Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, this amendment is not germane under the budget. I make a point of order that it is not germane. Motion to Waive The Budget Act

Mr. DOMENICI. This is a 6-minute rollcall vote.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DOMENICI. Senator Snowe's amendment No. 242 is the one that is up.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, Senator Snowe's amendment is next. Mr. LAUTENBERG addressed the Chair.

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

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I understand the Ashcroft amendment, No. 240, has been cleared on the other side. It is at the desk. I ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to.

Mr. DOMENICI. Would you accept that as if I said it, please, so I do not have to say it. It has been accepted.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I thank all Senators for participating and for permitting us to get this bill done today. It has been a big struggle for many of us. And while we had a lot of fun with many of the amendments and many of the concepts, it is a serious budget resolution. It has been a pleasure serving you as chairman of the Budget Committee. And I thank all of those who vote for it. For those who do not vote for it, I think you are missing the boat, missing a great path. It is the best budget we have produced in an awful long time. I thank Senator Lautenberg for all his cooperation and certainly all the good he has done in bringing this budget to the floor. I yield the floor. Mr. LAUTENBERG addressed the Chair.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I have been keeping track on how much of the surplus we have spent. We spent $430 billion. If we adopt the Democratic amendment, this is $30 billion more. So the surplus would have had $460 billion already spent, if this amendment were adopted. We will increase the mandatory expenditures under agriculture from about $39 billion, to $40 billion, to $75 billion. That will be fixed and permanent, because it is an entitlement. And actually there are many who say this agriculture economy will recover in a couple of years. Yet, we have this built in for 5 years. I don't think we ought to do this tonight. There is ample time to consider. I remind you that the President didn't ask for one nickel. We put $6 billion new money in, and now this is $30 billion more. I move to table the amendment. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I made a mistake. We have been working very hard to get Senator Chafee's amendment No. 238 accepted on the other side. It was. And we would like to offer it at this time. I think it is at the desk, amendment No. 238.

Mr. DOMENICI. I do not believe there are any objections to it.

Mr. DOMENICI. I yield to the majority leader.

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I send it to the desk. It is acceptable.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, has Senator Lautenberg cleared amendment No. 243 of Senator Hutchison and Senator Feinstein?

Mr. DOMENICI. Amendment No. 207, which I tendered a while ago, has now been OK'd by the minority. I send it to the desk.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we have had a little bit of success in getting rid of some other amendments. Amendment No. 213 needs a modification. Then it is ready. This has been approved on the other side.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I know how interested my friend from Connecticut is in this, and that he has lowered the amount. But I really think that we ought to stick with the format that we have been following here, and we ought not start taking money out of the tax cut to put into new programs. I yield back my time and move to table the amendment. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we have an Ashcroft amendment, amendment No. 224, which is ready to be accepted. The Democratic leader accepts it also.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we have heretofore adopted a Specter amendment. We should have sent a modification to the desk to Amendment No. 219. I send the modification to the desk and ask the amendment, which was adopted, be so modified.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the leader asked me to indicate the following: I send an adjournment resolution to the desk calling for a conditional adjournment of the Senate until April 12 and ask that the resolution be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Chair, and I thank Senator Lautenberg.