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   It is unconscionable to bolster Medicare funds for HMOs at the expense of our community hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies--providers that do not pick-up and leave a community just because they are not making a profit. HMOs' treatment of seniors has been deplorable--having dropped 400,000 from their plans this year--and should not be rewarded.

   Yet that's all this bill does--and my hope is that after this bill is vetoed, when Congress returns, that we'll be able to do in home health care relief what we should have been doing all along--providing a meaningful lifeline to these home health care agencies which make such difference in the lives of our seniors.

   Vaccines for the New Millennium Act--Omitted from Final Tax Package.

   I want to also talk about an issue that I have worked on for 2 years, in one of the best bipartisan efforts I have been a part of in my 16 years here.

   Democrats and Republicans have negotiated together for the past 2 years to create a strong bipartisan bill to provide assistance with the development and purchase of vaccines for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

   I sat down with BILL FRIST, with the distinguished Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, JESSE HELMS, and with numerous colleagues on the Democratic side who wanted to address a global crisis having an extraordinary impact particularly on sub-Saharan Africa.

   The Administration was strongly supportive of our efforts--as were our colleagues in the House.

   And yet the Vaccines for the New Millennium Act was dropped from this conference report.

   Let me just share with you what our legislation would have done--legislation dropped in favor of poison pill measures opposed by many members on both sides of the aisle:

   We aimed to provide a 30 percent tax credit on R&D into vaccines against malaria, TB, AIDS and any other disease which kills more than one million people per year. This provision expanded and targeted the existing R&E tax credit .

   It would also provide a tax credit on the sales of vaccines against malaria, TB and AIDS. Vaccine manufacturers would receive a 100 percent credit on the value of their sale of vaccine to qualified international health organizations, like UNICEF, for distribution to developing countries.

   Let me emphasize again why we believed it was so critical to act now. There is great need for further vaccine research. Every year, malaria, TB and AIDS kill more than 7 million people. Preventive vaccines are our best hope to bring these destructive worldwide epidemics under control. The NIH is conducting vital research at the basic science level, but private sector pharmaceutical companies have the lion's

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   And yet it is nowhere to be found in a tax package that found room for all sorts of complicated tax cuts for those who need them the least in our society--while ignoring the needs of an entire continent teetering on the brink of being entirely wiped out.

   Our politics can be better than this. We can address the real needs of a country in Medicare, in the health care crisis of our nation, in the global pandemic of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria--or we can play politics.

   This bill is headed for a veto. And it deserves it.

   The American people deserve better than this.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

   Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, first, for the interest of all Senators, I know they are wondering when a vote or votes will occur. It is anticipated that there will be at least a couple, maybe three or four votes, within the next 2 or 3 hours. We are not certain exactly what time that will occur, but I will try to get it started shortly so we can get to the votes that are needed.

   For instance, once again we are going to need to set up a process so we can get a vote on the very important bankruptcy legislation. As a result of trying to get on the tax bill yesterday, I had to set aside an action that had been taken earlier on the bankruptcy reform, and it is my intention still to try to file cloture on that to try to get that very important legislation addressed before the Senate completes its work.

   Also, we would need to vote on the continuing resolution that would take us over into tomorrow.

   Also, we would possibly need to move to proceed to the D.C. appropriations conference report and the Commerce-State-Justice conference report. Within a few minutes we will try to get those started.

   Mr. President, as to what has been said last night and this morning, it has been interesting. You know, the American people understand this is a political season and that tempers get a little short, people get a little desperate in their actions, and I think that begins at the White House with the President. I have tried to communicate with the President, but it is not always easy. He was in New York City the night before last. He was playing golf yesterday afternoon. He did return the call I made to him yesterday afternoon, even though I placed the call the day before to talk about some of this. But he has written this letter threatening a veto.

   So much of this is complaints about procedure, complaints about ``inside baseball,'' complaints about what may not be in the bill. Let me say to the American people some very important things they need to hear. Let's not get into all the brush of the way we do business around here. Let's talk about the result.

   First of all, some people may be surprised to learn--some people may not even like it--but 80 percent to 90 percent of this bill has been requested by the President of the United States. He wants these things, and they have been negotiated with the administration. There have been negotiations between the House and Senate. Once again, that is procedure. But let me assure the American people there are a lot of things in here that he wanted that I don't particularly like. Let me also say there are some things that were taken out at his specific request.

   When you get down and analyze his complaints, it is because

   he doesn't think we did quite enough to suit him on this school bond construction tax credit . There are a lot of people over here who do not think that what we have done should be in this bill. But there was an effort made to accommodate a lot of different thinking. But he is not opposed to what is in here necessarily; he just wants more.

   On the Medicare adjustments, lots of people have had input on that. The House of Representatives had an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote on that subject. I don't know exactly what it was, but probably 300 or more for the Medicare adjustments. The Finance Committee reported it out, I believe it was 19-0. I will clarify for the record these exact votes. So there has been an awful lot of bipartisanship.

   But let's not get all wrapped up in that. Let's look at what is in the bill. Let's look at what is in the bill that is overwhelmingly good, that everybody is for, and we are reduced to complaining about how it got here.

   Once again, It's the old saying we are going to defeat the good--no, we are going to defeat the excellent because we do not like the procedure or because it is not perfect or everything that the President wants. We are a coequal branch. He should not expect, and he will not get, 100 percent of what he wants. No President will--none. But we worked with him. When you get 80 or 90 percent of what you want, then most people say that is pretty good. He sits over there or in California or New York and says: Give me everything.

   Let me talk to the American people about what is good about this bill. Let's not get into the politics and the procedure and all that is happening. Let us just go down the list and let's talk a little bit about what is included.

   Who among us is opposed to the IRA and pension reform provisions in this bill? Who thinks we should not raise IRA contributions up to $5,000 per year?

   Who thinks we should not increase contribution limits for 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457 plans from $10,000 to $15,000? And, by the way, with a lot of bipartisan requests, another $5,000 I believe is available for people over 50 for these 401(k) and other plans. There are some 50 modifications in this bill with regard to IRAs and pensions. We want to encourage people to save, don't we? Who is opposed to this?

   By the way, unfortunately, it has limits. This is really targeted at middle-income and low-income people to encourage savings. The chairman of the Finance Committee has become the hero of the IRA proposals, the Roth IRA. Here again, we take one more small step to give people a little opportunity to save for their needs, for their children, without the Government saying: Oh, we will tell you how you may do that and we will limit it. So I think there are pretty good provisions in there.

   There is small business tax relief for the one group left in America that may save us, the small business men and women, those young entrepreneurs, men and women and minorities who take a chance, people who start the little restaurant, as the Senator from Nebraska did. He went out there; he found out about the restaurant business--it is tough. You have to get people hired. You have insurance costs. You have crime. You have management problems. You have food spoilage. It is endless. Bless their hearts.

   So we do a little something for small business men and women. I do not apologize for that. My only complaint is we do not do enough. The ridiculousness of the request from the administration that we take out a provision that would have eliminated the .02 percent Federal unemployment tax surtax--it doesn't take out the FUTA tax , just the so-called surtax that was temporary, just stuck it on the small business men and women to boost this fund which I understand now has $22 billion in it.

   So we had a proposal to take off that little .02. That is something that will actually help the small business man and woman who is working on the margins, barely making it, a little extra they can keep that is not needed in this $22 billion trust fund.

   Then the tip credit . The President threatened to veto this bill over the tip credit issue. He is wrong. The Senator from Nebraska knows that was a mistake. These are people who never had another job, couldn't get another job. This is a little help for the people who are working on tips. My Lord, we are taxing tips. If you work hard and you get a bonus, you pay extra. If you work hard, you do a really good job, and you get a little extra tip, you pay a little extra. The whole concept is ridiculous.

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   I wanted those taxes taken out, but he would not let us do it. So in this spirit of cooperation--there is so much rain and so many dark clouds here about how we do not have more cooperation. Next year, thank goodness, we are going to have a different President. Hopefully, we will have a better atmosphere around here. Maybe we can work together. I believe George W. Bush means that, believes it, and will reach out and try to bring us together. This is a classic case of where we tried to accommodate the President of the United States, and he writes this letter threatening his veto. He may veto it, but the American people are going to know who did what needed to be done and who vetoed it.

   We do have this package of small business tax relief that has been negotiated by Chairman ROTH, Chairman ARCHER, a lot of input from Democrats in the House and Senate, and the administration. It also includes above-the-line deductions for health insurance for employees in small businesses. This is bad?

   What about that restaurant owner who provides insurance for his supervisory personnel, but he or she cannot provide it for all of their workers because it would just eat up all the margin of profit he has? Here you can allow the employees to deduct the cost of their health insurance. This is a good idea. This would help entry-level workers, minority workers, people who are carrying the load in this country get a little break on health insurance. But, oh, no, ``We don't really like that idea because it is above-the-line deductions''--once again, explain that to the man and woman down there working in the trenches--``We ought to have a credit or something.'' This is good, and it would help people in that low-income area. By the way, we have been hearing all year long that we have to have a minimum wage increase. A minimum wage increase is in here: $1 over 2 years, raising it to $6.15. It is in there. Is the President against that?

   Then also there is a provision in here called community renewal. This would allow rural areas, poor areas to have a chance for economic development, to have a chance to recruit a little business. The Mississippi Delta pops into my mind: poor people struggling to get a little infrastructure, improve their education, get a few jobs in the area.

   Enterprise zones: There are 40 of those, 40 of the new community renewals. This is a deal, by the way, asked for by the President and the Speaker. I had reservations about a lot of the provisions, but we worked through that. This was negotiated with the administration interminably for weeks and months. It is in here. Some people on my side think this is not a good idea, but I supported it.

   The President made a deal with the Speaker; that is, President Clinton, in case you do not quite understand, and Speaker Denny Hastert made a deal they wanted to do it and, by the way, supported by J.C. Watts passionately. This is a way we can help rural and poor communities. Let's do this; let's do this. I have been in meetings when there was an effort to kill this until J.C. Watts spoke up and everybody went silent. It is

   in here. Are you against that?

   I have tried on this floor for weeks to move the foreign sales credit fix for WTO compliance. It came out of the Finance Committee unanimously. I have asked unanimous consent to move it. For some strange reason, it has been objected to by the Democrats in the Senate. When you are in the leadership, you have to do some of these things, and Senator REID had to object on behalf of somebody; he would not object. It has been objected to.

   What are we going to do here? On November 1, we will have a problem with our European allies. I do not think they are doing very good, frankly, complying with WTO, and they are not reacting to sanctions. I am not going to cry alligator tears over the Europeans and WTO, but that provision is in this bill. Is the President going to veto that? Those are four broad categories and a lot of subcompartments about which I have talked.

   The Senator from Louisiana, Ms. LANDRIEU, has been very supportive of this concept of encouraging adoption. We should encourage more adoption for people who are not only wealthy but people in the lower and middle-income area. This bill doubles the tax credit for adoption to $10,000, I believe is the number. Is that not good? No, no, that is good.

   Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield for a question on that?

   Mr. LOTT. On that?

   Mrs. BOXER. Just on that provision.

   Mr. LOTT. I did not ask anybody to yield on your side. You all talked for about an hour. I will be glad to respond later because I know you care about that and you want to make sure it is available to others.

   Mrs. BOXER. Yes.

   Mr. LOTT. I wanted to work on that. I told the President the other day: Mr. President, if there is something in here you don't particularly like, we can change that maybe in the next bill. Mr. President, if there is something more you want, let's add it in the next bill. This is not the be all to end all. This is not the end of the world. This is a giant step for mankind though. And he is going to veto it because he does not get every last dot and tittle that he wants? I do not think that is defensible.

   Let me go on down the list. For years, I have been an advocate under pressure from the Senator from Iowa, Mr. GRASSLEY, for farm savings accounts. The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee does not like this sort of thing. He says it will never end. We have savings accounts for education, for medical expenses, now for farms. My attitude is, why not? I never met an incentive to encourage people to save for their own needs I did not like, and to encourage farmers to save a little for the bad times because, more than anybody else, they know the good times when the crops are abundant, weather is good, prices are fine; they do fine. And then rain, sleet, snow, drought, locusts--they have to deal with all of it. Allow them to save a little for the bad times. Is that a bad idea? No, that is a good idea.

   Deduction for computer donations to schools and libraries: Businesses and industries, big and small, are willing to give their 2- and 3-year-old computers to schools and libraries to help with programs such as Power Up. Let's power up these kids. Let's use these used computers to teach them to read and to become computer literate. The Senator from Michigan, Mr.

   ABRAHAM, has been relentless in pushing for that. The amazing thing to me is, why would anybody not be for that? This is good. That is in this bill.

   Deduction for long-term health insurance and long-term health expenses: This is an interesting category. We have been worried legitimately about the people who are worried about the long-term needs they have with their health. We want to do something about it. We do it in this bill, but when I talked to the President: Gee, I really prefer a credit as opposed to a deduction, but if you make the deduction high enough, maybe it will be OK.

   When I talked to him yesterday, he said: Yes, you did go up higher. We are going to nitpick a gnat to death. Should we have long-term health insurance deductions or not? We have an opportunity here. The President is going to veto it, flitter it away. I do not understand that.

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