Don Nickles

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Campbell, the chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, and Senator Murkowski.

Mr. NICKLES. No.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, for the information of our colleagues, it is taken out of general government, not out of any health service. I do not know if a vote is necessary on this. I urge the adoption of the amendment.

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

Mr. NICKLES. I urge our colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment. This amendment doesn't do anything to help the rural areas. All it does is say let's increase, in the resolution, the amount from $400 billion to $425 billion in the area of Medicare. Under the resolution we passed, we said there would be $400 billion in the Medicare reserve fund to strengthen and enhance Medicare, improve access for beneficiaries under that program to prescription drugs and promote geographic equity payments. That was included because Senator Grassley wanted to make sure we dealt with the inequities that were just described by my friend from Iowa. We are going to address that when we take up Medicare in the Finance Committee, which is where it should be addressed, not on a budget resolution that wouldn't have the impact. When we draft a Medicare bill that we are going to have on the floor this year, we can deal with some of these inequities. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the amendment.

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

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

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, this is an amendment on which we voted on Friday. The amendment was defeated 62 to 38. Maybe it is another reason we should have finished the entire bill on Friday, the initial bill. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment. I have a couple of comments about it. The thing that is different about it, that now there is a Social Security reserve fund, that is bogus. There is no money going into the Social Security reserve fund because on the other hand they say the money goes toward deficit reduction. It can't go into both. This amendment would cut the growth package in half. It would cut the growth out of the growth package. We need to be growing our economy. Our economy is really going through a difficult time. The President has a package that will help create jobs, put people to work, encourage investment, and encourage real growth in our economy. We need that. I am afraid if we pass this amendment, we will just be cutting it in half and end up with a package that is $323 billion of tax cuts over a total of $28 trillion over that 10-year period of time. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 413

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I believe the Senator from Kentucky has the next amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I yield our time to the Senator from South Carolina.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I believe we are ready to consider and we will accept the amendment of the Senator from Wisconsin.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, there are bound to be a few people in this body, and probably fewer in the country, who understand pay-go. I compliment my colleague from Wisconsin. I am not sure the amendment is perfect, but I will work with him and others. I have no objection to the amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, we have accepted a lot of education amendments. I believe now, after consulting with Senator Gregg, chairman of the committee, we will even be beyond the education level as proposed by Senator Conrad in last year's budget for 2004. We have no objection to this amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 395

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I am thankful for the cooperation of our colleague from North Dakota. Also I wish to acknowledge the hard work of Senator Brownback. He has been talking to me about this amendment for a long time. We are happy to accept the amendment.

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

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, in debate last Friday we agreed to the amendment of Senators Crapo and Sarbanes which added $3.5 billion. I think that would be more than adequate. We are way over the President's budget, considering that amendment. I yield to my colleague from Oklahoma.

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

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I believe the Senator from Massachusetts has an amendment. We are prepared to accept the amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, we are very grateful to the Senator from Massachusetts for bringing this to our attention. We are supportive of the President and his budget. I know it has happened time and time again, and we welcome his support. We have no objection to the amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I yield to my colleague from Oklahoma.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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