Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolutions be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider by laid upon the table en bloc, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Rules Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.J. Res. 19 and H.J. Res. 20 and the Senate proceed to their immediate consideration en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. president, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments, we will be voting on the budget resolution. I congratulate the distinguished chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Judd Gregg, for bringing before the Senate this evening the conference agreement on the fiscal year 2006 budget. I would be remiss if I did not thank both the ranking member of the committee, Senator Conrad, and the Democratic leader for their cooperation in allowing us to proceed with the conference report expeditiously. I know being chairman of the Budget Committee is a thankless task, and I know the chairman of the Budget Committee feels that way tonight as well. It is not the most glamorous of legislative committees in the Capitol, and being chairman of the Budget Committee does not win any popularity contests with any Senators, again, as the Budget chairman will recognize. Nevertheless, the working of this committee is absolutely essential to completing our fundamental constitutional responsibilities on all matters fiscal. This is the first year the senior Senator from New Hampshire has had this responsibility, and he has carried out his duties in a professional and businesslike manner. It probably seems like ages ago, but it was only 12 weeks ago that the President submitted his executive budget proposal to the Congress. When we complete work on this conference report shortly, we will have a congressional budget. It is our blueprint for enacting spending and revenue legislation for the remainder of the year, but it follows the goals the President laid out in his budget to fund national security, extend expiring tax provisions, limiting the growth in nondefense spending, begin to address the growth of entitlements, and cut the deficit in half in less than 5 years. While it may have seemed to the chairman and many other Members involved that this day would not arrive, in truth, of the 27 budget resolution conference reports agreed to since the beginning of this congressional budget process in 1976, this is the fifth quickest conference report ever agreed to. I congratulate the chairman and his professional staff for this accomplishment. Having said this, I think the chairman would agree with me that no budget can meet all the demands and all the goals we have for this country. There are many issues that confront us, and some of those, such as national security, protecting the homeland, supporting education and research, and providing basic benefits to needy Americans require resources. It requires making choices, and it also requires setting those policies in place that will permit the economy to grow. For in the end, the best way of serving the needs of this great country is with a strong and vibrant economy. Meeting these goals by balancing Federal spending and limiting the burden of taxes on all Americans begins with this budget outline, the outline that is before us this evening. Once adopted, our work will only begin as we fill in the details of the blueprint by passing spending and revenue legislation within the aggregate levels specified in the document. Enforcing the blueprint means the chairman will not have a chance to rest much before he is back here watching over the building of our fiscal house for next year. Congratulations, again, to Chairman Gregg and his staff director, Scott Gudes, and all the staff who worked so hard to bring us to this point this evening. To summarize, we will vote in a moment on the budget conference report. Following this vote, we will proceed to the debate on the Portman nomination. We may not need a rollcall vote on that nomination. However, I remind my colleagues that we will have a cloture vote on the Johnson nomination tonight. Senators can, therefore, expect one to two additional rollcall votes this evening following the vote on the budget conference report.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 41, which we received from the House.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader, assistant majority leader, and senior Senator from Virginia be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 976 introduced earlier today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, the Senate stand in adjournment until 2 p.m. on Monday, May 9. 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 then resume consideration of H.R. 3, the highway bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 82.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble, as amended, 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, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of S. Con. Res. 29.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on Monday, May 9, the Senate will resume consideration of the highway bill. We have made some progress on the bill this week, and we will continue our work when we return. I encourage Senators who wish to offer amendments to contact the bill managers over the next week so they can schedule time for floor consideration. Senators should expect one or more rollcall votes in relation to amendments to begin at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 9. In addition to the highway bill, it is my hope that the conference report to accompany the Iraq-Afghanistan supplemental appropriations bill will be available upon our return. It is my intention to move to this conference report as soon as it becomes ready. I would also like to congratulate the chairman of the Budget Committee once again on completing work on the fiscal year 2006 budget resolution. It was just a few minutes ago that we were able to adopt the conference report, and Senator Gregg should be complimented for his hard work and his diligence.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 117 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 382 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. 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. I ask unanimous consent that the HELP committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 121 and the Senate now proceed to its consideration.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the preambles be agreed to, the resolutions be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar No. 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, all nominations reported by the Armed Services Committee today, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk. I further ask unanimous consent that the nomination of Daniel Fried to be an Assistant Secretary of State be discharged from the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Senate proceed to its consideration. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed, en bloc, 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.