After an extremely long night of work that carried well over into this morning (they officially adjourned at 2:35 a.m. Washington time), the Senate has passed the Budget Resolution (S.Con.Res. 70) by a vote of 51 (Y) to 44 (N). As previously stated, this resolution and its amendments will not be enacted into law but will simply provide a blueprint for future funding bills.
A very busy day has now finally come to an end as the Senate heads out of town for the two-week Easter recess. There will be no session today. The two managers of the Budget Resolution, Senator Gregg (R-NH) and Senator Conrad (D-ND), received many compliments throughout the day today on their ability to work together and move this amendment voting process forward to its completion.
The Senate may have set a recent record for the amount of amendments considered under one Budget Resolution bill with well over 40 taken up throughout the day. An Associated Press recap of some of the day’s events is linked here.
Update (5/15/08): The Senate has voted to send its negotiators to work on the budget resolution in conference with the House. One “motion to instruct,” which gives negotiators guidance over specified areas of the budget, was passed saying that no climate change legislation should be funded without first addressing the issue of imports from China and India.
Those two countries are often cited as roadblocks to an international environmental agreement due to their unwillingness to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The vote on that motion, as offered by Senator Boxer (D-CA) was 55 (Y) to 40 (N).
