Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. At that point, that a quorum call be entered and that the quorum call be evenly charged.

Mr. CONRAD. I thank very much the Chair. I thank also the chairman of the committee for continuing to work in this cooperative way to use the time efficiently. And we thank all of our colleagues for their patience. I yield the floor.

Mr. CONRAD. That is correct.

Mr. CONRAD. Fifteen minutes. I ask that Senator Durbin be recognized for 15 minutes as in morning business. And for Senator Boxer, how much time? She would like up to 30 minutes as in morning business. Could we get those agreed to as well, with the additional understanding that we go into a quorum call at that point and that it be equally charged.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I would like to further modify my request because I understand there are other Senators who also would like to speak as in morning business. I ask Senator Durbin, how much time would you like?

Mr. CONRAD. You would like him to speak in morning business rather than--all right. So the Senator will speak as in morning business for up to 15 minutes, and then the Senator from Alaska, Mr. Stevens, will be recognized for up to 15 minutes, again as in morning business, and then at that time a quorum call will be put in that is equally charged.

Mr. CONRAD. On the bill on the majority side.

Mr. CONRAD. We are happy to have you go, Senator. We are just trying to make certain we know the times. Could we modify the unanimous consent request in this respect: the Senator from Kansas be recognized for up to 15 minutes off the bill?

Mr. CONRAD. And Senator Stevens would like to go after that.

Mr. CONRAD. How long will the Senator seek to speak?

Mr. CONRAD. Reserving the right to object, could I be advised of what the unanimous consent request was?

Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair. We will proceed with Senator Kerry for up to 15 minutes.

Mr. CONRAD. Reserving the right to object, with the understanding then a quorum call be put in, and the quorum be charged equally.

Mr. CONRAD. What would occur if there was an objection to the quorum call?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senator from Massachusetts be recognized as in morning business for up to 15 minutes. I ask at the end of the Senator's remarks, a quorum call be put in, and the quorum call be charged equally.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CONRAD. At the end of that time, I further ask unanimous consent that the Senator from West Virginia offer a quorum call to be equally divided.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we permit the Senator from West Virginia to speak as if in morning business for a period not to exceed 15 minutes.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. CONRAD. Will the Chair inform us, before we go into the quorum call, how much time is left on both sides?

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, for the interest of colleagues, Senator Byrd will be speaking for 15 minutes. Then we will go back to the majority side. Then we will come back to this side with Senator Lautenberg for 10 minutes, and then Senator Clinton for 10 minutes, and then Senator Talent. This is not, I want to make clear, a unanimous consent request. This is an advisory to our colleagues so that we can manage this time efficiently.

Mr. CONRAD. We are on the Budget Reconciliation Act. But people have come to the floor, as is their right, to discuss other issues. Now we have gotten into a discussion of the PATRIOT Act. I have great respect for the chairman of the Budget Committee, but I must say on this issue I profoundly disagree. The Senator from New Hampshire says there is a majority in the Senate who support the PATRIOT Act provisions that have come back from conference committee. That is true. It is also true that earlier this year on a unanimous vote the Senate version of the PATRIOT Act was approved. The House had very different provisions, and when the conference between the House and the Senate was concluded, they came back with PATRIOT Act provisions that could not command the votes necessary to pass the PATRIOT Act. That is a fact. There are not sufficient votes to pass the version of the PATRIOT Act that came back from the conference between the House and the Senate, and on a bipartisan basis--there were those who supported that version of the PATRIOT Act and on a bipartisan basis there were votes against that version of the PATRIOT Act. So let's be very clear. Now we may face a circumstance in which the PATRIOT Act would fail, would not be extended. It is still alive today. It is alive until the 31st of this month, so all the talk that we killed the PATRIOT Act--no, the PATRIOT Act has not been killed. The PATRIOT Act is still in force. If we cannot reach agreement on something to make permanent, for goodness sake, in the Nation's security interest we should be able to agree on a time of extension. The Senator from Michigan has offered 3 months. The Senator from New York, Senator Schumer, earlier offered 3 months. The Senator from New Hampshire has talked about a year. I don't know which is exactly right. I frankly think 3 months may be too little; I think a year may be too long because we do want to keep pressuring our colleagues to actually reach agreement on something that might be more long lasting. But the one thing on which we should all agree, since every single one of us voted on the PATRIOT Act provisions that passed the Senate back in July--the one thing on which we should absolutely be able to agree is we do not allow the PATRIOT Act to lapse. That is one thing in this Chamber, deeply divided, that we certainly should be able to agree on. I hope before this week is ended we have found a way to extend the PATRIOT Act for some amount of time. Let's be clear. There are not the votes sufficient to pass the version of the PATRIOT Act that came back from the House. That is clear. It is also clear that earlier this year this body, on a unanimous vote, approved the Senate version of the PATRIOT Act and that every single Member of this body now wants some version of the PATRIOT Act to go forward. The details have not yet been agreed to. So there is an opportunity in these final hours to either get the PATRIOT Act in a fashion that can command sufficient votes to pass or that we extend the PATRIOT Act for some period of time so this Nation remains protected. I hope very much the cooler heads are going to prevail here and that we are going to find a way to keep the PATRIOT Act in force--modified, to be certain; that is what happens in the legislative process. None of us quite gets all he wants. But we should not be in a circumstance in which it is allowed to lapse completely. With that, Senator Stevens is waiting to speak. We are ready to turn to the Senator from Alaska.

Mr. CONRAD. That is very helpful. I indicate to the Chair and all colleagues, the intention would be to go to Senator Stabenow next. There is not a formal agreement in place, but that is the informal understanding, that after Senator Allard, Senator Stabenow would be next. I thank the Senator very much. Again, I apologize for interrupting.

Mr. CONRAD. Yes, sir. For management of the floor purposes--and I apologize to the Senator for interrupting him--it would be helpful for us to know, because of the time constraints, does the Senator intend to take about 30 minutes?

Mr. CONRAD. Will the Senator yield for an inquiry?