Michael Enzi

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, after I finish.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I would like to take this moment to recognize Dr. Douglas Elmendorf's strong service to our country and, specifically, to the Congress. He leaves the directorship of the Congressional Budget Office today after leading this important agency for 6 years, one of the longest tenures in CBO's 40-year history. His steady, wise, and innovative management of Congress's budget umpires has enhanced that organization's already sterling reputation. We are particularly grateful for his steady hand as we worked our way through the policy responses to the great recession. I cannot think of a more trying time to have been CBO Director than the last 6 years. He also gets high marks in my book for his leadership in pioneering important scoring techniques that include the use of models of the U.S. economy. In this regard, his commitment to providing Members of Congress with the best information possible further burnished CBO reputation. We will miss Doug Elmendorf. However, he leaves a young man, which likely means those of us in the public policy community will continue for many years to benefit from his economic wisdom and passion for this country.

Mr. ENZI

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, for the 1 minute in opposition, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment. It spends more than $50 billion and pays for it by raising taxes. This amendment is again telling the Finance Committee exactly how to do its work. But worse yet, the President's budget proposal for community college tuition free for all is not free for the States. The Federal Government would pay 75 percent, but the States have to pay 25 percent. That is a 25-percent unfunded mandate. There is no provision for the States to be covered under this thing. So we are telling them they are going to provide free college, although a lot of them already do. For the poor, the Pell grant is $5,775, and the average college tuition is $3,347. But it is not clear exactly what strings the administration would attach to States and community colleges in exchange for a 75-percent match. Some of Senator Baldwin's tax reform ideas may have merit, but they should be dealt with in the context of comprehensive tax reform rather than as a stand-alone proposal. I ask my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I think we have an agreement to take this on a voice vote.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to vote no. First, this amendment would increase deficits relative to the budget resolution. It increases spending in Function 500, with no offset. Second, the budget resolution doesn't cut Pell grants, the primary program helping these millions of people. The budget does encourage restoring the Pell Grant Program to its original status as a discretionary program, subject to annual review by colleagues. The tuition purchasing power of Pell grants is at an all- time low even though Pell grant spending has tripled in the past decade. Since 2008, there has been an effort to maintain and increase the maximum Pell grant, but college tuition increases faster than that. This is a program that needs to be reviewed by the applicable committee to see what needs to be done. We think there are parameters in the budget to take care of the issue. It provides sufficient funding on the discretionary side to maintain the maximum Pell grant level, which is set to rise to $5,775 for the upcoming academic year. I ask my colleagues to vote ``no.'' I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, we don't have any problem with this being taken by voice vote.

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

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on the Coons amendment be moved to occur after Kirk amendment No. 545.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, here we go again. I will be asking the Senate to vote ``no'' on this amendment. Again, Senator Durbin has some good tax reform ideas. They probably have merit, but we should deal with these ideas through comprehensive tax reform rather than a stand-alone proposal that tells the Finance Committee how to do its work. So far, we have resisted every one of these amendments. I assume we will resist the rest of them today. But we can't tell the Finance Committee how to handle comprehensive tax reform if we expect to simplify the whole system. So I ask for a ``no'' vote, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Kirk amendment No. 545 and the Inhofe amendment No. 649 be modified with the changes at the desk. I further ask unanimous consent that a vote on Whitehouse amendment No. 867 occur after the vote on the Murkowski amendment No. 838.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' Respectfully, I think we have some skepticism about this proposal, and I want to remind my colleagues this issue was decided by the Supreme Court over 5 years ago. The Citizens United case has nothing to do with corporate-union contributions to campaigns. Those prohibitions remain in place, and the Supreme Court decision reversed what for-profit and not-for-profit corporations can say in elections. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act bans election-related expenditures and communications by American corporations. Proposals like this amendment are not designed to ensure transparency and civility of elections. They are, as Justice Thomas's concurring opinion in Citizens United correctly described, ``specifically calculated to curtail campaign- related activities and prevent the lawful, peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights.''

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, how much time does our side have remaining?

Mr. ENZI. I ask for a ``no'' vote.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, how much time is remaining?

Mr. ENZI. I ask my colleagues to vote ``no.'' The Coons amendment is short and simple, but it claims it will offset the cost of the war against ISIS with the President's budget. We didn't pass the President's budget. This $8.8 billion is divided between the Department of Defense, which executes Operation Inherent Resolve, and the State Department, which provides----

Mr. ENZI. I ask for a ``no'' vote.

Mr. ENZI. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment to call up the following amendments en bloc on behalf of Senator Lee: Amendments Nos. 750, 855, 749, 856, and 759.

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

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment to call up, on behalf of Senator Johnson, amendments Nos. 402, 596, 597, and 865 en bloc.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time until 12 noon today be equally divided between the managers or their designees, and that at 12 noon, the Senate vote in relation to the following amendments in the order listed, with no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes but with side-by-side amendments allowed to be offered by Senator Sanders, or his designee, on the Scott amendment No. 692 and the Vitter amendment No. 515, and that the vote occur on the listed amendment second; so that the order then would be Sanders No. 881, Kirk No. 545, Stabenow No. 523, Rubio No. 423, Wyden No. 1012, Paul No. 940, Murray No. 798, Moran No. 356, Baldwin No. 432, Collins No. 810, Franken No. 828, Scott No. 692, Coons No. 966, Blunt No. 928, Durbin No. 817, Vitter No. 515, Bennet No. 947, Murkowski No. 838, and Inhofe No. 649. I further ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes equally divided between the managers or their designees prior to each vote and that all votes after the first in this series be 10 minutes in length.

Mr. ENZI. For the information of all Senators, this will be the first series of votes today. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I would urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' This is not the proper place for this. It can be handled as regular legislation at any time. This budget resolution is focused on balancing the budget in 10 years. That is important in and of itself, because balancing the budget renews job growth and expands opportunity for hard-working families. CBO analyzed our budget for its economic growth impact. That report makes it clear that the economy grows as the government slows its spending rate. With that growth comes new jobs. Building on CBO's analysis, it is clear that over 1 million new jobs could be created if our budget took full effect. That will create competition for employees. That will increase wages. The minimum wage was designed to be a training wage that teaches people how to show up for work on time and how to learn a job before transitioning to new jobs, and those that do get advanced really quickly. I would ask there be a ``no'' vote on this amendment. It does not belong in this budget. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.