee--Senator Grassley, Senator Hatch, Senator Santorum, Senator Nickles, Senator Chafee, and the leader--throughout the remainder of the time on this particular bill. We have a lot of managers. Could I suggest the absence of a quorum, unless somebody wanted to-- -- Mr. MOYNIHAN addressed the Chair.

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. I will be happy to furnish the Senator with a copy of the legislative language, too.

Mr. DOLE. Five?

Mr. DOLE. There may be other amendments. Senator Hatch is here, Senator Chafee is here, both members of the Finance Committee, the distinguished Senator from New York, ranking member on the committee is here. If there are some amendments that can be taken, I assume we would be open for business for a while. Otherwise, as I indicated, there are no further votes today. There may be additional debate, and Members are reminded of the 5 o'clock deadline. In my view, I do not see why we cannot complete action on this bill by Wednesday or perhaps early Thursday because we would like to do the State, Justice Department appropriations bill on Thursday and Friday. We have done seven appropriations bills. That gives us No. 8. That would leave five to do before the end of this month. The only one available to us next week will be State, Justice, Commerce appropriations bill. The others come out the following week. I do not think it will be necessary because I think we have had good cooperation--we would rather not file cloture. We like to have a good debate and let everybody have a chance to debate their amendments up or down and then have a vote on final passage. Of course, if there should be some effort to frustrate the process, then it would be my suggestion we wrap all this up and put it in reconciliation. Welfare reform is very important, and if we are frustrated here, we will try to do it in another way. So far, we have had good cooperation on both sides. Members have been offering amendments. We have had good debates. I think we are making progress.

Mr. DOLE. I will briefly explain the first modification which provides no additional cash assistance for children born of families receiving assistance. States may provide vouchers in lieu of cash assistance, and they may be used to pay for particular goods and services suitable for the care of the child involved. The second one provides a bonus to States reducing out-of-wedlock births. Third is a maintenance of effort. We are still trying to reconcile that with the distinguished Senator from Rhode Island. He just offered an amendment. We have a little different amendment. We are very close to an agreement. Maybe we can agree on something by Monday. The fourth would be a work family provision relating to child care. States cannot sanction a single custodial parent for failure to work if the parent shows a demonstrated need for child care and the States define what constitutes demonstrated need. No. 5, services provided by charitable, religious, or private organizations, limitation on the use of funds for certain purposes-- just a modification of the current provision, and a modification of the supplemental growth fund. And finally, a performance bonus fund that provides additional money for States that exceed performance goals. These are modifications to the amendment. There will still be other amendments. I ask unanimous consent to have this printed in the Record.

Mr. DOLE. I yield.

Mr. DOLE. I might say in response, this is an amendment suggested by the Senator from Maine, Senator Snowe. The State would not sanction if they are of preschool age, which I think is a step in the direction the Senator would want us to go.

Mr. DOLE. I thank the Senator from Massachusetts for his statement, as I understood his statement on the participation rates. But we do not sanction a single custodial parent for failure to work if the parent shows a demonstrated need for child care. And that would be determined by the States, what constitutes a demonstrated need. We will have that debate on Monday. Senator Snowe will be here, and I am certain she will be happy to go into it in more detail.

Mr. DOLE. That would be the first vote. We need to work out additional time, I think, on the Feinstein amendments. We can do that on Monday. I also ask there be 4 minutes for debate to be equally divided in the usual form between the second and third rollcall votes ordered on Monday.

Mr. DOLE. And that the first vote be for 15 minutes and the other two or any other subsequent votes be limited to 10 minutes.

Mr. DOLE. At this time, I have consent to modify my amendment. I send that modification to the desk.

Mr. DOLE. I say to my colleagues I think we are making progress. We have had five votes today. We have been able to dispose of other amendments. Members are offering their amendments to be considered and they still have until 5:00 p.m. to do so. In light of this agreement, in lining up the three rollcall votes beginning at 5 p.m. on Monday, there will be no further votes today. Members are reminded if you intend to offer an amendment to this bill, those amendments must be offered by 5 p.m. this evening. Amendment No. 2280, as Further Modified

Mr. DOLE. I say to my colleagues, hopefully in the next minute or so we will be able to get a consent agreement that is now being cleared by the Democratic leader. If it is clear, there will be no further votes. Amendment No. 2546 to Amendment No. 2280 (Purpose: To maintain the welfare partnership between the States and the Federal Government)

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I understand this consent agreement has been cleared by my colleagues on the other side. I will propound it. I ask unanimous consent when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 10 a.m. Monday, September 11, 1995, and immediately resume consideration of the welfare bill, H.R. 4. [[Page S 12911]]

Mr. DOLE

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, there have been a number of inquiries last night and today about when the resignation of Senator Packwood would be effective. I think I can best answer that in the exchange of letters I have had with Senator Packwood if my colleagues will permit me. This is my letter to Senator Packwood: Dear Bob: As I said on the Senate floor yesterday, it is my belief that you made the [[Page S 12924]] right and honorable decision to resign from the United States Senate. I believe that it is in the best interests of the Senate and of the State of Oregon to reach closure on this matter as soon as possible. Therefore, it is my recommendation that your resignation become effective no later than October 1, 1995. I would further recommend that you relinquish the Chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Finance effective today. I know of your deep concern for your personal and committee staff, and I will work to provide them with an appropriate period of time to complete their own transition. Sincerely, Bob Dole. This is Senator Packwood's reply: Dear Bob: I hereby tender my resignation as of October 1, 1995. I also am relinquishing today, Friday, September 8, my chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Finance. I appreciate very much your concern and willingness to help the Personal and Committee staff in having an appropriate period of time to complete their own transition. Thanks so much. Sincerely, Bob Packwood. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that those letters be printed in the Record.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I think that answers any questions anybody may have had.