Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I send a second degree to the desk.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now send a cloture motion to the desk on the pending first-degree amendment.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now send a second degree to the desk.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate come out of morning business and return to the pending bill.

Mr. FRIST. I ask the mandatory quorum for both motions be waived.

Mr. FRIST. I move to commit the bill to the Judiciary Committee, with instructions to report back forthwith, with an amendment, and I send the motion to the desk.

Mr. FRIST. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion.

Mr. FRIST. I send a first-degree amendment to the desk.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. FRIST. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 582, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 583, 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. 630, H.R. 5074.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, 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. I am happy to yield.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this afternoon, we have an order for a period for the transaction of morning business so that Senators can come to the Chamber to introduce legislation and make statements. Order of Procedure I now ask unanimous consent that the period extend until 5:20 p.m., with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, at 5:20 p.m., we have an order to proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Francisco Besosa to be U.S. district judge for the District of Puerto Rico. The agreement provides for 10 minutes of debate prior to a vote on the nomination, which will occur at 5:30 p.m. I have said repeatedly over the last days and weeks that we will be finishing our work at the end of this week. Accordingly, I ask for the cooperation of all of our colleagues as we bring together a lot of legislation that has been produced over a long period of time, but over the course of the week it will be a challenge to consider all of that legislation. It is going to take cooperation and working together to allow us to continue to govern with these meaningful solutions, challenges, and issues which have been set before us. We have the pending border fence legislation that we will need to complete. We have legislation relating to the terrorist tribunals, the military commissions, the Hamdan decision that will be considered and finished prior to adjournment. In addition, we have several conferences that will be completed in the next several days--Defense appropriations and Homeland Security appropriations--that we absolutely must finish this week as well. Other legislation, such as port security, is being worked on very aggressively, and I believe we should be able to finish that bill and bring it to the floor as well. We have a very small window in which to complete our business over the next 6 days. I have said our intention is to finish on Friday, although if we are unable to do that, of course, we will be here on Saturday to wrap things up. I will update my colleagues over the course of the week on progress that is being made and how that affects plans. At this point, cooperation is key and flexibility with people's schedules will be key in order that we get our work done and leave at the end of the week.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there are four bills at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings en bloc.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business.