Frank Lautenberg

Mr. LAUTENBERG

Mr. LAUTENBERG. If the Senator from Maryland will indulge me for just a minute. The chairman said proceed, and I am wondering how far we want to proceed because if we are going to suspend at 12:30 until 2:15, there is a vote pending, I assume, I ask the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee, and would you want to establish a time certain now for voting after lunch?

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I am pleased to yield the Senator from Maryland up to 10 minutes.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I yield 20 minutes to the Senator from Massachusetts off the bill.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I move to lay it on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, none of this time is charged, I assume, to the waiver amendment that the Senator from Delaware has proposed?

Mr. LAUTENBERG. He has spoken for 10 minutes. Mr. GRAMM addressed the Chair.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask how much time does the Senator from Illinois have remaining that I gave him?

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I yield so much time, up to 10 minutes, as the Senator from Illinois requires.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I assume the distinguished chairman will be yielding further time on his side. At this point we have no requests for time now.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I therefore yield 2 minutes of the time on the bill.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. The Senator from Maryland asked for a couple of minutes before we start the debate on the motion to waive.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. At that time.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. At 2:15. So that would be at 20 to 3.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Well, I think in a survey of my side, Mr. President, I cannot accommodate that notion. Now, if the Republicans are willing to give up their side, we can do it in a half hour.

Mr. LAUTENBERG

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I yield myself just a couple of minutes because I listened with interest. One could not avoid listening. The fact of the matter is, it is so easy, so easy to stand here at $135,000 a year with all kinds of benefits and everything and say, ``I am willing to sacrifice, I am willing to sacrifice. I am willing to do what I have to. I have 35 years.'' Go down to the factory and talk to somebody who is hanging on to his job by his fingernails, ask the poor fellow who has been downgraded as companies shrink their size. I love these heroics we get in this place, big speeches on lofty pinnacles. Talk to the people who are doing the work every day, bringing home the lunch pail, and see what we have. Sacrifice? I'll tell you how to sacrifice. Cut the benefits here. Cut them now. Stand up and say we will take less for our health insurance and our retirement and everything else. If you want to pull a nice heroic stand--somebody's last stand--stand up here and recommend a cut in benefits instead of talking about, shrieking about, how people have to sacrifice--from this lofty place. I will not say anything further. I yield 2 minutes to my friend from Iowa.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I yield 4 minutes to the Senator from Iowa.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts 4 minutes, Mr. President.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from California.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Senator Reed would be willing to take 20 minutes equally divided. Mr. WELLSTONE addressed the Chair.

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I had promised the Senator from Rhode Island early this morning that he would have an opportunity. He has deferred and waited to introduce an amendment that he wanted to have done. As we heard from the Presiding Officer, we have about 2\1/2\ hours, as I calculate it, left in total. So certainly if we can divide these up into proper sized pieces, why if we could just lay it out----

Mr. LAUTENBERG. I would, if I may on this side, Mr. President----

Mr. LAUTENBERG. The Senator from Massachusetts----

Mr. LAUTENBERG. So what is being requested over here now?

Mr. LAUTENBERG. As long as your arithmetic is right. I would ask the Parliamentarian. How does that time projection stack up?

Mr. LAUTENBERG. We will give the Senator from Maryland 2 minutes off the bill.