Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I move to proceed to the conference report to accompany H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today the Senate will begin consideration of the debt limit extension bill. Last night we were able to lock in the time agreement of up to 6 hours on the measure with no amendments in order. I do not believe all the debate time will be required and therefore would like to vote on that measure, if at all possible, this evening. I will talk to the Democratic leadership about that possibility. I remind all Members that the House has to consider this after we act. Initially we thought about possibly doing it tomorrow night, but we have come to the general agreement to move ahead today because the House is waiting for us to act. Therefore, I appreciate everyone's consideration to go ahead and debate this afternoon and bring this to a vote. I also announce that we want to set aside some time tomorrow to pay tribute to our departing Members. We want to let our colleagues know, as we look further in the day, what time tomorrow that will occur. Finally, I remind Members we are still trying to close out other business. I was talking to the Democratic leader about the other items. One is the intelligence bill, the 9/11 Commission. Under our leadership, we set out a plan in late July. I hope we will be able to complete that over the course of today and tomorrow. Of course, we have the omnibus bill, and we have tremendous cooperation on all parts. It is a large bill. It is a complicated bill. The good news is that in a bipartisan way the subcommittees have been able to address all of these issues over the last several months. It is a matter of packaging it, bringing it to the floor, and making sure our Senate colleagues have the appropriate opportunity to review that bill. We have a lot of work to do. I continue to ask for everyone's assistance and patience as we proceed along these final days and this legislative and executive session and address calendar items.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I welcome everyone back for the final wrapup of the 108th Congress. I was just speaking with the Democratic leader, and we were remarking that we have a lot to do in a short period of time over the course of the week. There is a lot going on in terms of orientation of new Senators who will not officially take office until January, but there are also leadership elections occurring today and tomorrow. I expect that in this brief session, which will bring the 108th Congress to a close, we will finish before Thanksgiving for sure. And as we sort out both the agenda and work that has been accomplished over the last several weeks, we will have a much better and clearer idea as to when we will finish this brief session. I know everybody is anxious to get back to their families after this week or week and a half and to spend time with constituents and begin enjoying the eventual holidays and planning for the year ahead. I look forward to working with the new Senators as they come onboard, and the leadership, as the leadership elections occur. I think we will all join with a renewed commitment to working together, working across the aisle, working with civility and respect for the traditions of the Senate. I think we will be able to build effectively on the accomplishments we have achieved to date in the 108th Congress. Over the next several days, we have a lot of business, with three essential pieces of business that must be addressed. The nine remaining spending bills for fiscal year 2005 are currently being addressed in what is called an omnibus bill. It is a bipartisan bill. There has been huge progress over the last several weeks as staff and Senators have been working together on this very important bill. Second, we have intelligence matters and an authorization bill for the Intelligence Committee that is currently being addressed, as well as legislation that is currently in conference that addresses the 9/11 Commission reform recommendations, an effort we began to aggressively address in late July once the 9/11 Commission Report was released, and immediately Senator Daschle and I set a course that has been followed pretty much as we intended. That is, following hearings, we would discuss and write a bill in the Senate and pass that bill, and the House likewise. Conferees were appointed several weeks ago, and the conferees have been working constantly to generate and produce a bill that I am very hopeful we will be able to bring to the floor later this week. The third issue is the debt limit. Secretary Snow informs us that we have a short window of opportunity to get the debt limit accomplished. The Treasury Department estimates that Congress must take action by Thursday in order to prevent the Federal Government from defaulting on the debt. Discussions have been underway in the last several days and will be underway today as to how best we accomplish that. We have some scheduling challenges that will occur over the course of this week, a little bit later in the week. It obviously is an issue we will be addressing. I am confident we will be able to take the necessary steps to avoid even any consideration of default. In addition, there are a number of other issues that we will be addressing, such as nominations that we would like to settle in this 108th Congress. Those discussions are underway. We have the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. The House and Senate conferees will be meeting on Wednesday to approve the negotiated language. So I expect we will be able to pass that bill by the end of the week and have it on the President's desk before we adjourn. Briefly, with respect to the schedule today, we will be recessing at 12:30 p.m. in order for the Democratic policy luncheon to meet. This side of the aisle will be conducting our leadership elections in a policy meeting tomorrow. Today, we will reconvene at 2:15 p.m. to begin consideration of the nomination of Francis Harvey to be Secretary of the Army. The order provides for up to 3 hours of debate, and if all that time is used, we will be voting at approximately 5:15 p.m. today. We will be updating Members this afternoon as it becomes clear how much of that debate time will be necessary. We will be having discussions with leadership over the course of the day on the debt extension bill as to how we will plan that out in terms of voting so people will be able to have their schedules accommodated for especially Thursday. As all of our colleagues know, the Clinton Library will be inaugurated at that point in time, and we will be making appropriate accommodations for voting. I mentioned the appropriations process. I do think we are going to be able to carry out closure on those negotiations quickly and that we will have something for action sometime this week. We in all likelihood will remain here this week and finish our work on the appropriations bill--hopefully this week, obviously very late this week. We will keep Senators notified as to the schedule. I mentioned the Intelligence reform bill is still in conference. Members were working late last night and are in through today. As I mentioned, it has been nonstop. I am very hopeful we will be able to complete that bill as well. In short, in closing, there are a very few days remaining. We have a lot of scheduling challenges. I will be looking forward to working with our counterparts on the other side of the aisle in addressing the business with the expectation, if at all possible, that we will be able to complete work this week, which would be the objective. Again, that is a lot to accomplish in the next several days. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 145, which was submitted earlier today.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I also want to reemphasize what the Democratic leader just said. A number of people are coming forward with legislation in the hopes there is some way it can be attached to the omnibus bill because people realize it is an important bill, and it is a bill we have worked on in a bipartisan way to bring to closure, which we will. I encourage our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to understand that we are not going to be including extraneous matter on this bill. That is under mutual agreement with the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in response to the Democratic leader, tremendous progress has been made over the course of the weekend, yesterday, and then over the course of today. We have a number of bills that are involved, as everyone knows, and it is a monumental task that both the staff and the Senators have been asked to do. But huge progress is being made. We will, for the convenience of Senators, not be voting on Thursday during the day. We will have a vote likely Thursday night. It would be an objective to finish the omnibus bill on Friday. I hesitate to say that because a number of Senators have come up and said exactly what is in that omnibus bill. The staff is working with the Senators on the various conferences and the appropriators, and it is very important people be able to see it and have the opportunity to comment on it and debate what is in that bill. Tremendous progress is being made which led me to say that if we stay focused, we should be able to finish our business this week on Friday or Saturday, although, again, we have the intelligence bills to consider.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will begin consideration of the debt limit extension bill. Under the order, there will be up to 6 hours of debate on the measure prior to the vote. It is my expectation that we will use a portion of that debate tomorrow and the remainder of the debate on Thursday. A number of our colleagues will be attending the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library and, therefore, I expect that vote to occur when that delegation returns. As I mentioned this morning, we have a lot of work to do prior to adjournment of this Congress. In addition to the debt limit bill, the Senate must also complete action on the remaining fiscal year 2005 spending bills, the intelligence reform conference report, if available, a number of nominations, and any other conference reports that may become available. It is our intention to finish our work on these items this week. Therefore, Senators should make themselves available for busy days over the remainder of the week. Mr. President, I will be happy to turn to the Democratic leader. If not, I will be putting us into a quorum call for a period of time.

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 related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent to proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5245.

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 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17. 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 the Senate then begin consideration of S. 2986, the debt limit extension bill provided under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that S. 2986 be placed directly on the calendar.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to consideration of S. 2986, the debt limit extension bill; provided that there be 6 hours of debate only, equally divided between the chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee or their designees; provided further that no amendments be in order to the measure, and following the use or yielding back of the time, the Senate proceed to a vote on passage, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements related to the matter be printed in the Record, with no intervening action.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4794, received from the House.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2618 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST

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.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5163.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 791, S. 2280.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5213.

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 be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2283 and that the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.