Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

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

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 the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 774, S. 2526.

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. 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, today is Columbus Day. When we look back on the history of Columbus Day and the history in this body, it was October 12 of 1492, the sailor onboard the Pinta landed, and the next day Christopher Columbus and his three ships landed at the Bahamian Island, ending a nearly 10-week journey across the Atlantic. Today, as we have been working here all day, people have been celebrating Columbus Day all over the United States. It is the day to honor Christopher Columbus's sense of bravery, his curiosity, his dream in making that dream come true, all of which are concepts that are still very much alive and well today in the spirit of Americans. The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day took place on October 12, 1792. That was to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Columbus's landing. A century later, the first official celebration occurred when President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation urging Americans to mark the day. And over the next decades, the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal order, lobbied State legislatures to declare October 12 an official holiday. Colorado was the first to so in 1907, followed by New York in 1909. The Federal Government declared Columbus Day an official holiday in 1971. As we have been working today and as we bring things to a close, we see all of the country marching in parades in our cities and towns, coming together to enjoy families and friends. When I finish, I will celebrate the birthday of my son, which has been put on hold until we adjourn, which will be shortly. It causes us to reflect a little bit about dreaming, curiosity, of the bravery that took place over 500 years ago.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with the Democratic leader.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I want to discuss with the Democratic leader the appointment of conferees to S. 2845, the 9/11 legislation. I am so proud of the Senate's work on this legislation as anything we have done these past 2 years. Chairman Collins, ranking member Lieberman, and all Senators did a superb job in moving this bill forward. There was no partisanship in their Committee and they developed a bill that has been endorsed by both the 9/11 Commissioners and many of the family's personally affected by the 9/11 attack. The Democratic leader and I have worked closely together throughout this process, and I appreciate his leadership and cooperation. Now I hope we can complete the process by appointing conferees today and reaching a final agreement with the House as quickly as possible.

Mr. FRIST. I have a markedly different view than Senator Daschle about some of his legislative history, but I understand his concern. We do have to get this bill right and our side is committed to that. We have to work together in conference just as we worked together in the committee and on the floor. I have talked with Senator Collins, who will lead the Senate conferees, and she has agreed that she will not pursue a conclusion to the conference, nor sign any conference report, that undermines the bipartisan working relationship that has existed in the Senate. If changes are made to the Senate bill, they will be the result of the mutual, good-faith effort to reach agreement among Senate conferees. Moreover, the Democratic leader has my commitment that should the process break down due to disagreements over either substantive matters or extraneous provisions, then I will not bring a conference report to the floor. We are prepared to make these commitments on our side, but want to be sure that we have your commitment to continue to work with us in good faith on this legislation and to complete action as quickly as possible.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that during the adjournment of the Senate, the majority leader, the junior Senator from Alabama, and the senior Senator from Virginia be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills on joint resolutions.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, a good Columbus Day to everyone. We reconvene today for what I expect to be the final day of business before adjournment. Yesterday, we invoked cloture on the conference report to accompany the FSC or JOBS bill. With that vote and the subsequent agreement from last night, we will be able to finish the remaining items before the close of business today. The agreement reached last night provides for a vote on adoption of the FSC conference report at 12 noon. Following that vote, the Senate will vote on the adoption of the Military Construction appropriations conference report and the Homeland Security conference report, along with some other housekeeping matters. As stated last night, we will conduct a rollcall vote on the FSC bill, and all other actions should be completed without the need for further rollcall votes. Therefore, the next vote will be at noon today. That should be the only vote of the day. We will also continue to work through other legislative items that can be cleared by unanimous consent. Again, I thank all Members who were here yesterday as well as Saturday allowing us to invoke cloture on the conference report so that we are now on a glide path to finishing our work today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Senator Specter, I wish to express my appreciation to Senator Cochran, chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, for bringing out of conference $25 million in assistance for 501(c)(3) nonprofits ``determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security to be at high-risk of international terrorist attack.'' I know this was difficult to achieve because the House bill did not have a similar item and due to the loss of the customs users fees as a funding mechanism for our Senate provision. There are a number of compelling reasons for dedicating homeland security funds to nonprofits. First, nonprofits provide vital health, social, community, educational, cultural, and other services to millions of Americans every day. Second, if nonprofits are forced to divert funds to cover the entire cost of security measures, those funds will deplete resources for vital human services, including capacity to respond to disasters. Third, intelligence reports and the 9-11 Commission Report indicate some nonprofits are among the most vulnerable, highest risk institutions. Fourth, nonprofit institutions of all types serve as gathering places for millions of American citizens every day of the year, and finally the security needs of the nonprofit sector have been largely unmet. This assistance is intended for basic security enhancements to protect American citizens from car bombs and other lethal terrorist attacks. This assistance is not intended for facility construction; rather, it is intended to be used for installation of equipment such as concrete barriers, blast-proof doors, Mylar window coatings, security fences and hardened parking lot gates, as well as associated training. The Director of Central Intelligence has stated that al-Qaeda has turned its attention to ``soft targets.'' Terrorists' willingness to attack soft targets of all types has been made readily apparent with attacks in the United States, England, Canada, Israel, Spain, Germany, Iraq, Tunisia, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey, including an international Red Cross building, synagogues, schools, and cultural and community centers. It is my intention, as sponsor with Senator Specter of the Senate provision, that the Secretary should issue regulations to ensure that such funds are disbursed in a manner that ensures basic assistance for the maximum number of institutions and are dedicated to protecting Americans operating or utilizing nonprofits from international terrorist attacks and are not used for other purposes. Once again, I commend the distinguished subcommittee chairman, my good friend Senator Cochran, and my distinguished colleague Senator Specter, on their assistance with this vital initiative to protect our Nation's nonprofits. The question is on agreeing to the conference report to accompany H.R. 4567. The conference report was agreed to.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we are on our final stretch. Before we leave for our adjournment prior to the election, I do want to take a couple of minutes to talk about the pending nominations. The pending nominations have become an issue because it has gotten longer and longer and longer, in terms of the list. I am very disappointed. We have had a hugely successful session. The last 6 weeks and the last 3 days have been tremendously productive, but I am very disappointed that we leave here today stranding about, I believe it is 153 pending nominations that are on the Executive Calendar today. All of us have noted the calendar gets thicker and thicker, and it is because there are 153 nominations that are being held up. For my colleagues, all of them know, but for others listening, these nominations have all been received from the President. The President has made the nominations. All of them have gone through the committee process. All are now available for Senate consideration. That is our responsibility. But now in the last few moments before we finished our business--I am not going to go through the details why, I am not going to rehash why. But we find ourselves in a stalled position with 153 nominees right here who are being obstructed. Some on the other side of the aisle have said they have nominations which they want considered and until that happens everybody is going to be held up. Indeed, that is what has happened. It is a scorched-earth-type policy which should not be tolerated. I am troubled by it. I hear such words as, Well, if I can't have my person or the White House is not sending up the person that I asked for, I am going to punish everybody. That is what has happened. We have 153 people who are on the calendar who are ready and available to go. Many of them have put their lives on hold. They have dedicated themselves to public service. They have gone all the way through the system and they came to this point--to the floor right here--and they are obstructed. On the calendar, ready and available to go are ambassadorships, critical ambassadorships, for example, to Qatar, Estonia, they are representatives to the United Nations who are being held up, nominations to the Department of Housing and Urban Development positions, various positions at the Environmental Protection Agency, to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, to the Department of Education nominations, the Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary being held up, and nominations to African Development being held up. There are more than 25 pages of nominations being held up. These are real people. These are not just names on the calendar. These are real people. They have subjected themselves to the process. They said, Yes, I am willing to serve, but they are being obstructed. Most of these nominations have gone all the way through the system without any opposition and for most there is absolutely no controversy with their particular nomination. But they are being held hostage. They are being held hostage, I believe unreasonably, and it should not be tolerated. It is within a Senator's right to do that, but to me it is just wrong. These are people committed to public service. There is no controversy about them as individuals. They are being held hostage. I understand this is not the first time we failed to act on nominations or the first time nominations have been held up to unrelated issues. But I am disappointed that there are Members in this body who have taken to such an extreme position--25 pages of nominations. This whole concept of putting blanket holds on everybody and holding everybody hostage simply is not appropriate and I believe is a disservice to the country. But that is what is happening. To me it is not responsible. It is not legislating responsibly. Senators do have those individual rights, and, boy, we have seen individual rights being used today and yesterday and the day before. Those are the rules of the Senate. But again, I plea that people respect this process and be reasonable and allow these nominations to be considered and taken up in a way which allows us to act on these deserving people in a reasonable way--a way that would allow us to proceed with our constitutional duties. The Senate has to approve these individuals with advice and consent. We can't give advice and consent if there is this wholesale obstruction. Again, I wanted to make sure everybody is heard in the nomination process. But the obstruction of not being able to consider them is unreasonable. With all that said--I said I wasn't going to rehash the why's--I am very disturbed by the process and disappointed by Senate colleagues. With that said, we will return in November. I hope that once past the election--if that is why there is this wholesale hostage holding, if that is why it is, once we get past the election being settled--we will be able to focus our attention on the calendar. I hope we can return to the regular order and allow the Senate to act on these nominees. These are people who believe in public service. I believe public service and their consideration of public service is a noble cause. Let's not leave them on hold indefinitely. Many of them are listening to the fact that they will not get through to me right now.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent 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 Environment and Public Works Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2691, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Lieberman amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a moment we will be adjourning until November 16. As always, the adjournment resolution provides for both Houses of Congress to be called back into session if the public interest shall warrant it. If it were necessary for the Senate to reconvene prior to this November 16 date, certainly Senators would be given ample time to make arrangements. If not called back, we would reconvene on that Tuesday, November 16. During that week, the Senate will try to finish up any remaining work prior to the official sine die adjournment. In addition, both parties will be conducting their respective leadership elections in the early part of that week as well as the orientation program for newly elected Members. Thus, the next rollcall vote will occur on Tuesday, November 16, around 5:15, if all debate is necessary, and that vote will be on the nomination to the position of Secretary of the Army. Again we have further business that week, including the remaining appropriations process. I do wish everyone a safe and hopefully restful few weeks. Many of our colleagues will be campaigning across the country and most have departed and started that process now. Hopefully, everyone in the Chamber will have well-deserved time to spend with family and with friends. We have had, as I said again and again, a very productive 6 weeks, and an unusual weekend and holiday session in order to complete our business. I will not review the bills we passed today, but the long list of bills that we passed today, the business we went through very quickly over the last 15 or 20 minutes, again, represents substantial work, thousands and thousands of person-hours of work with legislation that is to the benefit of men and women and families all over America. I thank the staff. Viewers can see us here now, but behind us are hundreds of people still here at this late hour. They have been here all day today and over the last 2 days, well into each evening. I thank them. I thank the police officers who protect us every day, and I thank the cloakroom staff, the doorkeepers, the legislative clerks, the reporters who were here throughout the weekend and today and tonight, especially the pages who are with us from early every morning from the time before we get here and stay until after we leave--really, everyone. The list goes on and on around the Capitol complex to keep this place running. I thank the Presiding Officer. I have been here a lot over the last 2 or 3 days and he has been here equal to me. Every time I am here, I see him here as well. I thank the Presiding Officer because we have run on probably about 3 hours after any Members anticipated. Very important comments needed to be made and I know we have inconvenienced a lot of people in staying around to allow everyone to speak what they felt to be important.

Mr. FRIST

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