Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2315 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, April 28. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and following the time for the two leaders the Senate then begin a period for morning business for up to 60 minutes, with the first half of the time under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the second half of the time under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee; provided further, that following that 60 minutes, the Senate resume consideration of S. 150, the Internet tax bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow morning, following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Internet tax bill. As I mentioned, I hope we can reach an agreement to address this Internet tax bill, hopefully with some amendments, over the course of tomorrow. That is going to take cooperation from both sides of the aisle. Rollcall votes are possible during tomorrow's session. We have a few more issues remaining. I think we can settle them in the next few minutes. At this juncture, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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 send a cloture motion to the desk on the pending McCain substitute amendment.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk on the pending Domenici amendment.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the live quorum with respect to the three cloture votes be waived.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 150, a bill relating to the taxation of Internet access. I remind my colleagues that the moratorium on these taxes expired last year. Last year we began consideration of the bill; however, it was set aside to allow the principals involved in the legislation an opportunity to try to negotiate a resolution. I have put everyone on notice that we would resume consideration this week, and it is time to proceed with this important legislation. I had hoped the Senate would resume the bill today; however, there was an objection to proceeding from both sides of the aisle. Therefore, today, at 5:30 p.m., the Senate will conduct a rollcall vote on invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 150. I encourage Members to allow us to go forward and begin consideration of this bill. Members may want to offer other alternatives to the underlying moratorium; therefore, I hope that cloture can be invoked so we can allow amendments to come forward. If we are able to proceed to the bill, then I expect amendments and votes throughout this week, with the expectation of finishing the bill prior to the week's end.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today, the Senate will conduct a period of morning business until 2 p.m. I ask unanimous consent that the time be equally divided.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as I have announced on several occasions, we intend to begin consideration of the Internet tax access legislation next week. To review for a moment, the bill was reported by the Commerce Committee on September 29 of last year and the Finance Committee on October 29. The Senate began consideration of the bill on November 6 of last year. Since that time, there have been many discussions as to how to best proceed through this issue. I understand Members have been continuing their efforts to find a solution, but it is time to come forward and debate the underlying issue. It would be my hope to begin consideration of the bill on Monday, and Senators could offer their amendments and the Senate could then work its will on the moratorium. I understand some of my colleagues desire to delay this bill, but I would respectfully say it is now time to start the process and begin the debate. Having said that, at this point I would have asked consent that at 1 p.m. on Monday, April 26, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 353, S. 150, a bill relating to taxes on Internet access. Given the objections from Members on both sides of the aisle, I will withhold that request. cloture motion I now move to proceed to the consideration of S. 150. I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. FRIST. I now ask consent that the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived and the vote occur on the motion to invoke cloture at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 26.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I believe the process needs to initially focus on the major issues--overall funding, claims values, and projections. If we can make progress on this front, I strongly believe we can resolve the others.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today we had a vote on the motion to proceed to the asbestos bill. As a followup to that vote, the Democratic leader and I have been in discussions over the course of the day. Unfortunately, we have yet to work through the legislative impasse on asbestos. However, there are Senators on both sides of the aisle who are committed to getting something done. This morning Senator Daschle and I confirmed our understanding that we must provide an opportunity for negotiations which will determine whether a bipartisan solution can be reached. We will oversee a mediation process to determine whether we can resolve the remaining differences. My hope is we can work through this quickly.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. On Monday at 2 p.m. the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the Internet tax bill. This is a piece of legislation that was on the floor for debate only last November. However, minutes ago I was forced to file cloture in order to bring the bill back for consideration. The cloture vote on the motion to proceed will occur at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, and that will be the next rollcall vote. It is my hope cloture will be invoked and we can move forward with debate on the bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, briefly in response, I understand the importance of setting dates and also of having a sense of urgency, since we do have victims who are suffering today. We will have more to say about overall timing when I have a colloquy with the Democratic leader a little bit later today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am disappointed that we did not invoke cloture on the asbestos reform bill. As I have said numerous times in recent days, this is an important issue, an issue we are not going to give up on. It is too important to the American people. It is an issue with victims, with veterans, with all people who are affected by asbestos. It would be a great disservice just to drop this issue; therefore, we are not going to drop it. We have devoted now more than 300 days trying to work out the details of this bill, which I do believe is more than adequate time to reach consensus. Thus, later today, the Democratic leader and I--we have been in discussion over the course of the morning--will be discussing on the Senate floor a possible method of moving these discussions forward with the stakeholders over the next several days and possibly weeks. We will engage in a colloquy later in the day as to what that specific proposal will be. I am confident we can make progress on this important issue, that we can move the stakeholders to a final agreement. I say that because people just saw the vote and that does not close the door in any way. In fact, it inspires us to work together more over the next several days and weeks. For the information of Senators, next we will begin consideration of S. 2329, which is the victims' rights bill. It was introduced yesterday by Senators Kyl, Feinstein, and others. The order provides for up to 2 hours of debate before the vote on passage of that bill. That vote will likely be the last vote of this week. Following the victims' rights bill, we will turn to, in the early part of next week, Monday, the Internet access tax bill. Discussions have been underway over the course of the morning and afternoon on that bill as to when we will actually begin consideration, and later this afternoon, I will have more to say about that bill. As I believe I said this morning, following completion of the Internet tax bill, we will be turning to FSC/ETI, the JOBS bill. That is several days from now. Mr. President, again, I am very disappointed in the cloture vote today, but we will be back, and I will talk more about that this afternoon.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today it adjourn until 1 p.m. on Monday, April 26. I further ask that, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and following the time for the two leaders the Senate begin a period of morning business until 2 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each; provided that at 2 p.m. the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 353, S. 150, the Internet tax bill, and at 5:30 p.m. the Senate proceed to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed, as provided under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Dayton.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I understand H.R. 2844 is at the desk. I ask for its first reading.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to comment on the passage today of the Crime Victims' Rights Act. I am gratified by the overwhelming, bipartisan support for this crucial legislation. I especially thank the Senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl, and the Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, for their labor over the past several years on behalf of a constitutional amendment, and for their efforts over the past days to write into Federal law appropriate protections for victims of crime across the country. Without their dedication we would not have this victory. While a constitutional amendment is preferable, this victims' rights Federal statute represents a significant improvement over the status quo. It ensures that crime victims have the right to fair treatment in the criminal justice system. It will give crime victims new legal standing to enforce their rights in court. Too often, victims are shut out of the criminal justice process. They aren't informed of hearings, plea deals, trial dates and sentencing, or of parole hearings once their attacker is convicted. The system rightly strives to protect the rights of defendants. But too often it overlooks the rights of the victims. Take, for example, the case of Jeanne Brykalski of Knoxville, TN. Nine years ago, Jeanne lost both of her parents in a double homicide. It was a Friday night, Jeanne's parents, Lester and Carol Dotts, went out for dinner. When they returned, they surprised three burglars in the act of looting their home. Jeanne's mother was shot seven times, once at point-blank range in the head. Her father was shot six times, first in the neck and then repeatedly while he lay crumpled on the floor. The assailants seized Jeanne's mother's purse. And in a final grisly act, stole her father's wallet from his back pocket as he lay dying. Jeanne's parents would have celebrated their 45th anniversary that summer. She tells my office: Something like this you never get over. At first you don't sleep. You can't sleep, because when you close your eyes, horrible images flood your mind. When you finally can sleep, that's when the nightmares come. Jeanne found out about the first of the three perpetrators' public hearings on the front page of the local paper. As Jeanne recounts it, one morning before work, her husband went outside to fetch the paper from the delivery box. He came back in and tossed it on the kitchen table, telling her, ``You'll want to read this.'' Says Jeanne: I saw the headline, and of course had to keep reading. And then I found out for the first time the gruesome details of how my parents were murdered. I completely fell apart. And I still had to go to work that day. Jeanne says it took a long time for the justice system to acknowledge her need to be a part of the process. In fact, on three occasions, she showed up for hearings that she was never told were canceled. The youngest of the perpetrators was plea bargained without Jeanne and her husband being informed. Her experience with the system led her to become a volunteer for the East Tennessee Victims' Rights Task Force. Says Jeanne: All we want is equality and fair play in the courtroom. We want to be treated with courtesy and respect. I don't think that's too much to ask for. Mr. President, nor do I. And that is why I strongly support the Crime Victims' Rights Act and look forward to getting this bill to the President's desk. My home State of Tennessee has a Victims Bill of Rights. It was passed in November of 1998. Anna Whalley, clinical coordinator of the Shelby County Crime Victims Center, tells my office that the law has improved the status of victims in the Tennessee justice system. Judges are now getting used to seeing victims in their courtrooms and are making their courtrooms more comfortable and accommodating. Because the Tennessee law does not provide funding, however, victims continue to fall through the cracks. There simply is not enough money to stay on top of all of the cases and keep victims informed throughout the judicial process. The Crime Victims' Rights Act wisely addresses this problem. It provides legal assistance grants to help local law enforcement agencies promote victims' rights. It also authorizes over $97 million over the next 5 years to broadly carry out the legislation's goals. Mr. President, we are not all the way there. Our ultimate goal is to pass a victims' rights constitutional amendment. But this legislation represents a significant leap forward. I thank my colleagues for their support today. As we all agree, victims have rights, too.