the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? seeing none, if not, the yeas are 48, the noes are 52.

the motion is not agreed to. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the gentleman is recognized. a senator: i'd ask unanimous consent that the following be called up and reported by number -- cruz 1852, kaine 1846. mr. cornyn: further, that following disposition of the kaine amendment, senator manchin be recognized to offer a motion to commit and that there be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to the vote on the motion. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: mr. cornyn for others proposes amendments number 1852 and 1846 to amendment number 1618. the presiding officer: who yields time? mr. cruz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized.

mr. cruz: mr. president, tonight i ask your support for this commonsense amendment which will expand the already immensely popular 529 college savings plans so that parents can also save for k-12 elementary and secondary school tuition, including educational expenses for homeschool students. this change will have real and significant effects. your vote will expand options for parents and children spending their own money and will prioritize the education of the next generation of americans. by expanding 529's, which americans already value greatly, we will help ensure that each child can receive an education that meets his or her individualized needs. and this reasonable expansion will enable hardworking parents can better save for the educational future of their kids. this amendment was in the house bill, and it is fully paid for. and i urge your support.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. wyden: senator cruz's amendment expands tax subsidies for upper-income households to aid private or parochial schools by allowing 529 account balances to spend up to $10,000 a year on private or parochial school tuition and supplies. colleagues, this is nothing less than a backdoor assault on the public k-12 education system. the real goal seems to be to take more and more children from the public schools and put them into private schools and shrink the funds that would be available to the public schools that give all of america's children the chance to get ahead. members should oppose the amendment because it undermines america's public education system. 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:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 50. the senate being equally divided. the vice president votes in the affirmative, and the amendment is agreed to. the presiding officer: there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on kaine amendments 1846.

the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i ask that amendment 1846 be pulled up. the presiding officer: it is already called up. mr. kaine: it is impossible to fix all the problems with this bill in a one-minute amendment, but my amendment fixes two problems. it makes the middle-class tax cuts permanent, and it takes nearly a trillion dollars away from the massive deficit caused by this big giveaway. how does the amendment do these two things? first, it leaves the a.m.t. where it is under current law instead of scaling it back. second, while making middle-income tax cuts permanent, it provides no individual tax relief to those americans currently in the top bracket. and third, it cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% rather than 20%. if you care about deficit reduction, support this amendment. if you care about permanent

middle-class tax cuts, support this amendment. if you believe that a reasonable corporate tax cut could help grow the economy, support the amendment. and finally, if you believe that tax reform should be bipartisan, support this amendment. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: taking the time in opposition, first i want to acknowledge we share the goal of making the individual tax rates permanent, and i hope we'll have an opportunity to do that, but more importantly, i want to thank the senator from virginia for acknowledging and complimenting our work, acknowledging that we have cut taxes for working class and middle-class families. there were people who came down here during the course of the last several days suggesting that that somehow wasn't true, but i appreciate your honesty in acknowledging that we did, in fact, cut taxes for middle-class families, for working class families. so much so in fact that you want to make our policy permanent, and i commend you for that.

unfortunately, you also added a huge tax increase on the very businesses that are going to help drive our growth by lowering our rate to 20%, which is what we do in our bill, and which you would undermine, we would lose the opportunity to create existing business growth and the wage and job growth that we want to drive. i would suggest we work together on making our individual tax cuts permanent in the future, but i would urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment in its current form. the presiding officer: all time has expired. is there objection? without objection. mr. kaine: mr. president, i don't need a full minute. i am just here to say that middle-class tax cuts permanent is more important than 25% to 20% for corporations. the problem with the republican bill is the priority. it prioritizes the corporate tax cuts over individual tax cuts

for middle-class people, and that's why we oppose it, and that's why everyone should support this amendment. people come first. mr. toomey: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: the pending amendment 1846 offered by senator kaine has unknown budgetary effects. therefore i raise a point of order against this measure pursuant to section 4105 of h. con. res. 71, the concurrent resolution of the budget for fiscal year 2018. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i am shocked to learn at 12:10, that we are actually following a procedure that is a normal budget procedure, but since that's been raised, i would ask, pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, i would move to waive any and all applicable sections of the act and the resolutions for purposes of the pending amendment, and i would ask for yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? any senator wish to change their vote? on this vote the yeas are 34. the nays are 65.

three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative the motion is not agreed to. the point of order is sustained. the amendment falls. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that following the disposition of the motion to commit the cantwell amendment number 1717 be called up and reported by number. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. a senator: mr. president, i have a motion to commit at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from west virginia mr. manchin moves to commit h.r. 1 to the committee on finance with instructions to report the same back to the senate in three days -- mr. manchin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: i want to thank senator heitkamp for sport of this amendment. this would send this back to the finance committee with instructions to change provisions important to west virginia. it would call for are the reduction on tax rates for middle class and work be people

to be made permanent. currently individuals receive temporarily relief a gimmick that provides unsirnt to west virginia taxpayers and north dakotans. it is important that we provide the permanent relief for american taxpayers who are slated to see higher taxes as rates go up in the later years of this bill. in my state alone 79% of west virginians make under $75,000 and will see their taxes spike as their tax relief expires. finally the amendment calls for small businesses to receive a much-needed relief for the corporate tax rate to be set at 25%. in my state, 95.6% of businesses or small businesses employ over 50% of west virginians. i urge my colleagues to support sending this bill back to committee and work in a bipartisan way, mr. president,

to pass a fiscally responsible tax reform bill that positions this country for future generations. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, what our friend from west virginia is proposing is to make the united states uncompetitive in a global economy. right now we have the highest tax rate in the industrialized world, and what we are doing is lowering that tax rate to make us competitive. in so doing, taking the advice of barack obama and his 2011 state of the union message, advice from the democratic leader, senator schumer, senator wyden, the ranking member of the finance committee who has recommended a lower rate than that contained in this motion to recommit. we think we should take the advice of president obama, president clinton, senator wyden, minority leader schumer and other prominent democrats, the advice they have given us over the last few years to lower these corporate rates to make us

more competitive so that we can bring jobs back home and prove wages and get the economy growing again so people can pursue their american dream. so i would encourage our colleagues to defeat this motion to commit. mr. manchin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: if i could say thi. the presiding officer: there is no time remaining. mr. manchin: i ask unanimous consent for 30g seconds. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. manchin: a 33% decrease from is quite substantial. i have not had a corporate rate that wouldn't be tickled to death for 25%. that basically sustains we can't help more people. i think it would be great are fo the economy of america and would ask everyone to consider that. it is a most reasonable request. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the motion. the yeas and nays are requested. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be.

the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change their vote? on this motion, the yeas are 38. the nays are 61.

the motion is not agreed to. the clerk will report the cantwell amendment. the presidingthe clerk: the senm washington, proposes amendment numbered 1717 to amendment numbered 1618. the presiding officer: there will be two minutes of debate equally divided. the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that my full statement be included in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: mr. president, my amendment strikes the title requiring oil development in the arctic wildlife refuge. this refuge is the largest refuge in our nation and the last pristine ecosystem for the arctic in north america. this bill undermines the purpose of having a refuge by saying instead of protecting the refuge, it requires that it be managed like a petroleum reserve. you know what webster's

definition of stewardship is? the careful and responsible management entrusted to one's care. and since 1957, under president eisenhower, this has been protected. so tonight, unless you help strike this, you will be joining the ranks of polluters that believe in polluting a wildlife refuge, and you will be joining an administration that i guarantee you is going to go down in history and getting an f in stewardship. please strike this. we can help alaska, and we can help them sooner than drilling in an arctic wildlife refuge. ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i strongly oppose this motion to strike. this is our opportunity. this is our opportunity to not only provide jobs, to create revenues, resources, to protect

an environment that as alaskans we know how to protect. we are seeking with this energy title, we are seeking to develop 2,000, 2,000 acres out of 19.3 million acres. 110,000th of all of anwr, and we're seeking to do it with a smaller, limited footprint, using the technologies that have come available over the decades that we have been seeking to advance these opportunities, opportunities for alaska, opportunities for the nation. mr. president, i would implore colleagues, for 40 years now, we have been looking for the opportunity to best protect our long-term energy and national security. this is our chance. mr. president, the pending

amendment 1717 would cause the underlying legislation to exceed the energy and natural resources committee section 302-a allocation of new budget authority or outlies. therefore, i raise a point of order against this measure pursuant to section 302-f of the congressional budget act of 1974. ms. cantwell: mr. president, pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 and the waiver sections of applicable, i move to waive it for the purpose of the pending amendment and asker to the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: 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 chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 48, the nays are 52. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. the point of order is sustained and the amendment falls. the senator oregon. the chamber will be in order. mr. merkley: mr. president, i call up amendment 1856. officer the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator oregon, mr. merkley, proposes an amendment numbered 1856 to amendment number 1618. on page 289 strike lining 17-19. mr. merkley: mr. president, this amendment strikes a tax earmark at that singles out one

college in america from the university endowment tax set forth in the underlying bill. to be sure, i don't like the endowment tax in this bill. it diminishes the ability of colleges to provide scholarships to financially challenged students. but if the majority is intent on having an endowment tax, then no college should be exempted. the argument for the exemption is that this college doesn't take federal funds. bur remember why. the they were sued in the 1980's for discriminatory practices and wanted to continue those practices. hillsdale college has powerful friends including our secretary of education, but isn't that the type of insider deal we should oppose? a vote against this amendment is a vote for an earmark, for a school for powerful friends and subsidizing education. a vote for my amendment is a vote to strike down such an earmark and a vote against discrimination, and i urge you

to vote aye. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: first, mr. president, hillsdale college has been unfairly maligned here on the senate floor. the fact is hillsdale is the first college in america to prohibit in its charter any discrimination based on race, religion, or sex and was an early force in the abolition of slavery. it's not about hillsdale college exclusively. this is a broader idea. the idea here, and it is in this amendment, is that any college that chooses to forego federal funding for its students chooses not to be a burden on the taxpayers that way, it is reasonable for us to respond by sparing that college of the tax on the endowment fund. that's all. now there are colleges, there are a number of colleges, including one in pennsylvania, that chooses this mode. they would rather have the freedom to operate as they see fit rather than have to deal with federal regulations. and i suspect that's a big part

of what the real problem is on the other side of the aisle. but, folks, i think it's a perfectly reasonable proposition that if a college chooses to forego the very substantial funds available to it from federal taxpayers, it's okay to say you'll be exempt from this endowment so i would urge my colleagues to vote no on the 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. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there sunny senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 52, the nays are 48. the amendment is agreed to. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: could we have order in the senate. the presiding officer: the

senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: colleagues. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: colleagues, we're moving now to final passage. i know of no further amendments to the bill. the presiding officer: there will be two minutes of debate on amendment 1618. as amended. all time is yielded back to the majority. all time is yielded back. the question is on the amendment. all those in favor, say aye. all those opposed, no.

the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment as amended is agreed to. the clerk will read the title of the bill for the third time. the clerk: calendar number 266, h.r. 1, an act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles 2 and 5 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018. the presiding officer: there will now be two minutes of debate prior to the vote on h.r. 1. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: we yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, millions of americans must be watching in stunned disbelief tonight as the republican senate