William Roth

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. On this amendment.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I would be willing to informally agree that tomorrow there be 20 minutes equally divided prior to a vote.

Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following list of staff members of the Joint Committee on Taxation be granted full floor access for the duration of S. 949 and that the list be printed in the Record. It should be noted that these staff members will not be in the Chamber all at the same time but will rotate on and off as needed. There is a long list, and I will just submit it.

Mr. ROTH. At this time it is my pleasure to call upon my distinguished colleague from the State of North Dakota.

Mr. ROTH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that it be set aside.

Mr. ROTH. I thank the Senator from Kansas.

Mr. ROTH. Madam President, first, let me say that I appreciate the interest and concern expressed by my colleague from Kansas. I will and do hereby, under section 904 of the Budget Act, move to waive the point of order raised by him. I urge that in the meantime he might work with my staff to see if we can develop some alternative that meets his concern with the present language and see if we cannot develop something that will move this proposition ahead.

Mr. ROTH. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. ROTH. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. ROTH. No, I understand. I would say we would give 5 minutes to a side.

Mr. ROTH. I hadn't really considered that.

Mr. ROTH. We do not have any plan at this time to say amendments have to be submitted by such and such a time. But, of course, as you know, there is a 20-hour limitation on reconciliation. So, hopefully, everybody will bring their amendments down early so they can be considered early and we can avoid the situation that we had of a lot of Senators bringing their amendments at the end.

Mr. ROTH. Madam President, I say to my friends and colleagues, please come down and present your amendments. The bill is now open to amendment. Mr. BROWNBACK addressed the Chair.

Mr. ROTH. I do not expect that many amendments to be raised tonight. I will say at most it will be one or two, and there will be time in the morning for the sponsors and opponents to review the pros and cons of the amendments. I would, of course, urge Members to bring their amendments to the floor.

Mr. ROTH. I thank the Senator for the exchange.

Mr. ROTH. I agree that on any amendments considered and stacked today, there will be 4 minutes prior to the votes tomorrow.

Mr. ROTH. Yes. It has been announced by the leader that there will be no more votes tonight, so if we complete debate on any amendment, it would be stacked in the morning.

Mr. ROTH. The first vote, I think, I would say to my good friend from West Virginia, would start around 9:30.

Mr. ROTH. I fully understand.

Mr. ROTH. You played a critical role.

Mr. ROTH. And we all learn from experience.

Mr. ROTH. There will be votes, hopefully, throughout the day.

Mr. ROTH. Yes, amendments will be called up, but there will be no votes tonight. They will be held over until the morning.

Mr. ROTH

Mr. ROTH. I yield the floor.

Mr. ROTH. All right. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to this amendment. It raises again the same questions that were raised in respect to the Boren amendment. The history of the Boren amendment is a classic example of unintended consequences as its been used to increase costs of the program rather than control costs. The Governors are in opposition as well as the administration.