Chris Dodd

This language is very clear. It is pointed at a very important situation that would be before us. And to suggest somehow this is a back-door attempt to fund spending programs on domestic issues, does my colleague really believe the…

Is my colleague suggesting, that the majority would go along willy-nilly with this resolution because they wanted to spend more on the program. Are we not faced with the perverse situation of having Presidents declare war in order to meet…

If you are short of a conflict and try to get ready for it and try to get the votes to prepare for it, we have seen the debates that rage here.

Putting a straitjacket on the ability of this country in future years to respond to a threat to national security by insisting on a declaration of war and actual conflict--actual conflict.

I don't think this is easy, as you are suggesting it is. But you are putting a straitjacket, in my view----

I say to my colleague. It is not a supermajority here. It is a dangerous precedent in my view. So on a 50 to 50 vote on whether we met the other standards would fail and the President of the United States would not be able to act. Let me…

The point I am trying to get at here is the question of actual--the language here of section 5 is ``is engaged in military conflict.'' I make a strong case to the Senator here that in those situations we were not engaged in military…

They were large. They were 36 percent of the overall budget, much larger than they are today.

Under this one section we are carving out a unique exception for the first time in the history of this country. Section 5 says adopted by a majority of the whole House and its Members. We exclude the Vice President in a 50-50 tie.

We do not do that under any other circumstance in the 208-year-old history of this Republic----

My question is, can my colleague from Utah cite a single example where a supermajority is not required, where there is a 50-50 tie, that the vote of the Vice President would be excluded in that situation?

The point I wanted to make, if my colleague will yield further, is that we are creating an unprecedented exception. The waiver provision--put aside the constitutional amendment. I am not debating that. I am debating this one section.

On matters that require a simple majority, will my colleague cite a single example where a simple majority is required in this body where the vote of the Vice President would be excluded?

Is there any other situation which my colleague from Utah can cite in which we have excluded the vote of the Vice President in a tie vote?

I have known Alexis Herman for some time. She is eminently qualified, Mr. President, to fulfill the position of Secretary of Labor. There have been issues raised, and the purpose for which we have hearings is to allow those issues to be…

It is my understanding that concerns have been raised regarding outreach services that grantees must make to various communities. It is my understanding that when grantees engage in outreach activities, they must ensure that they maximize…

Does the bill address the State's authority to pursue any legal remedies necessary to provide medical care or treatment when such care or treatment is necessary to prevent or remedy serious harm to the child, or to prevent the withholding…

I also see that a new section has been added that requires the States to include in their State laws, as statutory grounds for the termination of parental rights, convictions of parents for certain specified crimes against children. It…

If it is a 5-percent decrease, why should an innocent child pay for the irresponsibility of a parent? That does not make sense. We ought to encourage immunizations, promote and do what we can. The 6-year-old or 2-year-old child whose…

I respect that. My colleague knows, as well, that innocent children should not be penalized because their parents may be irresponsible. That is the net effect of this amendment.

There is also an amendment. The Senator from North Carolina, Senator Faircloth, had an amendment he was going to propose, and it has to do with child care and the question of whether or not child care workers could be considered in the…

As I understood it, those were the parents of citizens who would come in legally, and under the deeming process their children assumed, as my colleague from Pennsylvania properly described, the financial responsibility of those parents…

In regard to the issue of the vouchers, obviously the States and localities can do what they want. But we are talking about our Federal involvement here. We prohibit the use of the Federal funds, of our money, Federal money, if you will…

The Senator did not hear me suggest I was going to offer an amendment to add additional funds for child care. I said health and safety standards. And I appreciate the fact we are going to be able to get more on child care. I say to my…

If the parents go to work, we are trying to provide a setting for those children in that situation. Rather than have them go onto the streets, there is some child care setting for them.