Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to executive session to consider en bloc the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 201, 251, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 301, and 302; that the nominees be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, could I have the attention of our colleagues.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 1. I further ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of the Agriculture supplemental authorization bill.

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from Ohio had asked for the yeas and nays on his amendment. We are prepared to again pose the question.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, on Wednesday the Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. and resume consideration of the Agriculture supplemental authorization bill. To ensure that all of our colleagues are given adequate notice, I will make the motion to proceed to the reconsideration of the Transportation appropriations bill, the bill that the distinguished Senator from Ohio has just been addressing. We will do that tomorrow at 9:30. There will be the likelihood of more than one vote. That will begin at 9:30, and we will stay on the bill for whatever length of time it takes. If cloture is invoked, it is my intention to complete our work on the bill. If necessary, we will stay through the night, and we will be in session. We will not have the opportunity to go out, but we will take that into account tomorrow morning. My hope is we can complete our work on the bill, and that we can also take up the HUD-VA bill at an appropriate time. That will be the schedule tomorrow. I thank the Senator from Ohio for yielding. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Will the Senator from Ohio yield for a unanimous consent request at this time?

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I note that Jim Ziglar is on the floor. I want to be the first among all of our colleagues to congratulate him publicly. (Applause, Senators rising.)

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues. We have all come to know and, I would say, have a great deal of affection for Jim Ziglar. He has been an extraordinary Sergeant at Arms. This afternoon there is a reception. I hope our colleagues will wish Mr. Ziglar well. I have come to admire his work and have said already on the floor how much I appreciate his commitment to the Senate, to this institution, to public service. In an effort to accelerate his nomination and confirmation, we wanted to have the opportunity to take this matter up prior to the time his reception is held this afternoon. I think on behalf of the entire Senate, we wish Jim Ziglar well in his new role and new responsibilities. I can think of no one who could serve more ably. I am grateful to my colleagues for the consideration and ultimately for the adoption of this confirmation. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 286, the nomination of James Ziglar to be Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization; that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements thereon be printed in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate return to legislative session.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the motion to proceed to S. 1246 be adopted and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that the Senate resume consideration of the Agriculture supplemental bill, S. 1246, at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 31, and that Senator Lugar be recognized to offer an amendment, the text of the House-passed bill; further, that no cloture motion against the bill, or any amendments, be in order prior to Wednesday, August 1.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, let me thank the distinguished ranking member and the chairman for their excellent work in getting the Senate to this point. I appreciate very much Senator Lugar's interest in pursuing this amendment. We will have a good debate on it. We don't know how long the debate will last, but we will certainly leave it to him to make some decision in that regard tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is Tuesday. We have 4 days within which to do a tremendous amount of work. I ask the cooperation of all of our colleagues. We need to finish this bill, and that will entail, of course, working through some very difficult questions not only with regard to the level of funding but also perhaps the dairy issue and other questions about which I know Senators are concerned. We also have to finish the Transportation bill, and of course, the Export Administration Act expires in August. The distinguished Presiding Officer addressed that point last week. We would like to do HUD-VA. There is a lot to be done. Tomorrow night our Republican colleagues have an event and we will attempt to accommodate that event tomorrow night. I appreciate very much the minority leader's cooperation in allowing us to move to the bill as quickly as we have. That will at least accelerate the opportunity for debate and hopefully allow us to address some of these questions as quickly as possible. It will be a busy week. I will say now, so there is no surprise if we are not finished at least with the Export Administration Act, the Transportation bill and the Agriculture supplemental bill by Friday, we will need the weekend and we will need additional days. That is an unfortunate but certainly accurate statement. I am hopeful that will not be necessary, but I want Senators who have traveling plans to take that into account because this work must be done. I thank all of my colleagues. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I remember that vividly. I remember how it was that we were able to work through these important matters, because we understood that October 1st is the deadline to complete all of our work on appropriations and that when you fall short of that deadline, you find yourself in a very precarious situation, making decisions without careful thought and, in some cases, making mistakes. We want to complete our work on time. We want to be able to finish these bills. I appreciate so much the cooperation, the effort, and the leadership shown by the Senator from Nevada in reaching that goal.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I move to table the amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, at the request of Senator Lott pursuant to rule XXII, I yield his remaining hour to Senator Gramm of Texas.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, with the indulgence of the Senator from Utah, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I move to table and ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc; further, that it be in order for the managers to offer a managers' amendment, postcloture, which has been agreed upon by the two managers and the two leaders, notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII. I further ask unanimous consent that the time until 6:25 p.m. today be equally divided and controlled and that at 6:25 p.m. the Senate proceed to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on H.R. 2299.

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion was rejected.