Mr. Enzi mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for wyoming. Mr. Enzi mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc and reported by number. Udall 1553, lee 1428, paul 1404, lee 1429, fischer 1553, cantwell 1301, enzi 1561, perduewhitehouse 1167. I ask that the senate vote for the amendments in the order listed. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Enzi for the information of senators the presiding officer the clerk will report the amendments by number. The clerk the senator from wyoming, mr. Enzi, proposes en bloc for senators numbered 15523, 14278, 1552, 1301, 1561, and 1167. Mr. Enzi for the information of senators we expect to have this series of votes and move to passage of the resolution. That means there are hopefully approximately eight votes yet. Some of them may be voice votes. I yield to the leader. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell colleagues, the consent agreement that just was entered allows us to see the light at the end of the tunnel and if senators will stay in the chamber, well do these ten minute rollcall votes and wrap it up. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i thank the majority leader. We agree on this issue. We hope that homes on both sides will stay in their seats so we can finish quickly without going through the ridiculous vota roama votearama that we have done in previous years. I yield the floor. The presiding officer there will be two minutes of debate related to the udall amendment 153. Mr. Udall this amendment calls for legislation to fund the payment in lieu of taxes program. Rural counties in new mexico and other states across the west and across the country have large amounts of federal lands within their boundaries. These counties provide on funding for the for the pilc program. We currently fund pelt year by year. I have fought for the funding but we need to do more. We need to pass permanent funding to insurance that local communities can count on resources being there every year to provide basic services. I urge support for the udallheinrich amendment and yield back. The presiding officer is there further debate . The senator for wyoming. Mr. Enzi mr. President , i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, reluctantly. I always fought to make sure that Rural Communities can keep the lights on. Approximately half the land in my home state of wyoming is under federal control and counties unable to obtain property tax revenue from a large part of the state. Payment in lieu of taxes from pilt is compensation for the money they lose pause they are unable to tax federal lands within their borders even though they are required to provide services on those lands. However, there is a reserve fund so i find this amendment to be duplicative an unnecessary. Furthermore, votearama is not the correct form to make a Program Permanent and mandatory, even one i have long supported. I look forward to working with my colleagues from new mexico on fiscallile responsible legislation to fiscal responsibility and equity for americas Rural Counties and their communities. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. The presiding officer the question is on the amendment. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say no. In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. The noes appear to have it. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 58, the nays are 41. The amendment is agreed to. There will now be the senator from wyoming. Mr. Enzi i would request that everybody sit in their seats. We can do these votes in seven and a half minutes if we do. If everybody wanders off, then stumbles back in, we could be here half the night. There should only be about seven votes left, and some of those could be by voice vote like the next one. Mr. Schumer our side was in early. Mr. Enzi i appreciate the way that that side has taken their seats and voted. The presiding officer there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the lee amendment number 1428. Mr. Lee mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from utah. Mr. Lee mr. President , im offering this amendment to pay back western communities for the losses that occur to them as a result of the widespread ownership of federal planned. As i have long stressed, federal land is often a bad bargain for state and local governments like those in utah where almost twothirds of the land is owned and controlled by the federal government, thus prohibiting local governments from taxing that land. Not only does federal ownership reduce Economic Opportunity on that land, not only does it rob local residents of local contro the presiding officer the senator will suspend. The senate will be in order. The senator from utah. Mr. Lee it also shrinks the Property Tax Base that utahans rely on to fund essential community services. The payment in lieu of taxes program or pilt was designed to address this very inequity, by paying states for the property tax revenue that they lose as a result of federal landownership, but the current formula for pilt does not adequately compensate local governments for this loss. In fact, it doesnt even come close. My amendment offers these predominantly Rural Communities a revisited, revised, improved pilt formula to compensate them for these very losses. I encourage my colleagues to support it, and request a voice vote. Ms. Cantwell mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Ms. Cantwell there is wide support on pilt from both democrats and republicans, as witnessed by this last vote, so what we need to do now is make sure that it works fairly for counties and is not done arbitrarily. The c. R. S. Found that taking into approach senator lees amendment would break the pilt program. Not only would calculating each countys payments be nearly impossible, the program would not be fair. In fact, c. R. S. Cited a 2010 study that the approach in senator lees amendment would result in twothirds of all counties that receive pilt funding receiving a lower payment than they do now. I urge my colleagues to vote no. The presiding officer the question is on the amendment. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, say no. The noes appear to have it. Mr. Lee i call for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There does appear to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer the jies are 50 the ayes are 50. The nays are 50. And the amendment is not agreed to. There will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the paul amendment number 1404. Mr. Paul mr. President , could we have order. The presiding officer the senate will be in order, please. Mr. Paul rather than bicker over raising taxes on some people and lowering taxes on other people, we should cut everyones taxes to make sure we get a middleclass tax cut across the board. The best way to do that is to give the Tax Committee a mandate that is larger, a mandate for a bigger tax cut. My amendment provides budget reconciliation instructions to increase the tax cut to 2. 5 trillion. If we were to believe this budget, it claims to save over 6 trillion over ten years, more than enough to go bigger, better and bolder on cutting taxes. The presiding officer the senator from vermont. Mr. Sanders i rise in strong opposition to this amendment and the budget reconciliation we are debating today, my republican colleagues are have required the finance committee to increase the deficit by 1. 5 trillion, 1. 5 trillion over the next decade. This budget would pave the way for massive cuts to medicare and medicaid in order to provide the wealthiest people in this country incredibly large tax breaks. Senator paul thinks that doesnt go far enough. His amendment would allow the senate to increase the deficit by 2. 5 trillion, allowing for even greater cuts to medicare, to medicaid, and even bigger tax breaks for the Koch Brothers and their friends. I urge a no vote on this amendment. Mr. Paul mr. President , i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change his or her vote . If not the yeas are 7. The nays are 93. The amendment is not agreed to. Under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the fisher amendment fischer amendment number 1552. Correction, lee amendment number 1429. Come to order, please. The senator from utah. Mr. Lee mr. President , our constitutional structure puts in place a federal government with powers that James Madison described as few and defined. Those reserved to the states as numerous and indefinite. Among other things, the constitution gives power to the congress to regulate interstate commerce, trade, or commerce between the states with foreign nations and indian tribes. It does not give the congress the power to regulate any activity. Yet, mr. President , for the last few decades under the endangered species act, this very power has been abused to regulate species that exist only in one place, only within one state, never crossing state lines, never forming any part of any channel or instrumentality of interstate commerce. Its wrong, unconstitutional and it evase rates and circumvents the meaning of the amendment. We need to liberate the country from the dictates of a few bureaucrats in washington, d. C. Who have overextended that irauthority under the endangered species act. My amendment fixes that and i urge my colleagues to support amendment 1429. Mr. Carper mr. President . Mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Carper mr. President , i rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the senator from utah. Why is this an important amendment . Just listen to this. More than 1,000 listed species, 77 of all listed species, including the polar bear, the florida panther are found in one state, one state. 77 of all listed species, including the polar bear, florida panther and many more are found only in one state. And for an island state like hawaii, all of its species would lose protection. All of its species would lose protection. I urge you to join me in opposing this amendment. The presidin mr. Lee call for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . Yes, there appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer the yeas are 49. The nays are 51. The amendment is not agreed to. Under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the fischer amendment number 1552. A senator mr. President. Mr. Enzi i yield back all time and ask for a voice vote. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The amendment is agreed to. Under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the cantwell amendment number 1301. Ms. Cantwell mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Ms. Cantwell mr. President , the senate is not in order. The presiding officer the senate will come to order, please. Ms. Cantwell mr. President , the Arctic National wildlife refuge is one of the most pristine areas of the United States, and we have been protecting it for decades for a reason. The notion that we tonight, after 60plus years, would give up what is a biologically important area for critical habitat, for polar bears, breeding ground for caribou, migratory birds and over 200 species. For what . For oil that we dont need . We have had Record Oil Production in the last ten years. 77 increase. The oil that we would get, we wouldnt get for ten years from now and would only supply oil for one year in the United States. Its not worth it. As mo udall said in 1980, if someday mr. President , the senate is not in order. The presiding officer the senate will be in order, please. Ms. Cantwell as senator mo udall said in 1980, if we have to drill at the white house or at Arlington Cemetery or at the Capitol Grounds for oil, we might have to drill in the refuge. But lets go there last. We dont need this oil. We have plenty of supply, a billion acres that is trying to be opened by the interior secretary. Vote no and protect something that has been protected as unique for 60 years. The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Ms. Murkowski thank you, mr. President. I would urge my colleagues to soundly reject this amendment. Those who would support this amendment will deny us the opportunity to do something constructive in this country when it comes to our opportunities to produce energy, to produce wealth. We need to be expanding our Energy Development in our federal areas. This helps us reduce our deficit, to build new wealth in this country, to strengthen our national security, our competitiveness. We can and we must do more as a nation to responsibly develop our resources, our energy resources, providing for economic security, energy security, and national security. The Energy Committee is prepared to meet this instruction, to raise 1 billion over the next decade. I urge senators to reject this amendment which would deprive us of a substantial opportunity to benefit our country at the same time that we care for our environment. Thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer the question is on the amendment. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the claim br wishing to vote or to chamber wishing to change his or her vote . If not, the yeas are 48. The nays are 52. The amendment is not agreed to. Under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the enzi amendment number 1561. Mr. Enzi mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Enzi mr. President , i want to first of all thank everybody thats gotten us to this point. We have this the presiding officer the senate will come to order, please. Mr. Enzi this vote i hope will be one voice vote after it and then final passage. With this amendment, im urging my colleagues to support it. This amendment offers technical and conforming changes. Theyre needed for the house of representatives to be able to enforce the budget resolution. This amendment will help maintain fiscal discipline in the house so both chambers can continue to work and put america on a more sustainable footing. Also importantly for my colleagues to know these provisions apply to the house only. The Senate Enforcement remains unchanged. I hope that youll support me on this amendment. I yield the floor and reserve the balance of my time. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from vermont. Mr. Sanders mr. President , chairman enzi suggests that this is just a quote, unquote, technical corrections amendment. Actually, that is not quite accurate. At a time the United States spends more on defense than the next 12 countries combined, amazingly this amendment paves the way for a 91 billion increase in the defense spending in fiscal year 2018. This amendment would renew the republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care act and throw up to 32 million americans off of the Health Insurance they currently have, increase premiums for older workers, and make even more harmful cuts to medicaid. This amendment includes a Provision Requiring the use of socalled dynamic scoring or what president george h. W. Bush referred to appropriately as voodoo economics allowing the republicans to claim that their macive tax breaks for the rich will pay for themselves. At a time when the cost of College Education is skyrocketing, this amendment calls for dramatic cuts to Student Financial aid. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. The presiding officer the question is on the amendment. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll, please. Vote the presiding officer the yeas are 52. The nays are 48, and the amendment is agreed to. Under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to purdue purduewhitehouse amendment number 1167. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from georgia. Mr. Perdue ive got great news. This is the last amendment, the only bipartisan amendment and after that will well vote on the entire bill. The purpose of this amendment is to declare this process, the votearama, utter nonsense. It is part of a budget process that both parties have perpetrated and persisted on for 43 years. Its only worked four times, to fund the federal government according to the budget act of 1974, four times in our history. Were supposed to appropriate 12 bills a year to fund the government. Weve averaged two and a half, mr. President. I urge all of my colleagues to make clear to the American People that we recognize this budget process is broken and were committed to fix it. Thank you. A senator mr. President. Mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse mr. President , i am pleased to urge all of my colleagues to give a strong bipartisan voice vote in support of the amendment by the senator from georgia, the current budget process does not produce a meaningful budget, does not control the debt or the deficit and does not contribute to bipartisanship or compromise. What it does produce is meaningless partisan votearama. If you believe we can do better than votearama, if you believe that we can have an improved and meaningful budget process, voice vote aye. The presiding officer all those in favor vote aye. All those opposed, vote no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The amendment is agreed to. The senator from wyoming. Mr. Enzi mr. President. The presiding officer the senate will come to order, please. Mr. Enzi mr. President , i know of no further amendments to the resolution. The presiding officer there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 1116, as amended. Mr. Enzi thats a substitute. I would yield back time on that. Mr. Sanders mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from vermont. Mr. Sanders mr. President , this is not a bad budget bill. It is an horrific budget bill, an extremely cruel bill, and the most unfair budget ever presented in the modern history of our country. At a time of massive uncommon wealthy inequality, this bill provides a tax break for the top 1 . At a time when millions of working families are struggling to keep their heads above water, this budget cuts medicaid by a trillion dollars. 15 million americans could lose their Health Insurance. This is a budget that poll after poll shows the American People do not want. Let us defeat it. Mr. Enzi mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Enzi i am tempted to debate that, but well get to do that as we do the provisions of this after its all voted on, so i hope that everybody will pass the substitute by voice and then vote on the final resolution. The presiding officer are there any further amendments . Seeing none, the question is on amendment number 1116, as amended. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, say nay. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The amendment as amended is agreed to. The question now occurs on passage of h. Con. Res. 71 as amended. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote