Tom Harkin

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, we now proceed to 2 minutes on the Coburn amendment. After that, then we will have 2 minutes on the DeMint amendment and vote. These will be 10-minute votes as per the prior agreement.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask the Senate please be called to order.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I move to table the Coburn amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I understand there will now be 2 minutes prior to the vote on the DeMint amendment, which we already have moved.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, we entered into a unanimous consent agreement last night. I will repeat it for the benefit of Senators. Senators should be aware that we will now start a series of debates and we will stack the votes. The first amendment will be the amendment of the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Enzi, amendment No. 3437. There will be 30 minutes of debate equally divided. That will be the first one. The second one will be the amendment of the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. DeMint; that is amendment No. 3387. There will be 20 minutes of debate equally divided. The third one would be the amendment No. 3365 by the Senator from Kansas, Senator Roberts. There will be 10 minutes of debate equally divided. Then the fourth one would be the amendment No. 3358 offered by the Senator from Oklahoma, Senator Coburn. There will be 20 minutes of debate equally divided. At the end of all of that time, the Senate will proceed to vote on and in relation to those amendments. We are ready for the amendment of the Senator from Wyoming as soon as he arrives, and he is here. Amendment No. 3437 to Amendment No. 3325

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I yield myself about 3 minutes. The amendment offered by Senator Roberts is a good amendment. This was authorized in the emergency supplemental bill for fiscal year 2007. The grants are for small businesses that want to partner with each other or other organizations to establish employer-owned childcare programs. Funds can be used for startup costs, technical assistance, and training and special services for sick kids or children with disabilities. The program is authorized at $50 million in fiscal year 2008. As the Senator said, funding was not included. I think it is time we do fund it. I have long been a supporter of expanding the role of small businesses in providing the kind of childcare that their employees need. I think the amendment of the Senator will further that goal, and I offer my support to the Senator's amendment and I hope the Senate will adopt it. I yield back whatever time we may have.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3387 to amendment no. 3325

Mr. HARKIN. I wish to join with Senator Specter in opposing the DeMint amendment, which would strike two congressionally directed fundings in the bill--one for the Appalachian Council, and the other one would be for the Working for America Institute. This institute was created, first of all, in 1989 and then in 1998 was spun off and made into a totally separate nonprofit organization with a functioning board of directors and everything else. They have over 30 years of experience in the field of job training, workforce development. They work with businesses, the private sector, they work with unions, and they work with communities. The institute has basically been a showcase of how to pull people together and get people together for workforce development. It is doing great work, and it benefits communities throughout the United States. In fact, I had the list of some here. Just last year alone, the institute provided assistance to Portland, OR, the Ohio State Workforce Board, the National Governors Association, and the National Alliance of Workforce Boards. So you can see they do things all over the country. I point out that this institute received funding through the Department of Labor for over 30 years, through Republican and Democratic administrations. I can go back to Nixon and Ford and Carter, all through the Reagan years, the first Bush administration, the Clinton administration, and actually the first part of this Bush administration until just a couple of years ago when the Department of Labor decided to cut all funding for it. So we had to come in here a couple of years ago and put directed funding in there for the institute. It was widely supported. So when the Senator from South Carolina says that: Well, we will just make it competitive. Well, the Department will not do it anyway. They are not interested in it. They will not put it out for competitive grant. So this is another instance where I think congressionally directed funding has validity because we have looked at these programs from a bipartisan standpoint, and we agree they should be funded, even though the Department of Labor does not want the funding. Now, the second issue I wanted to address is--I do not know whether I caught the Senator from South Carolina correctly, but I heard something about lobbying and political activity. I just wanted to make it very clear that section 503 of the bill reads--and I will read it in its entirety: No part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be used, other than for normal and recognized executive-legislative relationships, for publicity or propaganda purposes, for the preparation, distribution or use of any kit, pamphlet, booklet, publication, radio, television or video presentation, designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress or any State legislature, except in presentation to the Congress or any State legislature itself. B. No part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be used to pay the salary or expenses of any grant or contract recipient or agent acting for such recipient related to any activity designed to influence legislation or appropriations pending before the Congress or any State legislature. So the recipients cannot do it, and they cannot hire lobbyists, either, to lobby for them for any legislation pending before the Congress. So I wanted to make it clear that none of this money can be used for lobbying or for any kind of partisan activities, nor can it even be used for them to hire a lobbyist or a lobbying firm for that activity. So I wanted to make that clear. I support the Senator from Pennsylvania. The Appalachian Council has done a great job. They are doing great work in a number of States. The Working for America Institute, again, is one that has proven its worth. It has been widely supported throughout America, through business concerns, and State workforce investment boards all over this country. Now is not the time to pull the rug out from underneath them. So I would join with Senator Specter in opposing the DeMint amendment. I yield to the Senator from Pennsylvania.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, since no one wants to be recognized in opposition, I yield back the time.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, regarding amendment No. 3350 by Senator Lautenberg and No. 3446 by Senator Landrieu, I ask unanimous consent they both be withdrawn.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, can we withhold for a second? The amendment by the Senator from Massachusetts is accepted on both sides.

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

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. HARKIN. For the benefit of Senators, I understand a number of Republicans are at the White House for a White House meeting until 3:30, so there will not be any votes between now and 3:30. However, we want to get amendments up and debated. Hopefully at around 3:30 or shortly thereafter we can start a series of votes. Right now we have four amendments pending and three more amendments that are not pending but will be called up shortly. One of those will be offered by the Senator from New Mexico. That is the lay of the land. It looks as if we are down to about seven votes, possibly, starting at or around 3:30 or shortly thereafter. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to vitiate the previous vote on amendment No. 3430, the Feingold amendment. I now send to the desk a modification of that amendment and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, under the previous unanimous consent agreement, I call up Kennedy amendment No. 3433, and I send a modification to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, Parliamentary inquiry: What is the amendment now before the Senate?

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, in consultation with Senator Ensign, he does not wish to use his time. So, therefore, we yield back all time.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3352

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, it is my understanding we don't need any time. All time is yielded back.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, the next amendment up would be Senator Vitter's amendment No. 3328. I have a modification I send to the desk.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I appreciate the sentiments by the Senator from Louisiana and accept this proposal on this modified amendment and will ask that it be adopted by unanimous consent. I agree to work hard for inclusion of this amendment in the conference report of the final legislation.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, we are ready to vote on the Vitter amendment.

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

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I understand that under the unanimous consent agreement, the next amendment will be No. 3396, the Grassley- Sanders amendment. It has been modified.