Judd Gregg

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, the Senator from Iowa has been kind enough to represent that he will accept a voice vote on this. I move that we proceed to a voice vote.

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

Mr. GREGG. And one by Senator Cornyn.

Mr. GREGG. At this point, I believe the Senator from North Dakota has an amendment to offer. Amendment No. 2422

Mr. GREGG. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, the next item is the Harkin amendment, a sense of the Senate. I ask unanimous consent that we have 2 minutes equally divided on this amendment.

Mr. GREGG. For the information of the Senate, we are now off of the original list, having completed that. So we are into a period where, between myself and the Senator from North Dakota, we have organized a series of amendments to come forward. These will continue to be 10- minute votes, and they are going to be hard 10 minutes. That means that at the end of 10 minutes, I am going to ask the vote to be closed. Secondly, I ask unanimous consent that for all amendments which are brought forward from here on, there be 2 minutes equally divided between the proponent and the opponent.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I yield 1 minute to the Senator from New Hampshire.

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

Mr. GREGG. I yield to the Senator from Iowa.

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

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, CMS has a plan in place, and 6 months ago CMS introduced a strategy for transitioning dual eligibles from Medicaid to Medicare which lays out in great detail the steps CMS will take to ensure the continuity of coverage of this valuable group of beneficiaries. Therefore, the leadership of the Finance Committee strongly opposes this amendment. I make a point of order that the pending amendment is not germane to the measure now before the Senate, and I raise a point of order under section 305 of the Budget Act.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask for a voice vote.

Mr. GREGG. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we now go to Senator Grassley's amendment.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Georgia.

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

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I would like to second the request of the Senator from North Dakota. I think it is a very appropriate statement. Amendment No. 2359

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we are making progress, but it is slow. The next amendment is the amendment of Senator Cantwell, which is obviously the big polar bear.

Mr. GREGG. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. GREGG. The next amendment is that of Senator Lincoln. Amendment No. 2356, as Modified

Mr. GREGG. I also renew my request that votes on additional amendments be 10-minute votes.

Mr. GREGG. Madam President, this amendment is opposed by the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee has aggressively funded this account with $1.94 billion in this bill, which will cover 1.9 million victims of the hurricane. Therefore, these additional funds, if this amendment were to pass, would basically put the Finance Committee section of the bill out of compliance with the Deficit Reduction Act. Therefore, we oppose it. I make a point of order that the pending amendment is not germane to the measure now before the Senate. I raise that as a point of order under section 305 of the Budget Act.

Mr. GREGG. Madam President, the next amendment is the Lincoln amendment. I ask unanimous consent that all votes on additional amendments be 10 minutes. We are going to clarify the issue of second-degree amendments that we just went through because, under the rule, all time has to expire on debate on the first degree before you can debate a second degree or offer it. That is why we had the confusion before. We are going to adjust that through this unanimous consent request. I ask unanimous consent that for the purposes of today's votes, all second-degree amendments must be offered prior to beginning the 2 minutes of debate on the underlying first-degree amendment. Before the Chair rules, as a clarification, this will now mandate that second- degree amendments must be offered before we begin the 2-minute debate on the first degree. We would then have 2 minutes of debate on the second degree, both in relationship to the second degree, and then have 2 minutes of debate on the first degree prior to the vote in relationship to that amendment.