Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mr. FRIST. In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 476, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statement relating to the bill be printed in the Record as if read, without intervening action our debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 2 p.m. on Monday, May 15. I further ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, as under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on Monday, we will return to the immigration reform bill. Members wishing to offer amendments to this bill and wishing to debate the bill are encouraged to do so starting on Monday. The first rollcall vote next week will be on Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock. That particular vote will be on the confirmation of a circuit court judicial nomination. In all likelihood, we will have several other votes stacked on immigration shortly thereafter. We will have a full week next week. The Democratic leader and I outlined yesterday morning what the plans would be, expecting a full debate on what we know is a contentious issue, in large part because of the complexity of the issue. We all know we need to address the insecurity that exists on our borders today. It has to be first and foremost, up front. That is where illegal people, millions of illegal people, come through every year. There is a real distrust of Government being able to accomplish that among the American people today. We hear it by direct conversation, and we see it by e-mail. We have to do our absolute best to secure those borders. It takes money, it takes planning, it takes Federal involvement, State involvement, and that has to be accomplished. I feel very good about the progress that has been made to date. It is still totally inadequate, but last year we put about $10 billion on our borders, increasing the number of border security guards, and adding 1,400 detention beds inside this country. It does take time when we put the money there to train people and to get them on board. I am not making any excuses, but that was the end of last year. Last week in this body, we said we need to spend another $1.9 billion on the border in terms of providing the technology, the surveillance, the infrared cameras, the unmanned aerial vehicles, the capital expenditures that are required. Now it is important for us to put together a comprehensive plan which stresses border security. We have to tighten it, but we also recognize this country is a magnet for people coming in from other countries. If we have employers hiring people illegally, who break the law, people are going to climb over the fence no matter how high we make it, or dig under that fence, and that is why we have to extend it to comprehensive reform. From a workforce standpoint, we in this Nation welcome legal immigrants to come and work. That will be addressed as well. It is going to require lots of debate, lots of amendments, and agreement. Again, the Democratic leader and I agree 100 percent on our approach, coming together in this body to address an issue which I hope will be in a dignified and civil way that reflects the very best of this institution. We will complete this bill before the Memorial Day recess.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Nos. 576, 577, 578, 579, 619, 620, and 623. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a moment, we will begin consideration of the conference report to accompany the Tax Relief Act. Our order from last night provides for up to 8 hours of debate from the statutory limit. The chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee will be on the floor throughout the day to yield some of that time to Senators to speak. I hope we will not need the entire 8 hours and that we could yield back some of that time and vote a little earlier today. We will see how we are progressing in the early afternoon and alert Members if that is possible and, indeed, I hope that it will be. Following the vote on the adoption of the Tax Relief conference report, we will have up to 1 hour of debate before the vote on invoking cloture on the small business health plans bill. If cloture is invoked on the small business health plans bill, then we would stay on that bill until we complete it. I hope the Senate will invoke cloture on the bill and will not miss the opportunity to help our small businesses provide more affordable health care benefits to their employees and families. We have two important votes this afternoon. We will alert Senators as to the timing when we get a better idea of the amount of debate that is needed. unanimous consent agreement--S. 2611

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that unless cloture is invoked on the pending substitute to S. 1955, on Monday, May 15, at a time to be determined by the majority leader after consultation with the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 2611, the immigration bill. I further ask that when the Senate agrees to a request for a conference or the Senate requests a conference on this bill and the Chair is authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, the ratio of conferees be 14 to 12; provided further that from that ratio, the first 7 Republican Senators from the Judiciary Committee and the first 5 Democratic Senators from the Judiciary Committee be conferees; finally, I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader select the final 7 from the majority side and the Democratic leader select the final 7 for the minority side. Before the Chair rules, I wish to be clear that the two leaders anticipate full session days on this bill, with a considerable number of amendments debated and voted on each day. We intend to allow amendments to come forward and to be voted on in an efficient way. This is a comprehensive immigration bill, and therefore it is important for Senators to have adequate time to have their amendments considered.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, what the Democratic leader and I have laid out is a way to get onto this bill, and as you can tell, both of us have been working in good faith on various issues that have been raised on the floor. We both appreciate our colleagues' patience in arriving at this point. We both anticipate a lot of challenging times over the period which will begin, in all likelihood, on Monday on what we all know is a very difficult bill. The process that has been laid out is one that we both feel is very fair and will give the opportunity for the will of the Senate to express itself on a difficult issue to which there are not very many clear-cut answers. So I look forward to beginning that debate in the very near future, and I look forward to having dignified debate, debate that under the leadership of the two managers will need to be efficient, effective, and fair, but we will need to keep moving through that debate in order to allow the Senate's will, through amendment and voting on those amendments, to be reflected. modification to unanimous consent agreement--s. 2611

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I modify the unanimous consent request so that it is clear that it is applicable to S. 2611 or a House bill in which we conference using the language of S. 2611.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will close by saying it is important we finish this bill before the Memorial Day recess. I have said that several times in my statements over the last couple of weeks, and I think in my discussions with the Democratic leader, we both agree that once we start this bill, we will stay on the bill until we complete it.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be brief, and we will be voting shortly. We know that keeping taxes low spurs economic growth and that results in the creation of jobs. Twice in the last 4 years, this Congress passed major tax relief bills. Together these laws have cut taxes for nearly 100 million Americans, spurred a period of energetic economic growth, improved our overall budgetary climate, and it has encouraged businesses to invest in their future. When you put all that together, it has created jobs. Indeed, since the 2003 tax relief progrowth package, our economy has added 5.3 million new jobs. We have seen unemployment rates fall down to record lows, where today it is remarkable that it is lower than the average of the 1970s and the 1980s and the average of the 1990s, at 4.7 percent. We have enjoyed 18 consecutive quarters of robust growth. You know, those are the statistics, and that is what we see, what is reported. What really results is that individual lives and families are leading more productive lives, with a higher quality of life. The creation of jobs affects families. The centerpiece of that 2003 bill was the reduced tax rate on capital gains and dividends. It did other things, but that was the heart of the bill. As we argued then, and what history as clearly shown, is that keeping taxes low promotes tax revenue, what comes into our Government. In January, the Congressional Budget Office found that the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends resulted in the Government collecting an additional $26 billion in revenue in 2004 and 2005. This year, revenues will be 29 percent higher than they were in 2003. In fact, the Treasury Department just reported yesterday that this year's tax revenues were the second highest in American history, giving the country a sizable surplus for the month. Mr. President, we hear about who is advantaged by this particular piece of legislation. A majority of households now own stock. A lot of people may question that. The matter is that the majority of households in this country own stock. Almost half of all income tax returns that report capital gains on dividends--the returns that were reported--came from households that have an adjusted gross income of less than $50,000. Of all of the tax returns that report capital gains on dividends, over half of those are reported from households making less than $50,000. It is hard to argue that cutting capital gains taxes benefits only the rich. Chairman Grassley, Senator Kyl, Congressman Thomas, and all who have participated in this bill, have delivered for the American people and have participated in a progrowth policy legislative agenda that will create jobs. The provisions will continue to strengthen our economy, which is growing, and help provide a stable and inviting environment for small businesses to continue to grow and invest and create jobs. Keeping these taxes low helps Americans find and create those jobs that we know improve the quality of life for all Americans. Keeping taxes low helps Americans support families and makes America a great place to do business. We will keep taxes low so that we can keep this great country of ours strong and growing. Last night, the House voted to pass the tax reconciliation conference report and send it to the Senate for action. I want to applaud the House and Senate conferees for working hard to maintain the 2003 tax cuts that have boosted the economy and grown jobs. Here on the Senate floor, the Republican majority will work hard to keep up the momentum and resist efforts to raise America's taxes. I expect that some on the other side will continue to oppose low taxes. They've supported billions of dollars of new taxes since they lost control of the Senate in 2002. Rarely have they met a tax hike they don't like. But we can't let their anti-growth plans win the day. If they get their way, nearly 7.5 million families and individuals will see their capital gains taxes go up. Twenty million will see taxes on their stock dividends rise, as well. In my home State of Tennessee nearly 150,000 families and individuals will see their taxes increase if the current alternative minimum tax relief expires this year. More than 425,000 families and individuals will see their dividend tax rates rise from as little as 0 percent to as much as 35 percent after 2008. Of these taxpayers, roughly 135,000 low-income taxpayers, many of them senior citizens, reported dividend income in 2003. When it comes to capital gains, nearly 325,000 families and individuals will see their capital-gains tax rates increase from as little as 0 percent to 20 percent after 2008. Of these taxpayers, more than 100,000 low-income individuals, including retirees, reported capital gains in 2003. The other side says only the rich benefit from tax cuts. But as the taxpayers in my home State demonstrate, the 2003 tax cuts benefited hard working families across the income scale. Opposing the 2003 tax cuts will hurt these families and hurts America's economic strength. I urge the minority leader to reject obstructionism and allow swift passage of this legislation. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I yield back all time on our side.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we have a lot going on on the floor, and we are going to have one more vote today, and it will be up to an hour from now. But what we would like to clarify is who needs to speak from our side. Chairman Enzi is right here. Do we have anybody on our side? I know Chairman Enzi will be speaking. Is there anybody else from our side? I ask the Democratic leader through the Chair who will be speaking on their side.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask our chairman approximately how much time we would need. What we want to do is try to get the time down as far as we can. We have a number of people who have plans that they need to make, and we would like to vote as quickly as we can, but we want adequate time to speak. Mr. President, through the Chair, I ask the Democratic leader, would it be agreeable that we have a unanimous consent request propounded that we vote at 10 minutes after 6, the time equally divided between now and then?

Mr. FRIST. So to restate, I ask unanimous consent for 17 minutes on either side, so the vote will be at approximately 14 minutes after 6 o'clock.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I thank the Senator from Oregon for his dedication to his State and all States that have been affected by the downturn in Federal timber receipts. He has been in close contact with me, the assistant majority leader and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee communicating the significance and urgency of his cause. I commit to him to address the needs of rural counties and schools in Oregon and elsewhere. Working with the committees of jurisdiction, I commit to a thorough search for funding offsets so that these critical rural education programs can continue to serve the youth of those communities.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. With the authorization of the majority of the HELP Committee members, I ask that the committee substitute be modified with the changes that are at the desk.

Mr. FRIST. Was that the second-degree amendment?

Mr. FRIST. I now move to recommit the bill to the HELP Committee, and I send that motion to the desk.

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

Mr. FRIST. I now send a second-degree amendment to the desk.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that reading of amendment be dispensed with.