William Roth

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. I would be pleased to answer any questions the Senator from California may have.

Mr. ROTH. Under our current tax law, a deduction is allowed for contributions of a qualified conservation easement to a qualified organization. The goal of my colleagues' amendments are well taken and deserve this Nation's serious consideration. I will work with you in conference on these worthy goals because I share your commitment to saving endangered species, and using incentives to accomplish this goal.

Mr. ROTH. My chairman's mark includes a provision consistent with my colleague's goals. The mark would allow a portion of the value of land subject to a qualified conservation easement to be excluded from the gross estate. This conservation easement is a step in the right direction.

Mr. ROTH. I agree with Senator Kempthorne's philosophy that conservation benefits us all as a nation. In fact, I included a conservation easement provision in my chairman's mark.

Mr. ROTH. I appreciate the distinguished Senator from Rhode Island bringing this matter to the attention of the Senate, and yes I am aware of this clear inequity to the railroads. This certainly should be remedied at our earliest opportunity, and I will seek an appropriate solution as we consider the treatment of deficit reduction fuel taxes during the conference with the House on this tax legislation. If we are unable to craft a solution to this problem on this bill, I will certainly strive for a solution as part of the upcoming ISTEA reauthorization legislation.

Mr. ROTH. This has been cleared on both sides of the aisle. The amendment corrects a minor drafting error in the bill.

Mr. ROTH. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. ROTH. On behalf of Senator Enzi, I ask unanimous consent to send the following amendment to the desk, and I ask it be considered and agreed to.

Mr. ROTH. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I commend my friend from Colorado on offering this amendment. It is unfortunate that I must vote against it. The Senator may not be aware of this, but in 1993 I introduced a bill that called for the indexing of capital assets. But today, we are not only dealing with economic issues, President Clinton has said he will veto any tax bill that includes indexing of capital gains. I have an article from last Thursday's Wall Street Journal. The title of the article is ``Clinton Rules Out Indexing of Capital Gains in Tax Bill.'' The first paragraph says the President ``will not sign a tax bill that includes indexing of capital gains for inflation.'' We have a historic opportunity today to deliver badly needed tax cuts to Americans. I would like to provide greater tax relief, but we cannot, and ``half a loaf'' is better than ``no loaf.'' So I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I move their adoption.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to send the following amendments to the desk, and I ask unanimous consent that they be considered en bloc: Senator Graham, pension technicals; the second one is Senators Nickles and Bond, sense of the Senate regarding self- employment tax; the third is Senator Specter, penalty-free withdrawal on adoption; the fourth is Senator Faircloth, tax-exempt bond refunding; the fifth is Senator Gorton, bad debt reserve recapture; the sixth is Senator Santorum, sense of the Senate on tax cuts; and the final one is Burns, income averaging for farmers.

Mr. ROTH. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, the pending amendment is not germane to the provisions of the reconciliation measure. I, therefore, raise a point of order against the amendment under section 305(b)(2) of the Budget Act.

Mr. ROTH. The next to be recognized is Senator Feingold. Amendment No. 582 (Purpose: To eliminate the percentage depletion allowance for certain minerals)

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the motion was agreed to.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROTH. I move this point of order be waived, both for now and for the conference.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, at the completion of my remarks I yield 10 seconds to the distinguished Senator from New Mexico. There is no truth that this has any impact on tax cuts. The important point to understand is that this point of order is to kill Amtrak. This is very important, both to Senator Moynihan and to myself. Passenger rail is extremely important to the entire country. What we have done is fully paid for. We do not ask for any special treatment. The rail fund is consistent with the budget resolution agreed to by both Chambers. It has the support of Senator Domenici and Senator Lautenberg. GAO has testified that Amtrak will not survive past 1998 without this crucial funding. We could not wait any longer. I first wanted to say, I therefore ask for your votes to this point of order.

Mr. ROTH. Senator McCain is next on the list. Point of Order--Section 702(d)

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

Mr. ROTH. Senator Landrieu is next on the list of offering amendments.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was rejected.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I next yield to Senator McCain to offer an amendment. Amendment No. 548 (Purpose: To strike the provision relating to the extension and modification of subsidies for alcohol fuels)

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, Senator Moseley-Braun is the next Senator on the list to offer an amendment.