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Senate Shenaigans - March 7, 2006

Regarding the LIHEAP vote ...

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. BURR). On this [cloture] vote, the yeas are 75, the nays are 25. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
Mr. FRIST. I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
AMENDMENT NO. 2913 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2899
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask for the regular order with respect to amendment No. 2899 and now call up amendment No. 2913 as the pending amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Tennessee [Mr. FRIST], for Ms. Snowe, proposes an amendment numbered 2913 to amendment No. 2899.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To improve the distribution of funds to States under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program)
Beginning on page 1, strike line 7 and all that follows through page 2, line 5, and insert the following:
(A) by striking ``for a 1-time only obligation and expenditure'';
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$250,000,000 for fiscal year 2007'' and inserting ``$500,000,000 for fiscal year 2006''; and
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ``$750,000,000 for fiscal year 2007'' and inserting ``$500,000,000 for fiscal year 2006'';
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
7 . MAKING AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR THE LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second. The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 2913.
The result was announced--yeas 68, nays 31 ...
The amendment (No. 2913) was agreed to.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
AMENDMENT NO. 2899
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand that we are now prepared to agree to the Kyl first-degree amendment without a rollcall.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to as amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2899), as amended, was agreed to.
Mr. KYL. May I have just 30 seconds to thank all of those who participated in this debate, including the Senator from Maine and the Senator from Nevada. I think this 50-50 compromise that has been adopted will allow the various States to try to find a way to take care of the folks in their States who need this assistance. I appreciate the efforts of all involved to get it done.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
AMENDMENT NO. 2898
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now make a point of order that the Inhofe amendment, No. 2898, is not germane.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The point of order is sustained and the amendment falls. ...
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I believe we are ready to proceed to passage. That will not require a rollcall.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read the third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The bill (S. 2320), as amended, was passed, as follows: ...
10 . MAKING AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR THE LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ...

Rather anticlimatic. A few other items, but yesterday was a quiet day in the Senate.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, recent press reports reveal that despite its creation more than a year ago, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has yet to hire any staff members or even hold a single meeting. This board was established by a law signed in December 2004 in response to recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Now, several months into 2006, we learn from a Newsweek article that the board's members will finally be sworn in at the White House this month. I will ask unanimous consent that a copy of this article be printed in the RECORD. Starting up the work of this important board, particularly in this time of unprecedented intrusion into the privacy of Americans by the executive branch, is shamefully overdue.
12 . PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES OVERSIGHT BOARD
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I rise today to compliment my friends in the House of Representatives for passing expeditiously H.R. 32--the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act--as amended by the Senate. ...
Further, counterfeit goods undermine our confidence in the reliability of goods and service. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration estimates that 2 percent of the 26 million airline parts installed each year are counterfeit. And the Federal Drug Administration estimates that as much as 10 percent of pharmaceuticals are counterfeit.
13 . PASSAGE OF H.R. 32 -- (Senate - March 07, 2006)
Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss an organization with which many of my colleagues have some personal familiarity, the Office of the Attending Physician. Many of my colleagues have come to rely upon the Attending Physician's Office here in the Congress as the source for support and medical advice. Most of us are personally aware of the fine work performed by Dr. Eisold and his staff in providing care for the Members of Congress, but there is much about the office which we don't think about regularly. ...
14 . OFFICE OF THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN
The following bills and joint resolutions were introduced, read the first and second times by unanimous consent, and referred as indicated:...
By Mr. NELSON of Nebraska (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. COBURN):
S. 2377. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and other Acts to provide for border security and interior enforcement improvements, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary. ...
By Mr. DODD:
S. 2380. A bill to add the heads of certain Federal intelligence agencies to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, to require enhanced notification to Congress and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
By Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. TALENT, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. KYL, Mr. ALLARD, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. ENZI, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. BURR, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. THUNE, Mr. GREGG, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. VITTER, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. THOMAS):
S. 2381. A bill to amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to provide line item rescission authority; to the Committee on the Budget.
[This is the President's Line Item Veto proposal]
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. REID, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KERRY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. DODD, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KOHL, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. LEAHY):
S. 2382. A bill to establish a national health program administered by the Office of Personnel Management to offer health benefits plans to individuals who are not Federal employees, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
25 . INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Mr. DODD ... And if we look at the pathetic security situation at our Nation's ports today, that becomes quite clear. Only about 5 percent of the cargo that comes through our ports is actually inspected. Indeed, the resources available to the Department of Homeland Security to undertake port and container security are woefully inadequate. According to reports, U.S. Customs has only 80 inspectors to monitor the compliance of nearly 6,000 importers, who are currently charged with maintaining the security of their goods during transit. The Coast Guard is even worse off with 20 inspectors dedicated to assessing worldwide compliance with relevant international shipping and port facility security codes. That's 100 people for the whole world. And it is a problem that needs to be fixed.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006. I am proud to say there are over 20 Senators who have joined me as original cosponsors of this legislation, including our colleague from Massachusetts, Senator Kerry. I wish to thank Senator Kerry for his support, and for the support of all of the other original cosponsors who have joined me on this significant legislative reform proposal. ...
[Full text of the law is in the record ... it's pretty dense reading]
Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I join with Senators Frist, McCain, and others as a cosponsor of legislation to establish a Presidential line item veto. This is a fiscally prudent measure which could reduce wasteful spending and bring down our Nation's deficit. ...
I am heartened to see this call for fiscal responsibility from President Bush. I have joined as a cosponsor of this legislation because it will be impossible for us to reduce our national debt and balance the Federal budget unless we curb wasteful spending. ...
[And Congress can't control itself. Pathetic little weasels.]

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2382
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2006''. ...
SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY.
An individual shall be eligible to enroll in a plan under this Act if such individual--
(1) is an employee of an employer described in section 2(b)(2), or is a self employed individual as defined in section 401(c)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
(2) is not otherwise enrolled or eligible for enrollment in a plan under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code. ...
SEC. 8. ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION BY CARRIERS THROUGH REINSURANCE.
(a) Establishment.--The Office shall establish a reinsurance fund to provide payments to carriers that experience one or more catastrophic claims during a year for health benefits provided to individuals enrolled in a health benefits plan under this Act.
[This is roughly a plan to hook insurers with insured. It creates a HUGE Federal bureacracy to do so.]
27 . STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Executive Message transmitted by the President to the Senate on March 7, 2006 withdrawing from further Senate consideration the following nomination:
James Hardy Payne, of Oklahoma, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit, which was sent to the Senate on September 29, 2005.
38 . WITHDRAWAL -- (Senate - March 07, 2006)

Guess I have to update my judges chart. In that vein, Judge Nielsen, recently confirmed, died on January 25th.