Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to support the nomination of Ambassador John Negroponte to the post of Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Negroponte is superbly qualified for this new and challenging position. I applaud the President on his choice of candidate. Last week, Mr. Negroponte was approved by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. I expect he will be confirmed with overwhelming, bipartisan support here on the Senate floor. Mr. Negroponte's career in public service spans four decades and three continents. He has served in Europe, Asia and Latin America. He speaks five languages fluently, and has won Senate confirmation for 7 previous posts. He is widely regarded as one of our most distinguished and respected public officials. Among his many career highlights, Mr. Negroponte has served as Ambassador to Honduras, Ambassador to Mexico, Ambassador to the Philippines, and Ambassador to the United Nations. He has served under multiple presidents, Republican and Democrat. In 2004, President Bush nominated Mr. Negroponte to serve as our Ambassador to the newly liberated Iraq. As his background attests, Mr. Negroponte has tackled many difficult and sensitive missions. He has also earned a reputation as a skilled manager--skills he will surely need in the job ahead. As Director of National Intelligence, Mr. Negroponte will be responsible for overseeing the entire intelligence community. It will be Mr. Negroponte's job to keep America safe by bridging the gaps between our 15 intelligence agencies and improving information sharing between agencies. He will determine the annual budgets for all National intelligence agencies and offices, and direct how these funds are spent. The Director will also report directly to the President. It is a tough job and a tremendous responsibility. But I am confident that Mr. Negroponte will work hard to make the necessary reforms to help keep America safe. We learned on 9-11 that the enemy is deadly and determined. He doesn't wear a uniform or march under a recognized flag. He hides in the shadows where he plots his next attack. Dangerous weapons proliferation must be stopped. Terrorist organizations must be destroyed. And we must have an intelligence community that works together to confront these very real dangers so that we never suffer another 9-11 or worse. I look forward to Mr. Negroponte's swift confirmation. He has served our country with honor and distinction over many years. America is fortunate to have a public servant of his caliber working hard on our behalf.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will be in a period of morning business. There will be no rollcall votes during tomorrow's session. The next vote will occur on Tuesday of next week. It is my hope we will be able to begin consideration of the highway bill early next week, and I will have more to say on next week's schedule tomorrow. Before we close, I do want to congratulate Chairman Cochran as well as the ranking member for their efforts on the emergency supplemental today. With the passage vote of 99 to zero, that bill shortly will go to conference committee for a final product. I thank the two managers for their time and patience on the floor during the consideration of the bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. 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 requests, all en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 22. I further ask that following the prayer and the 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 to begin a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today we will begin with a 1-hour period for morning business. We will finish the emergency supplemental appropriations bill during today's session. The order from last night provides for up to three votes, including final passage, and those votes will be stacked for a time certain late this afternoon. We also have an agreement to consider the nomination of John Negroponte to be Director of National Intelligence. We will debate that nomination today and stack that vote to occur with the remaining votes on the emergency supplemental bill. I thank Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd for their hard work on the appropriations measure. That bill will go to conference next week, and we hope that we can have a conference report available in a reasonable period of time. Again, we will alert Members when we have locked in the exact time of the stacked votes later today. I yield the floor.

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 think that will be fine, with the leadership on both sides for 2 additional minutes, Senator Mikulski for 5 minutes, and Senator Warner for 2 minutes.

Mr. FRIST. For clarification, at 5 o'clock Senator Mikulski will be given 5 minutes before the cloture vote on her amendment.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m., Senator Mikulski have 5 minutes before the cloture vote.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I modify the pending motion to recess until 5 p.m. I send the motion to the desk.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I move that the Sergeant at Arms be instructed to request the attendance of absent Senators, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess until 4:20.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, given the objection to the Foreign Relations Committee meeting, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess until 4:20.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, Senators have until 4:30 p.m. today to file second-degree amendments to both the Mikulski amendment and the underlying bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I am disappointed there is an objection to allowing this important committee to do its work. That will make it necessary to recess for a period this afternoon to give Chairman Lugar an opportunity to have his committee meeting. I understand there may be a request from the other side for a vote on the motion to recess. Senators should be on notice that if we are unable to work out this objection, we will vote at 2:15 this afternoon. Unfortunately, this recess will not allow debate and votes on additional amendments to the underlying emergency appropriations prior to this afternoon's cloture vote. I yield the floor. Cloture Motion

Mr. FRIST. This is for 10 requests for committees to meet, other than the Committee on Foreign Relations. I add that there was one committee left out of this request due to an objection on the other side of the aisle. Chairman Lugar is holding a business meeting in the Foreign Relations Committee at 2:15, and there is an objection. I ask unanimous consent that committee request be granted and the committee be allowed to meet at 2:15.

Mr. FRIST. Before we vote, I have 10 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet. The request has been cleared on both sides, and I ask for these requests and ask that the requests be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the next vote will be on invoking cloture on the bill. I hope we will, in fact, invoke cloture. If cloture is invoked this evening, it will be the last vote of the evening. This will give the two managers time to work through the pending amendments to determine which are germane. We will resume consideration of the bill tomorrow and complete action on it. I say this in advance of the cloture vote. If cloture is not invoked tonight, then we would have additional votes this evening.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on Water and Power be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, April 19 a 2:30 p.m. The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 166, to amend the Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 to reauthorize the participation of the Bureau of Reclamation in the Deschutes River Conservancy, and for other purposes; S. 251, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a water resource feasibility study for the Little Butte/Bear Creek subbasins in Oregon; S. 310, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Newlands Protect headquarters and maintenance yard facility to the Truckee- Carson Irrigation District in the State of Nevada; S. 519, to amend the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of 2000 to authorize additional projects and activities under that act, and for other purposes; and S. 592, to extend the contract for the Glendo Unit of the Missouri River Basin Project in the State of Wyoming.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Seapower be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 19, 2005, at 3 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on United States Marine Corps Ground and Rotary Wing Program and Seabasing, in review of the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2006.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights be authorized to meet on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 to conduct a hearing on ``SBC/ATT and Verizon/MCI Mergers: Remaking the Telecommunications Industry, Part II--Another View'', at 2:30 p.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witness List: Mr. Carl Grivner, CEO, XO Communications, Reston, VA.; Mr. Jeffrey Citron, CEO, Vonage, Edison, NJ.; Mr. Scott Cleland, CEO, Precursor Group, Washington, DC; and Mr. Gene Kimmelman, Director, Washington, DC. Office, Consumers Union, Washington, DC.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 19, 2005 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, to mark up the nomination of Mr. Jonathan B. Perlin to be Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans' Affairs; and to hold a Committee hearing titled ``Back from the Battlefield, Part II: Seamless Transition to Civilian Life.''. The meeting will take place in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 10:15 a.m.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at 10 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, at 10 a.m., to consider an original bill entitled, ``Highway Reauthorization and Excise Tax Simplification Act of 2005'' and, S. 661, ``the United States Tax Court Modernization Act''.