T. Gorton

Mr. GORTON

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. GORTON

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until the hour of 9 a.m., Wednesday, May 3, 1995; that following the prayer, the Journal of the proceedings be deemed approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and that there then be a period for the transaction of morning business not to extend beyond the hour of 10:15 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 5 minutes each, except for the following: Senator Thomas, 12 minutes; Senator Burns, 10 minutes; Senator Dorgan, 12 minutes; Senator Moseley-Braun, 10 minutes; and Senator Pressler, 30 minutes; I further ask unanimous consent that at the hour of 10:15, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 956, the product liability bill.

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on Tuesday, May 2, 1995 at 9:30 a.m. in open session to receive testimony on the space programs in review of the Defense authorization request for fiscal year 1996 and the future years defense program, and to review the Department of Defense's space management initiative.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Regulatory Relief, of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 2, 1995, to conduct a hearing on S. 650, The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the courts, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, be authorized to meet during a session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 2, 1995, at 9:00 a.m., in Senate Dirksen Room 226, on the costs of the legal system.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Labor and Human Resources be authorized to meet for a hearing on the Nomination of Dr. Henry Foster, during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 2, 1995 at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Tuesday, May 2, 1995, beginning at 9:30 a.m., in room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building on the implementation of the Tribal Self-Governance Demonstration Project authorities by the Indian Health Service.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, May 2, 1995, immediately following the first Roll Call vote to hold a business meeting to vote on pending items.

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on Tuesday, May 2, 1995, at 3 p.m. in open session, to consider the nominations of Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, USA to be Chief of Staff of the Army, and for reappointment to the grade of General; and Lt. Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC to be Commandant of the Marine Corps, and for appointment to the grade of General.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I send two separate motions to invoke cloture on the Gorton amendment No. 596 to the desk.

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, what is the pending business?

Mr. GORTON

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

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I simply would like to inform my colleagues on the status of debate. We have two amendments to the Dole amendment that have been placed before us. One, by the Senator from Maine [Ms. Snowe] is identical to the amendment that was agreed to this morning as an add-on to medical malpractice. I hope, and ask my colleagues who are here present--I hope we can simply adopt that amendment by a voice vote. We had a rollcall vote this morning on an identical proposition. Then, after an opportunity for Members to come to the floor and to debate the Dorgan amendment, I intend to move to table the Dorgan amendment. The majority leader has said there will be votes, at least one additional vote and maybe more this evening. All attempts during the afternoon have been made to secure a unanimous-consent agreement under which we could complete the debate on all amendments relating to punitive damages this evening and in a brief time tomorrow morning and then have a series of votes on punitive damages tomorrow morning, very much like those on medical malpractice today. We have been unable to secure that unanimous-consent agreement. In the absence of being able to secure it, the only way that any progress can be made is by motions to table and record votes on the amendments that are before us or are going to be in front of us. So I intend at this point to yield so the Senator from Wisconsin may speak, I assume on one of these subjects. Immediately after he has completed speaking I will ask unanimous- consent that we--I will ask we simply take a voice vote on the amendment by the Senator from Maine, Senator Snowe. And then after the Senator from North Dakota has an opportunity to speak on his amendment, we will move to table it unless we can secure the unanimous-consent agreement we have been looking for. I plead with our colleagues to try to do this in an orderly fashion. This is not the end of the bill. We are only attempting by tomorrow to finish up dealing with the subject of punitive damages. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor. I think the Member who has been waiting here the longest time to speak is the Senator from Wisconsin. Mr. DOLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. GORTON

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, I wish to repeat once more that I understand there are additional amendments to be proposed by the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. Thompson], the Senator from Arizona [Mr. Kyl], the Senator from Utah [Mr. Hatch], the majority leader, the Senator from Kansas [Mr. Dole], and the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Shelby], from this side of the aisle and perhaps additional amendments on punitive damages on the other side of the aisle. We have no unanimous consent on the subject yet. I hope that Members who want to speak to the subject of punitive damages and introduce amendments on the subject of punitive damages will do so as promptly as is convenient to them. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. GORTON. I repeat the unanimous-consent request.

Mr. GORTON. I will withhold it momentarily. Madam President, I briefly explained this amendment. I would expect that it would be adopted by voice vote because there was a rollcall vote earlier today on precisely this amendment, and I doubt that the body needs that vote repeated. It is in my view a preferable formula to that proposed by the Senator from North Dakota, which, of course, would remove all limitations and essentially all Federal controls over punitive damages. And it is punitive damages, of course, which is the subject not only of the Dole amendment but of much of the original product liability bill, and it is a formula with respect to punitive damages proposed by the occupant of the chair as accepted by a unanimous vote this morning.

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, for the information of the Senate, this is identical to the Snowe amendment on punitive damages which was adopted as a part of the medical malpractice amendment which now, as a result of our last recorded vote, is a part of this bill. It differs only in that it is an amendment to the underlying Gorton substitute and imposes the same rule with respect to punitive damages, that is to say, two times the combination of economic and noneconomic damages for the original limitation on punitive damages included in the Gorton substitute. I have discussed this next request with the distinguished Senator from North Dakota because it is a milder version than his, I think logically assuming that we get the votes tomorrow, that it be voted on before his amendment, and I ask unanimous consent that it be placed on any future agreement to a vote ahead of the Dorgan amendment.

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

Mr. GORTON. This is an amendment to the Gorton substitute, so I ask to set aside the Dole amendment as well for the purposes of considering this amendment.

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, at this point I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of the distinguished Senator who now occupies the Chair and ask for its immediate question. I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment.

Mr. GORTON. Madam President, I thank the distinguished Senator from North Dakota for offering and defending his amendment. It moves this process forward, and as he said we are seeking at this point a unanimous-consent agreement under which we can deal with punitive damages today and tomorrow morning the way in which we dealt with medical malpractice yesterday and this morning, by gathering all the amendments together, debating them tonight and for a while tomorrow morning and then voting on them all in a row. Amendment No. 620 to amendment No. 596 (Purpose: To limit the amount of punitive damages that may be awarded in a health care liability action.)