J. Exon

Mr. EXON

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I believe we have reached consensus to take the next three up. I will leave it to the explanation of the chairman of the Budget Committee.

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

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, this amendment is a sense of the Senate that Congress should remove tax loopholes and use savings to reduce the rates for individual taxpayers.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I send to the desk on behalf of Senator Bradley the third Bradley amendment.

Mr. EXON. This Bradley amendment is to offset NIH and Medicare cuts with tobacco tax revenues. The Bradley amendment raises tobacco tax $1 per pack of cigarettes. It also taxes smokeless tobacco products at a similar rate. restore $76 billion in Medicare cuts, restore the entire cut in the National Institutes of Health budget, $7.9 billion, without the Hatfield discretionary reduction, and assist tobacco farmers in converting to other crops $500 million.

Mr. EXON. Very briefly, this Bradley amendment requires Congress to set targets for reduction in tax expenditures similar to targets it set for mandatory spending in our budget resolution instructions.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I submit the second Bradley amendment to the desk.

Mr. EXON. I send an amendment to the desk, the No. 1 Bradley amendment.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for the explanation. Amendment No. 1192 (Purpose: To establish a process to identify and control tax expenditures by setting a target for cuts)

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

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I send the amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I have an amendment submitted by Senator Bingaman and Senator Jeffords that expresses the sense of the Senate on renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and research development and demonstration activities in these areas, and our priority within the Federal Energy Research Program. Cosponsors of this amendment are Mrs. Murray, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. Leahy. I think it has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, this amendment is about something that we all know a great deal and have generally supported very well, Pell grants. This amendment, also sponsored by Senator Pell, would restore $8.8 billion over the budget period to protect the value of Pell grants against inflation and increasing college enrollments. Under the pending budget proposal, the Pell grants would decline in value by 40 percent over the next 7 years. Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I send a third amendment by Senator Kennedy to the desk.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, Senator Kennedy's amendment would restore $28 billion over the budget period for education, $6 billion to student loan accounts, $22 billion to restore funding to elementary and secondary education programs.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk, a second amendment, offered by Senator Kennedy.

Mr. EXON. I thought we were going to do it in sequence. Go ahead.

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, Senator Kennedy's amendment urges that any reductions in Medicare should not increase premiums, deductibles and co-insurance for senior citizens and that Medicare reductions should not be enacted except as part of a broader health reform. I send a second amendment to the desk.

Mr. EXON. We are getting very close.

Mr. EXON. Anything other than to maybe expedite things for just a moment.

Mr. EXON. Nine minutes thereafter. That does not mean we are going to change.

Mr. EXON. I would just simply add then we will go on with the process that had been established by the majority leader for 10 minutes and 10 minutes only thereafter. That does not mean----

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, the Simon-Bumpers amendment eliminates the resolution's provision that establishes a firewall between defense and nondefense discretionary accounts. The amendment does not change the levels of budget authority and outlays, and does not add a single cent to the deficit. The amendment simply assures that Congress maintains flexibility to respond to changing spending priorities in a prudent, fiscally sound way. That sort of flexibility is particularly important in light of the vast uncertainties concerning the Nation's domestic and military commitments in the years ahead. As we debate the Nation's priorities within the overall constraints of the balanced budget, we should not bind ourselves needlessly to subcategories within the discretionary caps. Removing the firewall is a vital step in achieving the necessary flexibility. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. [[Page S7425]]

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

Mr. EXON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk for Senators Simon and Bumpers, and ask for its immediate consideration.