A BILLION DOLLAR Amendment by the Dems

http://c-span.org ^ | 9-4-03 | OXENinFLA

[OXENinFLA]

OK

I just turned on C-span to see the words $1 Billion Amed. to the Education bill by Mr. Harkin (D-Iowa).

Mr. Spector had a roll call vote. He said this amount exceeds the limit one can use in and amendment. Harking asked for the rule to be waved.

I filed this under Breaking news becasuse the Senate is LIVE.

[OXENinFLA]

"The Senate will be in order, Senators will take their conversation off the floor"

If I only got a dime every time I heard that.

[UCANSEE2]

ExXXXXXCUSEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEE!

IT's a BILLION, not a MILLION.

Well,
half to NEA,
half to NEW YORK's SENATRESS CAMPAIGN/PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN/BOOKSIGNING COMMITTEE.

[Mo1]

If I only got a dime every time I heard that.

That and them standing around talking

[OXENinFLA]

Haha Yeah that's what caught my eye and made me post this thread.

HR2660 is a big bill already, (Just scrolling over it)

I'll be sure to look over Harkin's Amend. when it's available, after it fails. (I hope)

[Bogey78O]

Remain calm. All is well.

[deport]

They would be on Thomas Locator but don't know when it would be updated..... Also check the roll call votes on the Senate web site..... but they lag in time also, maybe an hour or more....

[Timesink]

We need more Republican U.S. Senators.

We will be getting them. Virtually every study shows the RATS losing no fewer than four or five Senate seats in the November 2004 election, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that we could end up with a filibuster-proof 60+ supermajority, especially if the presidential campaign turns into a Dean-style anti-Bush hatefest. It could end up being such a blowout that the RATS will look back upon 1994 and 2002 as the "good old days."

[.cnI redruM]

Gotta watch that deficit. It's running us into the ground. :)

[Mo1]

Thanks for the info ..

[Eric Esot]

What one Billion Dollars would do to strengthen the minds of American Children. - But instead we assume to teach tolerance of gays, make special accommodations for immigrants with "learning disabilities", inject the Koran while dissecting God, bla bla bla. - Tomorrow is Friday!

[concerned about politics]

Support school choice. The public schools are no longer needed. The kids deserve an education. Give it to them.

[OXENinFLA]

Vote on this coming up next

Next Meeting of the SENATE
9:15 a.m., Friday, September 5


Senate Chamber
Program for Friday: Senate will continue consideration of H.R. 2660,
making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2004, with a vote to occur at 9:30 a.m. on Clinton
Amendment No. 1565 (to Amendment No. 1542), followed by a vote on
Harkin Amendment No. 1575 (to Amendment No. 1542).

[OXENinFLA]

SA 1565. Mrs. CLINTON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1542 proposed by Mr. SPECTER to the bill H.R. 2660, making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes; as follows:


    On page 36, line 16, strike the period at the end and insert ``: Provided further, That the amount $6,252,256,000 under the heading `Health Resources and Services' shall be deemed to be $6,272,256,000 of which the additional $20,000,000 shall be available for carrying out sections 765 and 767 of the Public Health Service Act: Provided further, That the amount $4,588,671,000 under the heading `Disease Control, Research, and Training' shall be deemed to be $4,631,871,000: Provided further, That the amount $1,726,846,000 under the heading `Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund' shall be deemed to be $1,756,846,000: Provided further, That the amount $1,116,156,000 under the heading `Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund' shall be deemed to be $1,146,156,000 Provided further, That the amount $6,895,199,000 in section 305(a)(1) of this Act shall be deemed to be $6,988,399,000: Provided further, That the amount $6,783,301,000 in section 305(a)(2) of this Act shall be deemed to be $6,690,101,000: Provided further, That of the funds appropriated in this Act for the National Institutes of Health, $93,200,000 shall not be available for obligation until September 30, 2004.

[OXENinFLA]

AH HA!, I've found it...

SA 1575. Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. KERRY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. MURRAY, and Ms. STABENOW) proposed an amendment to amendment SA 1542 proposed by Mr. SPECTER to the bill H.R. 2660, making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes; as follows:


    On page 76, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:

    SEC.__. (a) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.--

    (1) IN GENERAL.--In addition to any amounts otherwise appropriated under this Act for the Fund for the Improvement of Education under part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.), there are appropriated an additional $1,000,000,000 for such fund that shall be used by the Secretary of Education to award formula grants to State educational agencies to enable such State educational agencies--

    (A) to expand existing structures to alleviate overcrowding in public schools;

    (B) to make renovations or modifications to existing structures necessary to support alignment of curriculum with State standards in mathematics, reading or language arts, or science in public schools served by such agencies;

    (C) to make emergency repairs or renovations necessary to ensure the safety of students and staff and to bring public schools into compliance with fire and safety codes;

    (D) to make modifications necessary to render public schools in compliance with the

[Page: S11123] GPO's PDF
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794);

    (E) to abate or remove asbestos, lead, mold, and other environmental factors in public schools that are associated with poor cognitive outcomes in children; and

    (F) to renovate, repair, and acquire needs related to infrastructure of charter schools.

    (2) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.--The Secretary shall allocate amounts available for grants under this subsection to States in proportion to the funds received by the States, respectively, for the previous fiscal year under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq).

    (b) OFFSET.--Of the funds appropriated in this Act for the National Institutes of Health, $352,000,000 shall not be available for obligation until September 30, 2004: Provided, That the amount $6,895,199,000 in section 305(a)(1) of this Act shall be deemed to be $7,895,199,000, and the amount $6,783,301,000 in section 305(a)(2) of this Act shall be deemed to be $5,783,301,000.

[OXENinFLA]

This is what I was paraprasing last night.

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

   Mrs. CLINTON. Certainly.

   Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator from New York for her remarks. I just appreciate her eloquence and her strength in supporting this proposal to rebuild and modernize our schools.

   I wonder if the Senator from New York is aware of the number of jobs being created. I understand there is an estimate that this $1 billion would create about 24,000 jobs in the entire United States.

   There is an article in this morning's paper which said the President is going to come up with a new budget request for Iraq of between $60 billion and $70 billion--twice what we were told about two months ago.

   In July, we had a briefing by Mr. Bremer, who is our counsel over there. He gets to write all these checks for money in Iraq. He said something I couldn't believe I heard, so I wrote it down. He said they were putting a lot of money into rebuilding infrastructure in Baghdad--the streets, the sewers, and rebuilding schools because they found they got more bang for the buck when they put it in that.

   I can't understand why we can do that in Iraq but we can't do the same here in the United States.

   The leveraging of money has been great in the past with what we have done for schools.

   I might ask again if the Senator will yield for a question. I am sure the Senator is aware the offset we are using we already used before to get an additional $2.2 billion for the bill. I am told there is about $13 million that could be used as an offset. I am wondering why we can't use this offset to get money to help rebuild and modernize our schools.

   I am sort of at a loss. I wonder if maybe the Senator might know why we can't use this money. Since we have already used some of it before in the bill, why we can't use it for this?

   Mrs. CLINTON. I share my colleague's bewilderment. It does appear to me that the offsets are certainly adequate for the money we believe should go into school construction. The Senator's reference to Iraq raises an additional question. I, too, am aware of the statement by the administration, by Mr. Bremer and others that we--the American taxpayers--were committed to rebuilding schools, hospitals, health clinics, roads, and powerplants. I don't think one would argue with that. It is our responsibility. Once we make the decision to pursue military action and change the regime, we inherit those responsibilities.

   But not only does it seem fair and equitable to do the same for our own citizenry--particularly our students in rural areas and in underserved urban areas which both of us represent in our respective States--I would note a cautionary comment: that if we expect to have the broad population of this country support the long-term commitment we have taken upon ourselves, which is costing at least $1 billion a week--and we know the President is going to come and ask for between $60 billion and $70 billion more to support both the military mission and the reconstruction costs of Iraq--I think if we are serious about sustaining public support for what is a costly endeavor in terms of life and, much more important than money, the soldiers we are losing, the casualties, the injuries that are being incurred, it is important we support things here in our own country.

   It will be impossible to go to this Nation and say keep spending money in Iraq when you do not have jobs, when your schools are crumbling, when your bridges, your wastewater treatment centers, and your electricity grid is crumbling. Who are we kidding? How do you sustain the broad American public support for this kind of endeavor that costs us blood and fortune without doing things here at home? This is a tangible way to demonstrate we care about what happens in America as well.

[OXENinFLA]

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2003_record&page=S11094&position=all


[Page: S11094]

[OXENinFLA]

This is why I think Igot mixed up last night and thought the waiver applied to Harkin's amend.

---

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The hour of 5:40 having arrived, the question is now on Daschle amendment No. 1568.

   The Senator from Pennsylvania.

   Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, 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.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

   Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, pursuant to section 504(b)(2) of H. Con. Res. 95, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2004, I move to waive section 504 of that concurrent resolution for purposes of the pending amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?

   There appears to be a sufficient second.

   The question is on agreeing to the motion.

---

The motion Failed

[OXENinFLA]

Sa1565

Failed 41-47

Woohoo.

[Mo1]

Mrs. CLINTON. I share my colleague's bewilderment. It does appear to me that the offsets are certainly adequate for the money we believe should go into school construction.

The Fed is paying for schools to be built? ... Then why did my local school tax go up to pay for the news schools built in my area?

[OXENinFLA]

I can't remember who say this but just the other day someone said that the feds only provide 7% of the money that schools use.