Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I raise a point of order under rule XVI that this amendment violates rule XVI. What is the ruling of the Chair?

Mr. STEVENS. I raise rule XVI. If the Senator wants to raise the point of germaneness, he may do so.

Mr. STEVENS. I will ask that the vote be postponed until we agree on a series of votes today. I ask for the yeas and nays on that question.

Mr. STEVENS. What is the amount of time?

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator has the floor. I will not object now, but we are trying to get the votes put together so we can start at 11 o'clock for the convenience of the Senate because committee meetings are going to take place. I will not object now. To any further interruption, I will object. Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act of 2006

Mr. STEVENS. We are prepared to accept it, but if the Senator wishes a vote, he is entitled to it. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, we expect the Senator from Oklahoma to raise two additional amendments. It is our hope that we can ask unanimous consent in a short time that a series of votes on the Coburn amendments start around 11 o'clock. I yield the floor.

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, regarding amendment No. 4784, I ask unanimous consent that on page 2, section 2 be deleted.

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to withdraw the point of order under rule XVI and that the vote on the issue of germaneness be rescinded.

Mr. STEVENS. It is my understanding that the Senator from Oklahoma wants a vote on that amendment. Is that correct?

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I think we should welcome the devotion of the Senator from Oklahoma to be concerned about the Improper Payments Act, and if the Senator's amendment applied to any payments made pursuant to this act, I certainly would have no objection. We are prepared to accept it. This covers a great deal more than that, though, those made under existing law and those made to, as I understand it, in the areas of homeland security and Government affairs. I wish the Senator would say that this covers--to be clear under rule XVI--payments made out of any funds provided by this act. If he did that, I am prepared to accept it.

Mr. STEVENS. From the funds provided in this act? There are funds provided in other acts. For instance, the funds provided to the Defense Intelligence Agency come from the funds that are provided through the National Intelligence Director's Office, but they come to DIA. But we are very specific about it. If the payments are made pursuant to this act, we agree with it.

Mr. STEVENS. No, no, it does not. It says: All payments made by the Department----

Mr. STEVENS. I don't have any problems with this--this Senator doesn't have any problem with complying with the Improper Payments Information Act. I have to tell you, I am not informed about that act in detail, but I know there are payments made through DIA and through NSA and through other agencies and that if they remain, there would have to be a disclaimer in here about classification and other things. But if you just say it is from the Department under this act, I don't think you have that problem. And this act is a 1-year bill, it is not-- in truth, this should be applied to the Department of Defense authorization bill, and then they could have a bill that would authorize for more than 1 year. By definition, this bill is a 1-year bill.

Mr. STEVENS. I can understand why he would. I don't understand why the Senator wants it on this bill, too, because it has a problem on this bill that it doesn't have on the authorization bill.

Mr. STEVENS. If you do that, I would not raise a point of order under rule XVI.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I submit an amendment to this amendment and ask for its immediate consideration. Do I have the right to ask to modify the Senator's amendment in that regard?

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to modify the Senator's amendment with the amendment that is at the desk.

Mr. STEVENS. Does the Senator wish to have a vote on this amendment?

Mr. STEVENS. We are prepared to accept it. Does the Senator still wish a recorded vote?

Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to a series of votes in relation to the following amendments: Coburn amendment No. 4787 for conferences, Coburn amendment No. 4784, as modified, for posting of reports, and Coburn amendment No. 4785, as modified, for improper payments. The Senator has a pending amendment. That would not be included. It is because of the timeframe associated with meetings that are scheduled today that the leadership has asked that we proceed to the votes on these three amendments. I further ask that no amendments be in order to the amendments prior to the votes and that all votes be limited to 10 minutes each and there be 2 minutes equally divided on the votes.

Mr. STEVENS. All the votes have the yeas and nays, is that correct?

Mr. STEVENS. I thank the Chair.