J. Exon

Mr. EXON

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

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 10 seconds for the Senator from Iowa.

Mr. EXON. I will yield our 30 seconds to the Senator from Iowa.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, for Senator Biden, I send an amendment to the desk and ask unanimous consent the amendment be considered, agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. This has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. EXON. We yield back our time.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, Senator Hatch is a cosponsor.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. EXON. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3969

Mr. EXON. Senators who have a sense of the Senate outstanding, they, too, want an expedited procedure. I say this is a good time to do that.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I say to the chairman of the committee, according to our scoresheet we have seven amendments left that have been preagreed to for consideration and votes. Then there are some others that are still outstanding that we still have on the list. Of the seven that are still outstanding, waiting for a vote, and since we are cramped for time--I know there are three sense-of-the-Senate resolutions, one by Senator McCain, one by Senator Faircloth, another one by Senator Roth, all sense-of-the-Senate resolutions--and since all of those Senators voted against considering sense-of-the-Senate resolutions, I am wondering if they would like to, in good faith, withdraw their sense-of-the-Senate resolutions so that we can accomplish what they would like to do in addition to that.

Mr. EXON. In the future? I would like to have done it now.

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

Mr. EXON. Before we start charging time, could we have a little order here for the information of all the Senators?

Mr. EXON. If we are going to consider sense-of-the-Senate resolutions, there are seven amendments that we know about, and three of those are sense-of-the-Senate resolutions. Amendment No. 4018

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I join the chairman of the committee in what I think will be a salute to our colleagues from Rhode Island and Louisiana for their effort. But I must oppose the amendment. The Chafee-Breaux budget could cut COLA's, costing a typical Social Security beneficiary $1,200 over 7 years. Such changes should be done, in my opinion, if at all, only in the context of a comprehensive Social Security reform package. These COLA cuts would also hit EITC, SSI, and retired and disabled veterans. The amendment goes after Medicare beneficiaries as well unnecessarily. Finally, the Chafee-Breaux budget cuts taxes far more than the President and far more than I think is prudent. For these reasons I urge Senators to oppose it. Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. EXON

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

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I call for the yeas and nays. What was the ruling of the Chair? The ayes have it? I withdraw my request.

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

Mr. EXON. I withhold my request.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, the Murkowski amendment would create a new point of order that would deprive the minority of its right to amend with the sense-of-the-Senate language. Under the amendment, the majority could report out any sense-of-the-Senate language it wanted, but no Senator could offer a sense-of-the-Senate amendment to change that language or add to it. Mr. President, I yield back the balance of my time. I raise a point of order that the pending amendment is not germane and it violates section 305(b) of the Congressional Budget Act.

Mr. EXON. I have 30 seconds. Mr. President, as I understand the procedure, it would require 60 votes to do what the Senator from New Mexico has just requested.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Before Senator Roth starts, I ask the chairman of the committee, we have how many amendments left that we are going to vote on? As I understand it, we have Byrd that requires a vote, Roth that requires a vote, and McCain, and final passage.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, the Senator from Nebraska will not interrupt anyone offering an amendment, but I ask I may be allowed to continue for about 3 minutes as in morning business.