Arlen Specter

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Florida for offering this amendment. I think he has articulated good reasons for a study by the General Accounting Office. These are important issues which could have a significant impact on health care delivery in our country. We are prepared to accept the amendment.

Mr. SPECTER. Trying to be brief in acceptance to give plenty of time for other amendments to be offered, but as the Chair can observe, there are no Senators in the Chamber seeking to offer amendments. If we are to proceed, as I said earlier, to get this bill considered and acted upon, we will have to have people coming to the floor with amendments. I urge the adoption of the amendment.

Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Senator from Wisconsin for offering this amendment. I share his concern about adequate care for seniors in nursing homes. That account is currently funded at $13.361 million. I note that the Senator from Wisconsin wants to add $1 million. We would like to be accommodating. However, as Everett Dirksen once said, a million here and a million there add up. I would be interested to know if the Senator from Wisconsin would care to respond why he picks $1 million instead of $2 million or $750,000? Where does the Senator from Wisconsin see the need for an additional $1 million when there already is $13.361 million? I am searching for some rationality as to why this million should be added.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, that would be agreeable.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have been asked, on behalf of the leader, to have that vote followed by a judge vote. So as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that following the scheduled vote at 5:40 under the previous unanimous consent agreement, the Senate proceed to executive session to the consideration of calendar No. 349; further, that there be 2 minutes equally divided in the usual form for debate, and that the Senate then vote on the confirmation of the nomination, with no intervening action or debate. Finally, I ask consent that following the vote the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I notice that the Senator from Washington is in the Chamber now. If she would like to have her 2 minutes of argument, I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to 2 minutes of argument on each side.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, the time has arrived for voting on the Murray amendment. I raise a point of order under section 504 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2004 that the amendment exceeds discretionary spending limits specified in this section and therefore is not in order.

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

Mr. SPECTER. Well, if that is the best we can do, so stated.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, this has been cleared on both sides. In the presence of the ranking member of the subcommittee and the assistant Democratic leader, I ask unanimous consent that the vote in relation to the Daschle amendment No. 1568 occur at 5:10 today; further, that no amendments be in order to the amendment prior to the vote.

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

Mr. SPECTER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, again, let me make a plea to our colleagues to come to the floor and offer the amendments. There are quite a few on the Republican side who have listed amendments, as well as Democrats.

Mr. SPECTER. We have that, that we can vote on, and we can vote on the Dodd amendment? We can't vote on the Dodd amendment either? We can't vote on the Dodd amendment until the Senate is in session, and the Senate is not in session until the Democratic Presidents come back.

Mr. SPECTER. There is no amendment being offered on the floor. There is no amendment we can put our hands around. The only thing we could put our hands around would be third reading. We could do that.

Mr. SPECTER. We cannot have votes tomorrow unless we have amendments. I think that is definitive. So the alternative to that is go to third reading and then we do have a vote.

Mr. SPECTER. In a very serious vein, there is a long list of amendments and there is talk about Senators wanting to go home on Friday. That may or may not be possible, depending upon what the status of this bill is. But in the light of these assertions, I yield to my distinguished colleague from Iowa to concur.

Mr. SPECTER. Does that mean we will accept all your amendments? Let's hear some amendments so I will know if I can accept them or not. You cannot accept a pig in a poke, as the expression goes. I think that is an Iowa expression. It comes from Waterloo, IA. Senator Harkin and I are prepared to go to third reading if we don't have amendments down here by 4:15.

Mr. SPECTER. Senator Harkin says he wouldn't mind. It is not a formal commitment. This may replace late-night television, Mr. President.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I think the managers, if I can get Senator Harkin's attention, are prepared to go to third reading. That notion is gaining support on the floor.

Mr. SPECTER

Mr. SPECTER. I thank my distinguished colleague from Ohio and I thank the Chair. Amendment No. 1578 To Amendment No. 1542

Mr. SPECTER. Madam President, I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. SPECTER. Will the Senator from Ohio be willing to take a voice vote, at this point, accepting this amendment?

Mr. SPECTER. Madam President, will the Senator yield for a question?