Chuck Grassley

Mr. GRASSLEY

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of the time we have on this side.

Mr. GRASSLEY. I suggest the absence of a quorum because we can work something out and maybe avoid a vote.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GRASSLEY. I wish to make it clear, what I am going to ask unanimous consent on now is unrelated to what we are trying to work out on the Schumer amendment. Mr. President, the managers have agreed to accept Senator Kennedy's amendment, so I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 2652 be accepted.

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

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

Mr. GRASSLEY

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that tomorrow, immediately following the Wellstone amendment, there be a vote on the Moynihan amendment, except for 4 minutes in between to be evenly divided for the proponents and the opponents of the amendment.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. GRASSLEY. These amendments have been cleared by both sides. I ask unanimous consent they be agreed to en bloc and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask unanimous consent to modify amendments 2529 and 2478, and I send the modifications to the desk.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I add to what the Senator from Nevada has said about bringing this bill, hopefully, to finality within just the last few days of this session, and I remind everybody that should be possible because of the bipartisan cooperation we had in drawing up the bill that brought the Senate to this point, as well as the fact that similar legislation passed last year on a vote of 97-1, I believe. I ask unanimous consent to lay the pending Moynihan amendment aside.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, responding to the Senator from Nevada and going back to his efforts of last Wednesday before we adjourned for the national Veterans Day holiday, I can say that on that day as well as other periods of time over the weekend, and even as late as yesterday, between his efforts working with me and the efforts of our respective staffs, I have found the Senator from Nevada very cooperative. As a result of his cooperation, what we thought was an impossible amount of amendments to work our way through to bring this bill to finality has been dramatically reduced. The Senator needs to be credited with that extra effort. I encourage Members on my side of the aisle to reach agreement. There may be one or two items that are above my pay grade, maybe even above the pay grade of the Senator from Nevada, that will have to be decided by leadership, but except for those items, we are making tremendous progress. I want to work in that direction, and I assure the Senator from Nevada of my efforts in that direction.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I know the Senator from New York is very sincere about the amendment he has proposed. I know he is cognizant of a discussion on a similar subject that we had on the amendment by the Senator from Connecticut last week. I think in a good-faith effort he comes in with something that does not go quite as far as Senator Dodd's amendment goes. But I still think, for the very same reasons I expressed opposition to the Dodd amendment last week, I must express opposition to the Moynihan amendment. In addition, I think perhaps by setting up one category for people who are in bankruptcy court who are below the national average and allowing a certain behavior on their part that you don't for people above the national average of income sets up a double standard that is not justified. I oppose this amendment for pretty much the same reasons I opposed the Dodd amendment--that Congress needs to be very careful to fight against fraud and abuse and to say no to fraud and no to this financial abuse whenever we can. It seems to me it is a standard of ethic that is justified--being against fraud and abuse and treating it the same wherever it might happen. One type of fraud and abuse involves loading up on debt right before bankruptcy and then discharging that debt. It doesn't seem to me we need to allow that above the limits of our legislation. The bill before us now contains provisions limiting the amount of debt incurred to purchase luxury goods within 90 days of declaring bankruptcy. Senator Moynihan's amendment would let people below the median income load up on more debt than higher income people. This lets people at low income levels get away with fraud and more fraud. I think this is not a very good idea. I respectfully oppose this amendment with obvious good intentions. I have never known Senator Moynihan to have anything but good intentions, but this is one amendment that could bring about very unfair results as we allow people at a lower income get away with more fraud and abuse than we would people with higher income. I oppose the amendment and yield the floor.

Mr. GRASSLEY. That is right.

Mr. GRASSLEY

Mr. GRASSLEY. For the information of all Senators, the Senate will begin the final hour of debate on the Wellstone amendment at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. By previous consent, the Senate will proceed to a vote on the amendment following the use or yielding back of all the time. A vote on the Moynihan amendment, No. 2663, has been ordered to occur immediately following the vote on the Wellstone amendment. Therefore, Senators may expect two back-to-back votes at approximately 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. If my plans work out, I prefer to have a third vote immediately afterwards on an amendment on which we are working to try to get consent. Then, in addition, other votes may be anticipated during tomorrow's session in an effort to complete the first session of the 106th Congress. Therefore, Senators should adjust their schedules for the possibility of votes throughout the day and also into the evening on Wednesday. The leader appreciates the patience and cooperation of all of our colleagues as we attempt to complete the appropriations process.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I don't take exception to anything the Senator from Nevada stated. I simply add, we have been on this very important bankruptcy reform legislation over a week and we have gotten to where we are on this legislation only because we have had an extreme amount of bipartisan cooperation, starting with the introduction of the bill by Senator Torricelli and myself, getting it out of the Judiciary Committee in April by a vote of 14-4, awaiting our place in line to come up on the floor of the Senate, and having had considerable success eliminating a lot of amendments and hoping to get it to conference before we adjourn for the first session of the 106th Congress. We have had that bipartisan cooperation. I expect to continue to work with the Senator from Nevada; the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee; and Senator Torricelli, my partner on the subcommittee, to bring this bill to finality.

Mr. GRASSLEY

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly policy conferences to meet.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 17. I further ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume debate on the pending Wellstone amendment to S. 625, the bankruptcy reform bill, under the previous order.

Mr. GRASSLEY

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 16, 1999, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen, to conduct a hearing.

Mr. GRASSLEY

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

Mr. GRASSLEY

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, for the leader, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period for the transaction of routine morning business with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. GRASSLEY

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