January 6, 2005 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE 151 SENATE—Thursday, January 6, 2005 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was committee membership resolutions. We there will be decisions made by indi- called to order by the Honorable LISA hope to have those resolutions consid- vidual Senators as to whether there is MURKOWSKI, a Senator from the State ered and adopted in a short while. The a vote. of Alaska. two resolutions will make majority Procedurally, as I understand the and minority committee appointments rule, if there is an objection filed, auto- PRAYER for the 109th Congress, as well as offi- matically the electoral college pro- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- cially appoint the chairmen and rank- ceedings are put in recess for 2 hours. fered the following prayer: ing members for each of those commit- During that 2 hours, Members in the Let us pray. tees. House and Senate are allowed to speak Eternal Lord God, ruler of all nature, In addition to that business, today at for up to 5 minutes each on the objec- thank You for the gift of life and for 1 p.m. we will have a joint meeting tion. Following that, the electoral col- the opportunity to invest in freedom. with the House to count electoral lege reconvenes. If, in fact, there is an As electoral college votes are counted votes. Members should begin gathering objection filed, I think everything today, increase our gratitude for this in the Senate Chamber at 12:40 this would be completed by around 4 o’clock great land. Infuse the executive, legislative, and afternoon so we may depart as a body today. judicial branches of Government with at 12:50. Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, strength to meet the challenges of our Senators have been asking about the I might say with regard to speaking re- time. Remind our leaders that humil- possibility of rollcall votes during to- quests, I only have one or two. They ity precedes honor and that service is day’s session. At this point we have to will be very brief. It is my hope we the litmus test of greatness. say, unfortunately, that rollcall votes might not take the entire 2 hours the Continue to bless those who seek to are still possible during today’s ses- Democratic leader has outlined, there- relieve the suffering of the tsunami sion. As always, we will alert Members by allowing us to get that job finished victims. Help them to remember that as the voting schedule becomes more earlier in the afternoon. they are doing Your work and reward clear. Once we have adopted our com- Mr. REID. Madam President, the dis- them from the bounty of Your love. We mittee resolutions and the electoral tinguished Senator is again absolutely pray in Your strong Name. Amen. vote count is completed, it is my inten- right. We have had a few requests on f tion the Senate will adjourn until Jan- our side. At last count, I had less than uary 20, Inauguration Day. five. That is 25 minutes, at most. But PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE I will have more to say on the sched- we cannot do anything until the House The Honorable LISA MURKOWSKI led ule today before the Senate closes. finishes. If they finish earlier, we the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: f would finish earlier and be able to I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the move forward. United States of America, and to the Repub- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY We will see what the day brings us. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, LEADER But it should not be a long day, no indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- matter what happens. f pore. The minority leader is recog- Mr. MCCONNELL. I yield the floor. APPOINTMENT OF ACTING nized. f f PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME The PRESIDING OFFICER. The TODAY’S AGENDA The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- clerk will please read a communication Mr. REID. Madam President, we are pore. Under the previous order, the to the Senate from the President pro very close to working something out leadership time is reserved. tempore (Mr. STEVENS). on committee funding. We have an The legislative clerk read the fol- f agreement on the split. It is just a lowing letter: question of what we are splitting. I MORNING BUSINESS U.S. SENATE, have a meeting today with the ranking The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Washington, DC, January 6, 2005. members. I spoke to virtually all of pore. Under the previous order, there To the Senate: them last night and we will be able to will be a period for the transaction of Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, work something out here. It is impor- morning business, with Senators per- of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby tant we do that. We have Members on mitted to speak for up to 10 minutes appoint the Honorable LISA MURKOWSKI, a our side, new Senators, we want to ap- each. Senator from the State of Alaska, to perform point to committees. The majority has The Senator from Montana. the duties of the Chair. new Members they need to appoint to TED STEVENS, f President pro tempore. committees. There will be some new committee chairs, new ranking mem- TSUNAMI TAX CREDIT Ms. MURKOWSKI thereupon assumed bers. We want to expedite this. We hope Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I the chair as Acting President pro tem- to have it done, as I told the distin- rise to share a few remarks involving pore. guished Senator from Kentucky, by the overwhelming disaster that has hit f noon today. It is something we need to Southeast Asia. I hope the distin- RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING do. I am confident we can do that. guished deputy leader would heed my MAJORITY LEADER On our side if, in fact, there is an ob- remarks because I very much hope we The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- jection filed to any of the States that can get this legislation passed this pore. The majority whip is recognized. are going to report their electoral col- year—not only this year, but passed lege findings, we will not require a roll- today—which gives a charitable tax de- f call vote on our side, but that does not duction, cash deduction to Americans SCHEDULE mean there won’t be one. So whether on their tax returns for 2004 who give a Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, there is an objection filed, we will wait charitable contribution to the tsunami today we are in session to consider two and see at 1 o’clock today. After that, disaster. Clearly that has to be done ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:32 Jan 11, 2017 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\2005BOUNDRECORD\BOOK1\SSN-OUT\CR06JA05.DAT CR06JA05 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE 152 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE January 6, 2005 immediately. Otherwise it will not IRS has told us it can very easily ac- Columbia; not a State, a district. That have any real effect. It affects tax- commodate and deal with the changes objection was rejected by the House payers who wish to give today but take that are necessary to allow Americans and the Senate in 1969. the deduction on their 2004 tax returns, to take those deductions on their 2004 There has never been in the history or 2005. This gives an opportunity to tax returns for the contributions they of the country an entire State slate of take the deduction on the 2004 returns. make now. electoral votes objected to or rejected It is almost impossible to talk about I very much hope the minor ques- by actions of both the House and the the tsunami disaster. Words do not tions people have about this legislation Senate. begin to describe the extent of the dis- are resolved very quickly because there If an objection is made today signed aster. We all feel it when we watch tel- is no reason not to pass this legisla- by at least one Member of the House evision and see the photographs in the tion. It will not create a huge prece- and one Member of the Senate, under newspapers. We hear reports from dential problem. It is not going to be the law, under the Constitution, the those who have been there; Secretary terribly costly. But it is the right Senate separates from the House and Powell, for example. It is so over- thing to do. It is the right thing for meets for 2 hours. Our debate is limited whelming. It is so large scale. One hun- Americans to do, to pass legislation to by law to 2 hours. We each can speak dred fifty thousand people perished. make it a little easier for Americans to up to 5 minutes and speak only once. Just imagine. contribute to the victims of the tsu- Then on the basis of that debate we are September 11 was a disaster almost nami disaster. supposed to vote—each of us—on beyond belief, and that was 3,000 I very much hope we can get it whether to accept that electoral slate deaths. We are talking now about passed. I am going to stay on the floor and the tally certified by the election 150,000 people who just had no defense.