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The Focus of Today's Session will be
H.R.4, the Welfare Reauthorization Bill

6:55 P.M.

There will be no further roll call votes this evening in the Senate.  The Senate will return tomorrow morning to resume consideration of H.R. 4.

5:15 P.M.

Senator Enzi is on the floor, speaking against Senator Boxer and Senator Kennedy's minimum wage amendment.  He has said that in his experience as a small business owner, that anyone who was employed in his store that was still receiving the minimum wage after three months was not paying attention to developing the skills they needed to advance. 

4:45 P.M.

Both Senator Ensign and Senator Reid of Nevada have been praising the performance of the University of Nevada men's basketball team in the NCAA tournament.  They have also wished the UNLV women's basketball team luck in their game tonight in the National Invitation Tournament.

4:10 P.M.

The Junior Senator from Pennsylvania said that if he has the opportunity, he will offer an amendment to increase funding for federal marriage promotion. 

3:30 P.M.

Senator Santorum told Senator Kennedy that if he would be willing to agree to a vote on a Republican minimum wage amendment and that debate would then be limited to only germane amendments, that he would be willing to have  vote on the Boxer/Kennedy amendment.  Senator Kennedy did not agree to this arrangement.  For text of the Boxer/Kennedy amendment, click here.

3:15 P.M.

Illustrating his argument with floor charts, Senator Kennedy stated that adjusted for inflation, the current minimum wage is at its lowest level, $4.98, with regard to purchasing power. He continued to explain that even if the minimum wage is increased to $7.00 it will have less buying power that in did between 1968 and 1980. 

2:50 P.M.

Senator Boxer has said that one of the frequent arguments against raising the minimum wage is that it hurts employers.  She is saying that this argument is a myth because workers become more productive and business profit margins increase. 

2:40 P.M.

Senator Boxer has sent the Kennedy/Boxer amendment to raise the minimum wage to $7 to the desk for consideration.  She is speaking about how raising the minimum wage will help welfare recipients.  Senator Boxer represents California and her state has raised the minimum wage to $6.75 and hour. 

12:45 P.M.

The Senate agreed to Senator Snowe's amendment with a vote of 78-20 and is now in recess until 2:15.

12:16 P.M.

The Senate is now voting on Senator Snowe's amendment concerning child care assistance.

12:15 P.M.

Following Senator Snowe, Senator Dodd is responding to Senator Sessions' earlier comments that Senator Snowe's amendment would add to the deficit.  Senator Dodd is claiming that the amendment would be paid for by custom user fees and would, therefore, not be adding to the deficit.

12:10 P.M.

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, the original sponsor of the child care assistance amendment which has been the subject of much debate this morning, has come to the floor to thank her colleagues who have joined her in discussing the importance of child care support. Senator Snowe is saying that supporting her amendment is simply "a recognition of reality," because it is the reality that in order for working poor families to stay off of welfare they must have adequate child care support. 

12:05 P.M.

Senator Jeff Bingaman feels that the country would be better off with the present system if the reauthorization does not include the child care assistance amendment. The bill being considered imposes greater work requirements, making it more difficult for working poor families should there not be additional child care support. For these reasons, Senator Bingaman is highly supportive of Senator Snowe's amendment.

12:05 P.M.

Senator Max Baucus is claiming that "it's a no-brainer" that for welfare to work there must be adequate funding for child care support.  He is saying that child care support is an investment in our future and allows people to work and to stay off of welfare.

12:00 P.M.

Beginning with "here we go again," Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is saying that while the welfare reauthorization bill is fundamentally a good bill, he is opposed to the child care assistance amendment being offered by Senators Snowe and Dodd.

11:55 A.M.

Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin is joining his colleagues in discussing his support for Senator Snowe's amendment concerning child care funding.

11:50 A.M.

After thanking Senator Grassley for his comments, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware is saying that he is optimistic that if this welfare reauthorization legislation is enacted that this could result is the cycle of a life of dependency being broken.

11:40 A.M.

Beginning with the statement that he will be voting for Senators Snowe and Dodd amendment, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is discussing the obstacles that a single mother often faces.  He feels that increasing funding for child care assistance is an essential step in allowing families, and particularly single mothers, to make the transition from welfare to work.

11:30 A.M.

Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut  is passionately expressing his support Senator Snowe's amendment, of which he is a co-sponsor. According to Senator Dodd, the present level of funding in H.R.4 are drastically low for child care.  He is claiming that a fundamental problem is that when a family works its way off of welfare, the family then no longer receives child care assistance, so then the family becomes working poor and has the burden of child care in addition.

11:10 A.M.

Claiming that welfare reform has been one of the most successful programs and has resulted in a number of families being able to lift themselves out of poverty, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah is speaking about the importance of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. He is also expressing his support for the funding in H.R.4 to promote marriage and is commending President Bush for his support of marriage promotion.

11:00 A.M.

Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont is expressing that "child care is the number one issue facing families today," and is urging his colleagues to support Senator Snowe's amendment concerning funding for child care. He is saying that this amendment would help families either move off of welfare or never have to go on welfare.

10:55 A.M.

Senator Kit Bond came to the floor to discuss the matter of outsourcing and cited a statistic he read that claimed the United States is outsourcing $74 billion worth of work.

10:45 A.M.

Senator John Ensign is discussing the need for the JOBS bill that was being considered before the Senate last week to be signed into law.  He is mentioning the tariff being imposed on the U.S. by the European as the main reason that the bill must become law. At this time, the European Union is imposing a 5% tariff, and the tariff will increase by 1% each month.

9:55 A.M.

Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota is talking about what he vies as outrageous examples of behavior on behalf of the Administration and is saying that it is not "politics as usual." He is citing such examples as the exposing of Valerie Palme's identity and the character assassination of former war hero and former Senator Max Cleland.

9:45 A.M.

The Senate convenes today at 9:45 and will be in a period of morning business for an hour, after which time the Senate will resume consideration of H.R.4, the Welfare Reauthorization bill.  Introduced by Representative Deborah Pryce on February 4, H.R.4 passed the House of Representatives on February 13 with a vote of 230-192.  This legislation would include reauthorization for programs such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), abstinence education programs, and the child care entitlement to states program. H.R.4 maintains funding for TANF at the current level through FY2008, however it includes changes to the program, such as additional requirements for work participation. In the early afternoon, the Senate is scheduled to vote on Senator Snowe's amendment concerning child care.