Judd Gregg

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a list of organizations opposing this budget resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I would like to take a minute to thank the majority leader and Republican leader for their assistance in helping us move this bill in a reasonably expeditious way, considering it is the budget. I especially wish to thank the chairman and his staff, headed up by Mary Naylor. They do an extraordinary job. They are extremely professional and very courteous to the minority. It is always an open and fair process when we take up the budget, and they set an excellent standard. I additionally wish to thank my staff, headed up by Cheri Reidy and Jim Hearn, Allison Parent, and they do a fabulous job. I also wish to thank the folks up there on the dais because they stay here all day and make sure we are in order and keeping things on the move and we thank them very much for their time.

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I rise today with a heavy heart and a deep sense of gratitude to pay tribute to Cpl Michael Ouellette of Manchester, NH, for his service and the sacrifice he paid for his country. Michael exhibited willingness and enthusiasm to serve and defend his country after visiting hurricane-ravaged New Orleans in 2005. He subsequently joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served two tours of duty in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan. Tragically, on March 22, 2009, Michael paid the ultimate sacrifice. In support of his brothers in arms and the country he loved, Michael was killed by an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Corporal Ouellette will live on as a decorated hero and the epitome of a patriot. Michael graduated from Manchester Memorial High School in 1999. A beloved member of the Manchester community, Michael was the embodiment of selflessness. With the same sense of altruistic integrity that led him to help an unfamiliar and unsuspecting Memorial High classmate fix a flat tire; Michael answered the call to help his country. In giving his life to protect our freedoms, Michael personified our greatest attributes as citizens. His hard work and dedication was paramount to his unit's success and places him among the great heroes and citizens our state has known. Michael was regularly recognized for his courageous actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, receiving the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. He will always be remembered for his courage, kindness, and unwavering devotion. My thoughts, condolences, and prayers go out to Michael's family. I offer them my deepest sympathies and heartfelt thanks for Michael's service. We will keep his memory alive knowing that his efforts have made us safer and have preserved the liberties we enjoy every day. God Bless Michael Ouellette.

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Only if it passes.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, it would only be at risk if it passes?

Mr. GREGG. Well, only if it is adopted.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask the clerk to report my amendment. I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment.

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

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, how did we decide to deal with Senator Kyl's amendment?

Mr. GREGG. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 835

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, we still have to work on this, but I would like to be recognized to offer an amendment after Senator Kerry completes his amendment.

Mr. GREGG. Yes.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, if I might inquire. But the amendment itself is not fatal?

Mr. GREGG. Would the Senator yield on this point? If I might inquire of the Chair, ``at risk'' does not mean the resolution has necessarily gone over the level of being--of losing its privileged status? This is, by the Chair's definition, a corrosive amendment. There would have to be a series of corrosive amendments to meet the point where the bill loses its status as privileged. One single amendment that is corrosive does not necessarily mean the bill has lost its privileged status. It simply means it is moving in the direction of being at risk of losing its privileged status; is that true?

Mr. GREGG. So it is possible this amendment could pass. If passed, it would be--could be deemed corrosive but would not be deemed fatal to the privileged status of the bill?

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, as an aside, I think it is important to note the chairman has said this will not come back from the conference committee, which is interesting and informative. I think it is fair that he has said that. It reflects the influence the chairman has on the conference committee. Therefore, I presume, since the chairman has said, relative to reconciliation, it should not occur in the Senate on the issue of health care or the carbon tax, national sales tax, that the chairman will use the same influence to assure us we will not see those matters come out of the conference committee. In addition, I wish to ask a parliamentary inquiry: I understand there is a wall, not a wall of debt--although that also is involved in this bill--but there is a wall being built of corrosive activity, potentially, with a series of amendments that might be adopted on the floor that the Parliamentarian deems to be corrosive. At some point, there is the theoretical possibility, as the Chair has said, that you might even bring the budget resolution's privilege into issue on the floor. I guess my question is: Why, if this is just one element of that wall, on the resolution as it reaches the floor, would it be definitive relative to the conference report? In other words, why doesn't there have to be a series of amendments that are corrosive in order to make the conference report privilege fatal? Why would one amendment make the conference report fatal if it does not make the budget on the floor fatal, if the Chair understands the question?

Mr. GREGG. I think my question was, to make it more succinct, if this were the only corrosive matter in the conference report and since it was not fatal to the budget resolution as a single corrosive matter on the floor, why would it be fatal to the conference report? Why isn't the conference report something that is subject to the same test of corrosiveness as the budget resolution is on the floor?

Mr. GREGG. So is the Chair saying that it is possible--more than theoretical but possible--that this amendment in the conference report would not be fatal to the conference report's privilege but would simply be corrosive of that privilege and that the conference report could retain its privilege with this amendment in it, that that is a possibility?

Mr. GREGG. But not theoretical?

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, before the Senator leaves the floor, we would be amenable to taking both of the Senator's amendments by unanimous consent if she is amenable to that.

Mr. GREGG. Has the Senator called up her second amendment? I suggest she call it up. Amendment No. 774

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the two amendments recently called up by the Senator from Arkansas be agreed to.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, just to clarify the procedure, as I understand it, we will go to my amendment which deals with a task force on how we deal with entitlement reform, tax reform, and the amendment after that will be Senator Kyl's amendment on health care rationing. Then I think we take a break. I am not sure about that, but I believe there will be a break. Then there will be a series of votes on the pending amendments. After the votes--this is not in the form of a request; it is a statement of where we are--we will be going to Senator McCain, who has an amendment. From there we still have not decided.

Mr. GREGG. Correct.

Mr. GREGG. Should we lock that in? Can I get the chairman's attention? Can we lock in that order?