Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19. I further ask 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 there then be a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the Republican leader or his designee, provided that following morning business the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 3058, the Transportation, Treasury Appropriations bill.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the resolution we passed does express support for those victims of the South Asia earthquake. I encourage our colleagues to make statements for the Record. A number of people have called me over the last several days. This is a resolution that has been put forth by Senator Reid and myself, the Republican leader and the Democratic leader. With that, we express our heartfelt support for the hundreds of thousands of families who have been affected by that earthquake.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to consideration of S. Res. 274 which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today, at 3 o'clock, we will begin consideration of the Transportation, Treasury, and HUD appropriations bill. We expect amendments to be offered during today's session and, as I announced prior to the recess, the first vote will occur at 5:30. We expect that vote to be in relation to an amendment to the Transportation-Treasury bill, and we will coordinate with the two managers once we begin debate on the bill itself. We are now in the final weeks of the first session. Members should expect busy weeks with rollcall votes possible each day of the week, including Fridays. I say including on Fridays not as a threat but as a reality of the large amount of work remaining that we have to do and the time left for completing our business. I do thank all Senators in advance for their patience and cooperation as we try to wrap up our business next month.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I welcome back our colleagues from the Columbus Day recess. As we open our session, I hope everyone--I am sure they did--had a productive and rejuvenating week with their constituents and their families and their friends. We have a very busy 5-week session ahead of us. There is a lot of work to do. First up is going to be spending reconciliation. This week our committees are taking up the hard work of thoughtfully considering spending cuts to ensure fiscal discipline, particularly in light of our responsibilities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It is not an easy job. It is not going to be an easy job over the next several days and weeks. I do want to thank our committees and their chairmen and ranking members for their determination and focus. On appropriations, we have made steady progress. We have made good progress in the last several weeks. I anticipate we will be able to finish the Transportation, Treasury, HUD, and DC appropriations bill this week, which means once we are successful with that--and we will be--we will have only one bill remaining. I thank, particularly, Chairman Thad Cochran for his tremendous leadership in this appropriations process. The appropriations process is one of our primary responsibilities. It funds the basic functions of our Government. And we are committed to doing so in a way that is disciplined and is fiscally responsible. This is equally true as we continue to meet the challenges of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. In the wake of these twin disasters, we focused on providing the targeted relief, the immediate relief, and the effective tax incentives that we know will work to help the gulf coast recover and rebuild. As this process moves forward, we are going to face a lot of tough decisions, a lot of difficult decisions. But with each of these decisions does come an opportunity, an opportunity to encourage growth, to lower costs, to create jobs, and to strengthen the economy as the gulf recovers and rebuilds stronger and, indeed, more prosperous than ever. Throughout, we need to keep a sharp eye on the bottom line, and we need to set clear priorities. Some have called for higher taxes to cover the short-term expense. I disagree. America's families are already bearing the burden of higher taxes in higher gasoline prices and heating bills as a result of the storms. We cannot and should not burden the American people with even greater Government-imposed expenses. We need to stick to a rigorous program of fiscal discipline and strong progrowth and deliver meaningful solutions that are responsible and effective, that we know will work. Before the Columbus Day recess, I asked our committee chairmen to keep working on the spending controls we agreed to earlier this year and to look for ways to find additional savings. I asked our Budget Committee chairman, Judd Gregg, to put together feasible and achievable savings recommendations. I also asked him to coordinate his work with the House and the White House. We have also endorsed the concept of creating an independent inspector general to make sure the Katrina and Rita disaster relief will be well spent. To further control costs, we have asked the President to send the Congress a rescissions package under the Budget Act. This is the only guaranteed way to ensure both the House and Senate jointly take a stand on spending. This authority, last used in 1992, resulted in savings, then, of nearly $8 billion. We are moving forward, and I urge all of our colleagues to continue to work together to impose aggressive fiscal discipline to restrain Government spending. In the next 5 weeks, we will also consider the President's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States. I expect the Senate to carry out its constitutional advice and consent responsibility in an expeditious, fair, and civil manner, as we did with Chief Justice John Roberts. Harriet Miers is an accomplished and experienced lawyer, who is respected by her peers and trusted by the President. In the weeks ahead, we will have the opportunity to learn more about her background and more about her qualifications. Through courtesy calls and hearings, we will have that opportunity to hear from Ms. Miers herself. I urge all of my colleagues to let her be heard and to resist a rush to judgment. Such as with all judicial nominees, Harriet Miers deserves a fair up-or-down vote. In the meantime, we will continue to work for consent on pensions and Defense authorization. I urge my colleagues to work together to get these critical pieces of legislation done. Protecting our fellow citizens' safety and well-being is our highest obligation. The American people expect and deserve a Senate that is purpose driven and that does get results. We are called upon to govern with meaningful solutions. In this session, we have worked hard to address some daunting challenges: defeating our terrorist enemies, tackling rising energy costs, and securing our borders from illegal immigration and terrorist threat. More remains to be done. We face a serious threat of avian flu, as well as taking a hard look at our spending priorities. These are just two examples. There will be many more. But I am confident that by pulling together with a sense of common purpose we can secure a stronger, safer, healthier, freer, and more prosperous America. I am confident that with determination and focus we will continue to move America forward. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent Senate floor privileges be extended to Harry Wingo through this session of Congress. Mr. Wingo is on loan to the Senate Commerce Committee from the Federal Communications Commission.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today the Senate began consideration of the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill. I do urge my colleagues to come to the floor if they wish to offer amendments as soon as possible. The bill managers are here throughout the day for that purpose. We are working to get an amendment filing deadline and complete action on this bill this week. Let me repeat, we are going to complete action on this bill this week. That means we cannot have everybody rushing over Thursday afternoon or Thursday night to have their amendment considered. Tomorrow, the first vote will occur at 12:10 and that vote will be on the Kyl amendment relating to a cost-of-living freeze for Members' pay. We will continue with amendments throughout the afternoon. I expect multiple votes tomorrow as we continue with the consideration of the Transportation-Treasury bill.

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 ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, October 18; I further ask 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 there then be a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee; provided that following morning business, the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 3058, the Transportation- Treasury appropriations bill. I further ask consent that following debate on the Brownback-Landrieu amendment, the time until 12:10 be equally divided between the majority leader or his designee and the Democratic leader or his designee; provided further that upon disposition of amendment No. 2062, the Senate stand in recess until 2:15 to accommodate the weekly policy luncheons.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, for the information of colleagues, we expect this vote to be a voice vote. There will be no more rollcall votes today. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2360, the Homeland Security appropriations bill. I further ask consent that there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided, and following the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to a vote on adoption of the conference report, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 1858, the Vitter bill, which is at the desk, that the bill be read three times, passed, and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, regular order.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I object to the request.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, regular order.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, for the last 24 hours, we have dealt with an issue that centers around the Vitter bill and the proposal to appropriately be able to modify, increase the amounts of loans and loan programs. We have struggled to come to the point we have today, which maximizes our likelihood, having just passed the Vitter bill, to get language to the House of Representatives before they leave today so that we can respond to the very real needs of the local communities in New Orleans. We have been working actually for about 10 days on the specific issue of being able to support local government, law enforcement, and hospitals. The step we just took in passing the Vitter bill maximizes our chance today of getting a bill to the House, which we will do, of having the House address it in the next few hours, and having this relief being made available to the people of New Orleans. There have been a lot of suggestions in terms of language and changes in words, all of which is fine, and some of the language is even very reasonable in terms of the language itself, but after discussions with Republican leadership, the administration having fully vetted the language that is in the Vitter bill, I strongly believe that this gives us the best chance to respond to the very real needs of the people of New Orleans.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning, the Senate will vote on the Defense appropriations bill. That vote will occur at 9:15 this morning. I thank and commend Senator Stevens for his patience and perseverance in getting this bill to the President. We must complete action on the Homeland Security appropriations conference report before we leave. Senators will be notified if further votes are scheduled. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Objection.

Mr. FRIST. I object.

Mr. FRIST. Before the vote, let me quickly explain the two objections and then I will have a unanimous consent request of my own. Basically, the language of both of the bills that have been put forward has not been reviewed by anybody except maybe two or three people on the floor of the Senate. Second, we do have legislation, the Vitter bill, that has been vetted with the administration. We talked to the Republican leadership in the House. I believe strongly we can pass this bill over the course of the day. Having said that, I now ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the Vitter bill which has been at the desk since yesterday. For the information of all Senators, this bill is the same language we have cleared and have been working on for the past 48 hours. I further ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

Mr. FRIST. Regular order, Mr. President.

Mr. FRIST. I ask for the yeas and nays on the Defense Appropriations Committee bill.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees.