Congressional Record UNUM

E PLURIBUS

United States

of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 110th

 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION

∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.

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S10821 

Vol. 154 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2008 No. 184 

Senate 

The Senate met at 10:30 a.m. and was 

called to order by the Honorable JON

TESTER, a Senator from the State of 

Montana. 

PRAYER

The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer: 

Let us pray. 

Lord of all, Your blessings to our Nation astound us. You have given us this 

rich land to produce an oasis of freedom in a barren world. 

Bless our lawmakers as they seek to 

fulfill Your purposes. Give them great 

wisdom to choose what is best. As they 

grapple with complex issues, infuse 

them with confidence that Your providence will prevail. Renew their 

strength as they trust Your guidance, 

so that they will run and not be weary. 

In due season, bring them a bountiful 

harvest. We pray in Your sovereign 

Name. Amen. 

f 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

The Honorable JON TESTER led the 

Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: 

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the 

United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

f 

APPOINTMENT OF ACTING 

PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will please read a communication 

to the Senate from the President pro 

tempore (Mr. BYRD). 

The assistant legislative clerk read 

the following letter: 

U.S. SENATE, 

PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, 

Washington, DC, December 9, 2008. 

To the Senate: 

Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, 

of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby 

appoint the Honorable JON TESTER, a Senator from the State of Montana, to perform 

the duties of the Chair. 

ROBERT C. BYRD, 

President pro tempore. 

Mr. TESTER thereupon assumed the 

chair as Acting President pro tempore. 

f 

RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY 

LEADER 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized. 

f 

MEASURES PLACED ON THE CALENDAR—H.R. 7005, H.R. 7006, H.R. 

7060 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, there are 

three bills at the desk due for a second 

reading; is that correct? 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct. 

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent 

for their second reading. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report the bills by 

title. 

The assistant legislative clerk read 

as follows: 

A bill (H.R. 7005) to amend the Internal 

Revenue Code of 1986 to provide alternative 

minimum tax relief for individuals for 2008. 

A bill (H.R. 7006) to amend the Internal 

Revenue Code of 1986 to provide disaster assistance relief. 

A bill (H.R. 7060) to amend the Internal 

Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives 

for energy production and conservation, to 

extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for 

other purposes. 

f 

SCHEDULE 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following 

the remarks of the two leaders, the 

Senate will proceed to a period of 

morning business until noon today, 

with Senators allowed to speak for up 

to 10 minutes each. 

Those three bills that were reported 

are three tax bills. I have been in touch 

with the distinguished Republican 

leader. Those are placeholders for purposes of our having the opportunity to 

get to the Detroit bailout, recovery 

plan, whatever we wish to call it. 

I talked to my staff; they were up 

virtually most of the night working 

with the Banking Committee from the 

House and the Senate, and there are 

two remaining issues that have been 

discussed with the White House. I am 

confident those matters can be resolved within the next hour or so. They 

are both important issues, but I think 

they can be resolved. That having been 

done, we will confer, Senator MCCONNELL and I, and decide how we are 

going to proceed. I think it would be to 

everyone’s advantage that we move 

first, but we will have to wait and see 

how. The House can do that if they 

choose to. 

We would hope they can complete 

work on this Detroit situation tonight 

or tomorrow. Then we have to wait for 

the White House to determine what, if 

anything, they are going to do with requesting the other money from the 

TARP money; that is, the bank bailout. That decision has not been made 

yet. 

Members, I have received calls, as I 

am sure my distinguished counterpart 

has, that people have obligations at 

home, there are a number of important 

foreign meetings people wish to be involved in that they have set on their 

calendars for longstanding periods of 

time. These are not pleasure trips, they 

are business trips representing the Senate. We hope to be able to complete 

work here as soon as possible. The 

problem is we have to wait and see how 

we move through this. The Senate, 

being the unique legislative body it is, 

and it has been, one or two people can 

slow things down quite a bit. We hope 

that is not the case. We know what we 

have to try to do. We need to do it as 

quickly as possible. 

So I hope that, in fact, can be done; 

that is, the legislation can be put before us and a vote taken. 

On the reading of bills, the second 

reading, I would object to any further 


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