Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 561 submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST

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 President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 576, S. 2590.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, S. 2590, that I have brought before the Senate this evening. This is a simple bill, yet a profound bill, designed to simply shine more sunlight, shine that light that we all know is so necessary, on Federal spending. I am absolutely convinced that this bill will go a long way in ultimately reflecting greater fiscal discipline and greater accountability. This is a simple bill but profound, profound in the sense of what it requires. One way to think of the bill is that it will create, for the very first time in the Executive Office of the President, the Office of Management and Budget, the equivalent of a Google search engine for all Americans to see how their Federal tax dollars are being expended. That is the simplicity of it all. I congratulate my colleagues, Senators Coburn and Obama--I just talked to Senator Coburn on the phone--who are the original sponsors of this very important, commonsense piece of legislation. I do congratulate the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senators Collins and Lieberman, for their expeditious consideration and reporting of this legislation. Once this bill is enacted, taxpayers will have the ability to know exactly how their money is being spent and, with that greater transparency, will come greater accountability. The bill expands upon E-Government management tools that were enacted in 2002 by making all Federal funding awards, grants, contracts and loans, easily searchable on a public Web site. Only transactions under $25,000 would be exempt from this reporting requirement, as well as awards that are classified for national security purposes. This new tool will be a valuable asset in the continuing effort to spend the taxpayers' dollars wisely, without waste and without misuse. Again, congratulations to Senators Coburn and Obama for their untiring work on this bill. It is my honor to join them as an original cosponsor of this simple, commonsense but important piece of legislation.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 558 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 560 which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 455, S. 2200.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to immediate consideration of S. 2697.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the title amendment be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1998 and that the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 564, S. 3722.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 8. I further ask consent that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 4954, the port security bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow we will continue to work on the port security bill, which we began tonight. As I announced earlier in the evening, there will not be any rollcall votes tomorrow or on Monday. That being said, the managers will be here and we do hope to move forward with this bill and have amendments offered. Opening statements on the port security bill have begun tonight and will continue in the morning and over the course of the morning and maybe afternoon. I do encourage Senators with amendments to this bill to begin working with the managers in order to get these amendments in the queue. Today, a very important bill was passed 98 to 0, the Department of Defense appropriations bill. As we have done on the floor previously, I thank the chairman and ranking member, Senator Stevens and Senator Inouye, for their perseverance in passing this critical spending bill, a bill we completed today but we began prior to the August recess. We, earlier today, recognized Senator Domenici for passing a very significant milestone with 13,000 votes. As we reviewed the records, there have been only seven other Senators who have met that milestone. He is No. 8. As we said, there are four other Senators currently serving who have met that milestone, so we have a lot of competition here in the U.S. Senate. As I said earlier, and as was spoken in the tributes to him, he has been a steadfast leader, a bold leader here in the U.S. Senate, somebody who--I did not say earlier today--has offered me counsel from day one over the last 12 years since I have been in the U.S. Senate, counsel that I respect. And I have tremendous admiration for him. Several of my colleagues did mention Nancy, his wife. She has been right at his side throughout each of his endeavors and, as he has told me so many times, does provide the anchor for everything he accomplishes. They are a great couple, a great pair, and are great friends to Karyn and myself.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there are five bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request, all en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we will have 30 minutes of morning business. Following that period, we will return to the Defense appropriations bill. We have three amendments pending on the bill at this time. We hope to lock in a vote in relation to the Feinstein amendment regarding cluster munitions. I understand that 12 noon is the best time for that vote. Therefore, Senators can expect a vote prior to the policy luncheons. We will recess for the policy meetings today from 12:30 to 2:15. I remind everyone we will finish the bill this evening or Thursday, if necessary. If Senators have amendments, they should have already contacted the managers. In order to finish at the earliest time, we will be voting throughout the day and as late as necessary to ensure completion of that bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I very much appreciate the comments of the Democratic leader. This is a bill we started before our recess. We agreed we would finish today, although because of extenuating circumstances we will go to tomorrow. It is a very important bill. It is important in support of our troops, in support of our efforts on the war on terror. It is a bill we will finish tomorrow. Order of Procedure I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Feinstein amendment No. 4882 at 12 noon today with no second-degree amendments in order prior to the vote; further, that the time from 11:15 to noon be equally divided in the usual form.

Mr. FRIST. I suggest the absence of a quorum.