Daniel Moynihan

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I hope we have listened carefully to what the Senator from Louisiana has said. He is generous and optimistic, and it might just turn out to be true. I yield the floor.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I have the pleasure to yield 15 minutes to the distinguished Senator Lautenberg, my neighbor and friend from New Jersey, followed by 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from South Dakota.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I congratulate the Senator from New Jersey on a forceful argument. I now have the pleasure to yield 10 minutes to the Senator from North Dakota and 10 minutes to the Senator from Connecticut.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, we now have a sense of why the Senator from Montana is an appreciated treasure in this body. Now I yield 5 minutes to my friend from Massachusetts.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I reverse my request.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I am happy to yield 5 minutes to my friend from Massachusetts.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, it would appear that the force of the argument on this side of the aisle has silenced our friends on the other side, in which case I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. May I say to my friend from Massachusetts that the Office of Management and Budget has computed exactly what those sequesters would be, and they are horrendous.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I am happy to yield 5 minutes to my learned friend from Michigan.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Massachusetts for a forceful and needed statement. It was not easy to hear. It is true. I am happy to yield 5 minutes to my friend from Virginia, known in the Finance Committee as ``commandant.''

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I yield the floor.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I ask there be printed in the Record a statement ``Sequester Impact of Tax Bill,'' prepared today by the Office of Management and Budget. I will read two sentences: Beginning in 2002, Medicare would be cut by 4 percent each year. * * * In 2002, the $28 billion cut in mandatory savings resulting from a sequester would still be $6 billion less than the cost of the tax bill.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

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

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a bill that would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to purchase the Hunt House in Seneca Falls, New York. This summer the owners of the Hunt House put it on the market for $139,000. Of four historic buildings in Seneca Falls that should be part of the Women's Rights National Historical Park, the Hunt House is the only one that is not. It was the site of the gathering of five women (the founding mothers, you might say) who decided to hold the nation's first women's rights convention. That convention took place in Seneca Falls in July, 1848. The Women's Rights Park is a monument to the idea they espoused that summer, that women should have equal right with men; one of the most influential ideas of the last 150 years. Adding the Hunt House to the Park would complete it. The problem is that the Department was not given the authorization to purchase the Hunt House in the bill I offered 20 years ago so that speculation would not drive up the price of the house when it eventually went on the market. That worked. But now the lack of an authorization should not keep us from being able to acquire the house at all. This bill simply removes the restriction against a fee simple purchase by the Park Service. I hope my colleagues will offer their support, and I ask that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. The bill follows:

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a bill that would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to purchase the Hunt House in Seneca Falls, New York. This summer the owners of the Hunt House put it on the market for $139,000. Of four historic buildings in Seneca Falls that should be part of the Women's Rights National Historical Park, the Hunt House is the only one that is not. It was the site of the gathering of five women (the founding mothers, you might say) who decided to hold the nation's first women's rights convention. That convention took place in Seneca Falls in July, 1848. The Women's Rights Park is a monument to the idea they espoused that summer, that women should have equal right with men; one of the most influential ideas of the last 150 years. Adding the Hunt House to the Park would complete it. The problem is that the Department was not given the authorization to purchase the Hunt House in the bill I offered 20 years ago so that speculation would not drive up the price of the house when it eventually went on the market. That worked. But now the lack of an authorization should not keep us from being able to acquire the house at all. This bill simply removes the restriction against a fee simple purchase by the Park Service. I hope my colleagues will offer their support, and I ask that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. The bill follows:

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the pending amendment is not germane. I therefore raise a point of order that the amendment violates section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

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

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

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

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

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, the pending amendment is not germane. Accordingly, I raise a point of order that the amendment violates section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

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

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, this measure was thoroughly discussed in the Committee on Finance and is well understood on our side. I support the chairman in the existing provision of the bill.

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

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