Thad Cochran

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I send a modification to the desk.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3661 on behalf of Senator Leahy regarding notification requirements.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3702, on behalf of Mr. Chambliss, regarding a review of Department of Defense mortuary affairs.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3644, on behalf of Mr. Salazar, regarding an IED training report.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3774, on behalf of Mrs. Hutchison, regarding a clarification of funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3711, on behalf of Mr. Nelson of Florida, regarding Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida.

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN

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

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I reserve the right to object. First of all, the Wyden amendment No. 3665, I think, was offered just before the Santorum amendment last night. The Santorum amendment No. 3640 was offered on the subject of Iran. I am not able to agree to his amendment being voted on without any amendment. So I object.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, I will be happy to respond.

Mr. COCHRAN. The yeas and nays have been ordered.

Mr. COCHRAN. Wait a minute, I didn't yield the floor. I am standing here. I asked for a vote. I move to table the amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, I appreciate the fact that we are now prepared, I assume, to proceed with consideration of other amendments on the emergency supplemental bill, H.R. 4939. For the information of Senators who would like to know what the status is, we have over 20 amendments that have been filed and are pending before the Senate. A number of those have been offered by the Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. Coburn, who divided amendment No. 3641 into 19 divisions. As I understand the parliamentary situation, each one of these divisions is considered under our procedures as a separate amendment and a separate vote could occur on each. I am further advised that the Senator from Oklahoma would like to call up some of these amendments and have them debated and disposed of. There are other amendments. For example, last night there were four filed by the Senator from Louisiana, Mr. Vitter, which remain pending. The Senator from Arizona, Mr. McCain, likewise has four amendments pending. Senator Warner of Virginia has two amendments pending. The Senator from Iowa, Mr. Harkin, has an amendment that is pending. The Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Santorum, has an amendment. The Senator from Oregon, Mr. Wyden, has debated and discussed his amendment at length today. These are amendments which are already pending. It is my hope that we can dispose of some of those amendments before proceeding to consider other amendments. That is my suggestion for an orderly procedure that the Senate should follow. I know the Senator from Colorado has been on the floor from time to time today indicating that he has an amendment he would like to offer. I don't want to stand in the way of his offering that amendment, but I say this to the Senate just to give everyone equal information and knowledge of the status of the bill. We need to proceed to get these amendments disposed of--agreed to or defeated or amended and agreed to or whatever is the pleasure of the Senate. I don't intend to try to limit Senators in how long they can speak, but I hope we will not abuse the rules of the Senate to make arguments that prolong the debate on the supplemental appropriations bill. That is the subject before the Senate. I hope we can stick to the subject. Having said that, I am happy to yield the floor, and we will be glad to work with other Senators to either work out agreements on amendments, have votes on amendments, vote to table amendments, or whatever the pleasure of the Senate may be.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, it is the responsibility of the National Marine Fisheries Service to assure Americans of the safety and availability of the seafood from U.S. oceans. The service has done extensive environmental testing in the gulf, and it has shown no increase in toxicity. The gulf seafood is just as safe as the seafood from Washington State or New England. This amendment strikes the funding that could be used for seafood marketing programs that get that information to the consuming public. The Senate should defeat the amendment. Mr. President, I was going to move to table the amendment, but I understand it is OK to have the vote on a voice vote or show of hands. So I think we are ready to vote.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Disaster Prevention and Prediction be authorized to meet on Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 10 a.m., on Drought.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 27, 2006, to markup the nomination of Daniel L. Cooper to be Under Secretary for Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and to hold a hearing titled ``VA Research: Investing Today to Guide Tomorrow's Treatment.'' The meeting will take place in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 10 a.m.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 27, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed business meeting,

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing on Implementing the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 10 a.m., in closed session, to receive an operations and intelligence briefing.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. in Senate Dirksen Office Building Room 226. Agenda I. Nominations: Norman Randy Smith, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit; Brett Kavanaugh, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the DC Circuit; Michael Ryan Barrett, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio; Brian M. Cogan, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York; Thomas M. Golden, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Timothy Anthony Junker, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of Iowa; Patrick Smith, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of North Carolina. II. Bills: S. 2257, Oil and Gas Industry Antitrust Act of 2006, Specter, Kohl, DeWine, Leahy, Feinstein, Durbin; S. 2453, National Security Surveillance Act of 2006, Specter; S. 2455, Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006, DeWine, Graham; S. 2468, A bill to provide standing for civil actions for declaratory and injunctive relief to persons who refrain from electronic communications through fear of being subject to warrantless electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, and for other purposes, Schumer; S. 2292, A bill to provide relief for the Federal judiciary from excessive rent charges, Specter, Leahy, Cornyn, Feinstein, Biden; S. 489, Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act, Alexander, Kyl, Cornyn, Graham, Hatch. III. Matters: S.J. Res. 1, Marriage Protection Amendment, Allard, Sessions, Kyl, Hatch, Cornyn, Coburn, Brownback, DeWine.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Renewing the Temporary Provisions of the Voting Rights Act: An Introduction to the Evidence'' on Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witness List Panel I: The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., United States House of Representatives, R-5th District-WI, Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary; The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., United States House of Representatives, D-14th District-MI, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary.