October 10, 1978
Page 35234
UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, this request has been cleared with the distinguished minority leader. I ask unanimous consent that all amendments at the desk that are not germane and that are out of order on their face, for example, because they amend two or more places in the bill, be considered out of order en bloc with the provision that any Senator whose amendment is affected will not have his right to appeal waived because of this order.
This will aid the desk in clearing away some of the deadwood, the manager of the bill will know more precisely how many serious amendments are at the desk, and will not waive any Senator's right to appeal to the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, does this unanimous consent request save the Senator's right to appeal?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes. If any Senator wishes to appeal to the Senate with respect to the germaneness or non-germaneness of his particular amendment, he may do so. Of course, he can do it anyhow.
Mr. PROXMIRE. What it means is that the Senate would be put on notice when an amendment comes up it is not in order and then the Senator moving the amendment may make the appeal?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes, he may still make his appeal, without calling up the amendment. He may appeal the ruling of the Chair that the amendment is not germane.
My order was just to do it en bloc, and if Senators have amendments at the desk and they want to appeal that ruling of the Chair they may do so. It will say instead of 249 amendments at the desk, or whatever the number may be, that there are 49 serious ones.
Mr. PROXMIRE. What concerns this Senator is that the unanimous consent request will or will not put us on notice as to whether a particular amendment is out of order? For instance, say the Senator from Wisconsin calls up an amendment and that amendment is not germane. Will the Chair announce that that amendment is not germane at the time I call it up?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes, he will.
Mr. PROXMIRE. All right.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, is there a request before the Senate?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes. I have cleared this with the minority leader earlier.
Mr. STEVENS. I understand it was discussed. I am having a little difficulty with it, and I am one of those who said I would not have a problem. Now, I have gone to the desk and asked for a copy of an amendment that is not there.
Does this apply only to printed amendments or amendments that are available to other Members? I do not see how the clerk can go through the amendments that are at the desk when a Member cannot get copies of another Member's amendment. I specifically tried to get the amendment introduced by Senator, GLENN, and I am told it is not available, that it has been sent to the printer.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Could we get the order with respect to amendments that are at the desk?
Mr. STEVENS. My problem is: Are we going to be able to look at these amendments before they are ruled upon by the Chair? I am not inferring any problem with the Chair except I take my amendment and no one else can see it and say "This is germane; do you not think so?" Under the press of business we are liable to get such an interpretation. Yet there are others of us who do not believe they are germane. I particularly do not believe the amendment of the Senator from Ohio is germane because it contains a reference to the Sunset Act of 1978, I might say to the Senator from Maine, and I do not see how that could be germane.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, in the absence of the distinguished Senator from Ohio, all his present amendment would do is amend the provisions of this tax bill and to apply sunset to the provisions of this tax bill. It would not apply to my sunset provision. It does not apply to existing provisions of the tax code.
I understand from him that the Parliamentarian has told him his amendment is germane to this bill because it applies to this bill. But that is a question to be decided. I am not trying to decide it. I want to be sure.
Mr. STEVENS. My problem is that that ruling is going to be made.
Mr. MUSKIE. But as I understand the majority leader's request if that amendment should be included in the list that the majority leader describes the Senator from Ohio has a right to appeal that.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes.
Mr. STEVENS. I am interested in the right of the Senator from Alaska to argue it is not germane.
I have a copy of what purports to be the amendment of the Senator from Ohio, and it specifically refers to the review of tax expenditures provisions during the same Congress as the review under part B of the Sunset Act of 1978.
Mr. DECONCINI. Regular order, Mr. President.
Mr. STEVENS. It is my understanding that the Sunset Act of 1978 is not germane to this bill, and this is conditioned upon that. I do not see how the Chair could rule on the germaneness until some of the others of us who are involved in it could point out some of the defects. You can look at it on its face. It looks as if it probably might be germane. But once you start examining into the provisions of the Glenn amendment, it is couched in terms of still an amendment to the Muskie amendment. As such it should not be germane if the Muskie amendment has already been ruled not germane.
Now, does the Senator understand what I am saying?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. I withdraw my request. I am sorry all this commotion was caused over a little request.
Mr. STEVENS. I hope the Senator will withdraw the request.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. I have. It is withdrawn. The request is withdrawn.
Mr. DECONCINI addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield to me for one other matter?
Mr. DECONCINI. I yield without losing my right to the floor.
Mr. BENTSEN. We were getting along pretty good over here.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes, we are getting along pretty good.
I inquire at the desk if the Chair is keeping a list. I express opposition to any keeping of lists of Senators at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is no speaker list, but there is the unanimous consent list of amendments.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. That is all right. Anything that is there by order of the Senate is fine. But I hope we will not have a list. I urge that the Chair throughout the remainder of this session not retain lists at the desk of Senators who are to be called upon for recognition because this causes other Senators to be disadvantaged and it is not provided for in the rules, and it can create some real problems.
So I will urge against that.
I ask that a notice be placed on the desk so that as Presiding Officers change from time to time the notice will be put there.
Mr. BAKER. Mr. President, will the Senator yield to me a moment?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. I yield.
Mr. BAKER. Mr. President, I join in that request. I would point out, as I am sure the distinguished occupant of the chair knows, and I am sure the majority leader will agree, that in the matter of recognition of Senators the rules provide that the Chair will recognize that Senator first seeking recognition.
Those of us on the minority side of the aisle have absolute and total commitment to the idea that the Chair will be impersonal in that respect. But I did not want to refrain from pointing that out.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
Does the Senator from Arizona have a pending request to offer his amendment? We set aside the Nelson amendment. Is there objection?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President,I ask that the Senator from Arizona not be prejudiced by his yielding to me, his having yielded the floor.
Mr. DECONCINI. Mr. President, I notice the Senator from Vermont is here.The Senator from Texas and the Senator from Wisconsin were kind enough to let me take that time. I ask unanimous consent that we go back to the Senator from Wisconsin's amendment, permitting the Senator from Vermont to make his statement and discussion, and after the vote that my amendment then be called up and be the next order of business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. DECONCINI. I ask unanimous consent, Mr. President, that I follow in the next order following the vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.