Daniel Moynihan

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I am happy to yield 8 minutes to my distinguished friend and fellow member of the Finance Committee, Senator Graham of Florida.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I thank my friend from Connecticut for clarifying most particularly the provision in the managers' amendment concerning the pension fund. I hope they listened to it carefully, and also the remarks of the chairman of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, the senior Senator from Kansas. Mr. President, I yield 8 minutes to my distinguished friend and neighbor from Vermont.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, may I just thank the Senator from Vermont. The remark by Mr. Deyo, ``I'm proud to be a working man. I only wish I could make a living,'' needs to be underscored.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. If I could make one inquiry of the Senator from Missouri. There is significant time sensitivity to this issue, is there not? What happens to the SBIC Participating Security Program if we do not resolve this issue soon?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, last year, the Senate voted to terminate section 936 and provide for a 10-year grandfather period, with various restrictions, for existing companies doing business in Puerto Rico. Many of us were uncomfortable leaving Puerto Rico without any economic incentives to replace section 936 following its termination. I want to commend and thank the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Finance for his leadership in reporting out, as part of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, language that begins to address this serious problem. The provision we are considering today is a step toward encouraging job creation for the 4 million American citizens in Puerto Rico by putting in place a long-term wage credit for companies currently doing business in Puerto Rico. This provision also moves toward the program that we established in 1993. The chairman is to be commended for recognizing the importance of this modification, and I urge the Senate to insist on this modification when we go to conference. While this bill provides security for the almost 150,000 employees of companies currently doing business in Puerto Rico, it does not address the issue of new investment and new jobs under a wage credit program, and leaves in question the adequacy of the incentive at the end of 10 years.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I yield to the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Of course. The Senator spoke eloquently yesterday, and I look forward to hearing him do the same today.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I yield 8 minutes to the Senator from Connecticut.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise to reciprocate and thank Mark Patterson and making a doubly reference to Lindy Paull. This was the first major tax bill that our distinguished chairman has reported out of his committee and to the floor. I think it is a tribute to the way he has handled this matter, and it reflects his career in the Senate, that the bill passed by a 3-to-1 margin, 74 to 24. There will be no discussion of vetoes anywhere else in town. We will now appoint conferees. I would like to say from our side that we look to the leadership of the chairman in conference. I am sure we will insist on our measures, and I expect to come back wholly pleased and honored by the association and more than pleased with the outcome.

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

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I move to lay that motion on the table.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Could I just say that the present reports on the unemployment rate at 5.3 percent and the increasing reports of labor shortages around the country mean if ever there was a moment in which to make this appropriate adjustment, maintaining the value of the minimum wage, this is the moment. And the Senator from Massachusetts could not be more congratulated, in my view, for the energy with which he has pressed it. Let us hope tomorrow we pass it.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts such time as he may require.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I think we are going to find ourselves in a situation where we will want to add to the time available for debate tomorrow. But I do not see anyone on the floor at this point. I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I will return momentarily with some thought.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I will now suggest the absence of a quorum as I see no Senator wishing to be heard. I ask that the time be equally divided.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Fine. Could I ask it be charged against the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts as we are running out of time?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I thank my friend from Maryland. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from North Dakota would like to speak at this point. Could I ask how much time he might require?

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I will be happy to yield another 5 minutes.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. The Senator will support the bill itself that Senator Roth and I are bringing forward for this purpose.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. How generous and characteristic. Opposition to the amendment.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I will be happy to yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Maryland. I see the distinguished chair of the committee has risen.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. I ask the distinguished Senator from Maryland how much time he might wish to speak.

Mr. MOYNIHAN

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I am sure I could speak for the Senate in expressing our appreciation to the Senator from Virginia for his services as an election observer in that distinguished company, and the auspicious outcome. But perhaps not sufficiently noticed, we are creating a new institution in the world--the election observers. I am sure they were from more than just the United States--in Ulaanbaatar-- something hardly conceivable 30 years ago and now natural and increasingly important. I thank the Senator from Virginia.

Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I ask, if I may, to speak for 1 minute in morning business.