William Roth

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. ROTH. Is it proper to offer an amendment under the unanimous- consent agreement?

Mr. ROTH. I ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be considered and agreed to en bloc: first, McCain-Levin: Sense of the Senate regarding stock options with a statement; 2. Enzi: Sense of the Senate regarding estate tax with a statement; 3. Dodd: Forgiveness of student loans; 4. Grams: Exception to UBIT for charitable giving; 5. Dorgan: Disaster relief. 6. Dorgan: IRA withdrawal for disaster relief; 7. Biden: Survivors' benefits/public safety officials; 8. Dodd-D'Amato: Disability benefits for firefighters and officers; 9. Boxer: Section 401(k) and employer stock; and No. 10. Daschle: Non-Amtrak States. I urge their adoption. In addition, I ask that amendment 553 be called up and agreed to.

Mr. ROTH. I asked they be--

Mr. ROTH. How much time would the Senator from Montana like?

Mr. ROTH. I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Kentucky.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation be authorize to meet on Thursday, June 26, 1997, at 2 p.m. on pending committee business.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 26 for purposes of conducting a Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land Management hearing which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. ROTH

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

Mr. ROTH. Madam President, I move to waive all points of order against the committee amendment language for consideration of this provision now, and also for the language, if included at later stages, of the revenue reconciliation process such as in a conference report.

Mr. ROTH. Madam President, I don't see anyone requiring further time to debate this issue. So I yield whatever time I have remaining. Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.

Mr. ROTH. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Utah.

Mr. ROTH. I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from West Virginia.

Mr. ROTH. I yield to the Senator from Utah.

Mr. ROTH. I point out that what we have here is a 5-year plan, as I think was originally the case for the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts. Obviously, the plan can be renewed at the end of the 5 years.

Mr. ROTH. I point out that the tobacco tax was for all purposes in the bill, not just for the children's health insurance.

Mr. ROTH. I will yield to the distinguished Senator from Utah to comment on that.

Mr. ROTH. The funding stream is a 5-year plan.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I say to my distinguished friend and colleague that the cigarette tax is permanent; it is not limited to 5 years.

Mr. ROTH. I am happy to yield for a question.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, this amendment includes the $8 billion additional funds for the children's health initiative. As we have discussed earlier, the children's health initiative is a critical piece of the legislation before the Senate. Members on both sides of the aisle, both ends of the political spectrum, and everyone in between are committed to addressing the issue of reaching our Nation's children. Each morning, more than 10 million children wake to face a day without health insurance. Clearly, this situation has weighed heavily upon us. Throughout the first quarter of the 105th session of Congress, a number of Members have contributed to various proposals for reaching these children. I thank all my colleagues for their hard work and effort. At this hour, we have now reached a bipartisan agreement on the structure of how to help the States reach more of these uninsured children. Now that we have a structure, we must also ensure that it is adequately funded. The committee amendment will provide an additional $8 billion for the children's health initiative, will secure that final necessary piece to make this bipartisan agreement work. Some Members may argue that $16 billion is too much money for the children's health initiative. Other Members will argue that $24 billion is not enough. The Finance Committee, which has carefully considered this issue, has agreed on a bipartisan basis that it is just right, and with this committee amendment we will inject $24 billion into reaching the goal of providing health insurance to more children. Let me remind my colleagues that the States will also be required to provide matching funds. So the total amount will rise even higher. Of the 10 million children without health insurance, about 60 percent are either eligible to be enrolled into the Medicaid Program or they live in families with incomes about 250 percent of the poverty level. For a family of four, that is more than $40,000. We do not, of course, want to displace the role of the private sector in providing health insurance for children. So this new initiative is really meant to be targeted for those approximately 3.8 million children who live in families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to pay for private insurance. The committee amendment will ensure that there are sufficient funds to meet the goal of reaching these children, and I urge all of my colleagues to support the Finance Committee provisions on this critical issue.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. I so move, Madam President.

Mr. ROTH. I believe the distinguished Senator from New York would like us to go into morning business.