Thad Cochran

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, if the Senator would yield, I will be glad to suggest the absence of a quorum and go over the bill and try to answer any questions the Senator has. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, at the time the Ashcroft amendment was agreed to, it was offered in a form that related to the Harkin-Daschle amendment.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. COCHRAN. I will be happy to withhold if the Senator wants to talk.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I yield back all the time remaining on this side on the amendment. I move to table the amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. COCHRAN. I thank the Senator.

Mr. COCHRAN. I am advised that I need to do this. I ask unanimous consent that the time for debate prior to a motion to table the pending amendment be limited to 30 minutes, to be equally divided in the usual form.

Mr. COCHRAN. If the Senator will yield, I am happy to agree that this amendment would have 30 minutes equally divided.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent the amendment be agreed to, the committee amendment be agreed to, the bill be read a third time and passed, the title amendment be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, Senators Specter and Rockefeller have an amendment at the desk. I ask for its consideration.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 221, S. 695.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am constrained to object at the request of the majority leader. I suggest we pass this item and try to resolve it later.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc: Executive Calendar Nos. 173, 175, 176, 191, 195, 198, 199, 210, 211, 215, 217, 218, 219, and 220. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements relating to the nominations appear at this point in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent the Senate concur in the amendment of the House.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements relating to the resolutions appear in the Record, with the preceding all occurring en bloc.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to ask for the yeas and nays on the nominations at this time.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Governmental Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia be permitted to meet on Wednesday, August 4, 1999, at 10:30 a.m., for a hearing on Overlap and Duplication in the Federal Food Safety System.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, August 4, 1999 at 9:30 a.m to conduct a hearing on S. 299, to elevate the Director of the Indian Health Service to an Assistant Secretary for Indian Health within the Department of Health and Human Services; and S. 406, a bill to allow tribes to bill directly for Medicaid and Medicare; To be followed by a business meeting, to consider pending legislation. The hearing/business meeting will be held in room 485, Russell Senate Office Building.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, August 4, 1999 at 10:30 a.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the full Committee on Environment and Public Works be granted permission to meet to mark up S. 1090, the Superfund Program Completion Act of 1999, Wednesday, August 4, 9:00 a.m., Hearing Room (SD-406).

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, August 4, 1999, at 2.:15 p.m. on fraud against seniors.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be allowed to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday August 4, 1999. The purpose of this meeting will be discuss the farm crisis.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I thank very much the distinguished President pro tempore, the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Thurmond, for his generous remarks and his assistance in the handling of this bill of the Senate. His leadership is legendary. His influence in this body continues to be very important. We are grateful for his continued service in the Senate. I also want to commend members of our staffs who have been so diligent and so effective in the handling of the duties they have assumed in connection with the development of this legislation and the passage of the bill. I specifically want to commend: Mark Keenum, my chief of staff; Rebecca Davies, chief clerk of the subcommittee; Hunt Shipman, Martha Scott Poindexter, Les Spivey, and Buddy Allen. They have all been very helpful and very conscientious and discharged their responsibilities in a professional and very praiseworthy way. I am deeply grateful for their good help. On the Democratic side of the aisle, my good friend and colleague from Wisconsin is serving as a manager of this bill for the first time. He has done a great job helping us sort through the requests and the amendments that have been suggested in helping guide this bill to passage. We have not agreed on everything, but we worked through our disagreements in a cordial way. I appreciate very much his leadership on the Democratic side and the way he has handled his responsibilities. I also want to thank the staff members who have worked on the Democratic side on this bill: Paul Bock, who is the chief of staff of Senator Kohl; Kate Sparks, his legislative director; Galen Fountain, who is an experienced member of the subcommittee staff, having worked for Senator Bumpers and others since his time here as a member of the Senate staff; and Carole Geagley. We appreciate the opportunity to work with all these fine folks.