Bill Frist

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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, today we passed the budget resolution 56 to 44. I want to end what has been a very productive week on this budget resolution--the debate and the vote earlier this afternoon--by congratulating the chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Nickles, for doing an outstanding job in terms of leadership, in terms of keeping this train moving on time, so that legislative process will be able to go forward in a timely way. In addition, there are so many others to thank, but in particular I thank Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire, who spent so much time on the floor debating the various amendments and supporting the budget resolution and its ultimate passage today. In addition, on that committee, there are seven new Republican members. I thank them. The budget process is one that I had the opportunity to address first through that committee in my first 8 years in the Senate. I know it has been an eye-opening experience for them. They did a tremendous job in supporting their leader, their chairman in accomplishing this resolution passage today. In addition--and it has been mentioned on the floor several times this afternoon since we voted on the bill--we have had a very cooperative spirit. People have been able to express their opinions, to debate, to articulate their views as to what is appropriate to establish their priorities. But at the end of today-- this afternoon, shortly after 4 o'clock--I think we can all be proud, on both sides of the aisle, for developing a product that reflects that debate, that reflects the will of the Senate. I congratulate Members on the other side of the aisle, the ranking member, Senator Kent Conrad, the assistant Democratic leader, Harry Reid, and Minority Leader Daschle for their cooperation in moving this resolution to a conclusion today. I thank the staffs. It has been done on the floor already today, but I thank the staffs, under the direction of Hazen Marshall and Mary Naylor, for their long hours and dedication to the process. We saw their participation here on the floor. And in addition to that time on the floor, they have spent many hours developing this budget, they and their staff. I thank them because without their hard work, their tremendous dedication, what we have accomplished today simply would not have been possible. Today, we did accomplish a lot in passing this budget resolution. I say that because it was on the backdrop of last year, where we were unable even to bring a budget to the floor of the Senate. We were unable to ever see the conclusion that we saw today in this vote. I understand--and we all understand--this is the first step, the next is the conference, and then the reconciliation. But what we have done today is to establish the framework for that legislative process. It has taken a lot of cooperation on both sides of the aisle. The resolution today, in terms of the jobs and growth package, is, indeed, less than what I had preferred as we come forward. But the majority of people in this body did speak today. I do want to tell the Members on our side of the aisle that I will continue to work to achieve the growth in this resolution because I think it is important. In fact, it is incumbent upon us to address those jobs and growth issues to stimulate the economy, both in the short term, midterm, and long term. Again, that process has just begun. The resolution today accomplishes a lot. I am not going to go through the various priorities that were placed, but it establishes fiscal discipline on the spending side. It does that through what we call pay-go and certain spending caps. But it is important the American people understand that what we have done is slowed that growth of spending, which is absolutely critical to do in this environment of deficits. It strengthens and improves Medicare. That is our health care system and program for our seniors and our individuals with disabilities. It takes a major step forward to strengthen and improve that program so that we can better serve our seniors, so they will have more security in terms of their health in the future. In terms of our national defense and homeland security needs, it sets those parameters to accommodate that necessary funding, as spelled out by the Budget Committee, by the priorities in the Senate, and the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. Fourthly, it increases funding for that much broader spectrum of education in an unprecedented way. It includes education K-12, IDEA-- that is the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act--for title I, and then there is veterans health and an initiative that is important to this body, global HIV/AIDS. But you wrap all that together and, most importantly, I think what we accomplished today is that we allow this legislative process to continue in an orderly, systematic way, to accomplish our responsibilities in this institution of the Senate. We are on course to finish the conference report of this budget by April 11. The law says that we do it by April 15. I think, just as we have today, we will be able to pass that in advance, not just on time, but in advance a few days. Again, I thank Chairman Nickles for being so instrumental in this process.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand the following bills are at the desk, and I ask that they be read for the first time, en bloc: S. 711, S. 712, S. 718, and S. 721.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now ask for their second reading and object to further proceeding on these matters, en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that S. Con. Res. 30, which was submitted earlier today by Senators Lugar and Biden, be held at the desk.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 27. 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 for their use later in the day, and there then be a period for morning business until 11 a.m., with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, for the information of Senators, the Senate will be in a period for morning business until 11 a.m. Under a previous order, at 11 a.m., the Senate will proceed to the consideration of H.R. 1307, the military tax bill, for 3 hours of debate. The Senate will vote on passage of the military tax bill at approximately 2 p.m. In addition, there are several judicial nominations which may be cleared for votes during tomorrow's session. We are also attempting to reach an agreement for the consideration of S. Con. Res. 30 which expresses the gratitude of the United States to the nations participating with the U.S. in the coalition to disarm Iraq. Members, therefore, should expect rollcall votes throughout the day tomorrow.

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 provisions of S. Res. 99 as a further mark of respect for our friend and colleague, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, following the remarks of Senator Sessions for up to 10 minutes.

Mr. FRIST

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, for the information of all Senators, we will be voting on amendments to the budget resolution this morning. The chairman and ranking member of the Budget Committee have exchanged copies of the only amendments that remain in order. We have a number of amendments to dispose of prior to a final vote on this resolution. With the cooperation of all Members, we will be able to move through the remaining amendments in an efficient and orderly manner. It would be helpful if Members would remain in the Chamber during voting. I warn Members in advance that, following the first vote, the remaining votes will be limited to 10 minutes. The practice of 10-minute votes is to allow a grace period of 5 minutes, that is a total of 15 minutes, after which these votes will be terminated. We will not extend a vote beyond that time, and thus Members should not stray far from the Chamber. As a reminder, the order entered into last Friday is that the Senate will proceed to a final vote on the budget resolution no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Therefore, I advise my colleagues that we have a lot of work before us over the course of today and tomorrow.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, all time is yielded back. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the last vote.

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, for the information of our colleagues, the managers will be here shortly. They are looking at the amendments. As I said earlier, the Democrats have developed 40 amendments and the Republicans have 17 amendments. Once we start voting on these amendments, I expect they will be rapid-fire today. Once again, I request the presence of all Senators on the floor once that voting begins. I will expect the first vote to begin close to 9:45 or 9:50. Both managers are working at this point to develop the order of those amendments as we go forward. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I call up Specter amendment No. 401.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. That is correct. The Democratic leader and the majority leader will be meeting with the President of the United States for a period of about 30 minutes to discuss the war. There will be a pause, and then after 10:45 we would expect votes to occur with 10-minute intervals thereafter.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period for morning business.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in wrap-up a little bit later tonight, we will be more specific, but for our colleagues, on Monday we will not be having votes, but we will be in session. We will talk about the day. We will not be voting on Monday. We need to have everybody here on time Tuesday because we will be voting in a vote-athon, as we have come to call it, starting early in the morning. We want people to make plans accordingly. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will comment and then turn to the chairman of the Budget Committee. I want to briefly say this and close my remarks by expressing my appreciation to our caucus and to the chairman of the Budget Committee, and especially to the leadership on the other side of the aisle and the ranking member. As most people know, we have been negotiating and discussing in the last several hours how to bring to closure what we all know is a big challenge, given the number of amendments that we have before us. We put our heads together and, after a lot of conversation and, as the Democratic leader said, basing a lot of what we are setting out to do over the next several days on trust, came up with an agreement that is not perfect on either side, but it is the best we can do to give some finite closure to this challenge. In addition, we have had a very good week. It is late on a Friday night and our colleagues have worked very hard. Indeed, we had very good and productive discussions. We have done a number of amendments. I congratulate the ranking member and chairman in bringing those to the floor and having good debate today. In addition to that, the resolution we agreed to sent a very important signal to our troops, our military, and our Commander in Chief: our gratitude, respect, and support. So we have actually accomplished a lot this week. We were unable to fulfill what I had initially hoped, and that was to pass the budget resolution by late tonight. But given the fact that at this hour we still have many outstanding amendments, I am very pleased with the agreement. I thank the leadership and the chairman and ranking member.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, the ranking member of the Budget Committee provide to the chairman a list of 40 amendments, and the chairman provide to the ranking member a list of no more than 40 amendments, which would then be in order to be offered to the budget resolution; I also ask unanimous consent that the Senate then resume consideration of the budget resolution at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday and, at that time, it be in order for the majority leader or the Democratic leader or their designees to offer amendments from the respective list, and the Senate would then proceed to votes in relation to the amendments as provided for under the Budget Act, with 2 minutes for debate equally divided prior to the vote, with relevant second- degree amendments; provided that no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of S. Con. Res. 23, with no intervening action or debate. I further ask consent that immediately upon passage of the resolution, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H. Con. Res 95, the House budget resolution; further, all after the resolving clause be stricken and the text of S. Con. Res. 23, as amended, be inserted in lieu thereof, the resolution be adopted, and the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Chair then be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 2 p.m., Monday, March 24. 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 for their use later in the day, and the Senate then begin a period of morning business until 5 p.m., with the time equally divided between the majority and the minority leaders or their designees.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. In America this morning, there are several families who have awakened to the worst possible news: the death in combat of a father, a brother, or a son. In our thoughts and prayers today, I ask my colleagues to remember those who have sacrificed so much on the battlefields in the Persian Gulf. Every life is precious. Our mission goes on. Our military will complete the course our leaders have set. In the Senate and in everyday life, we should honor that sacrifice in how we comport ourselves. Our service men and women are honorable, patriotic Americans, serving the cause of liberty, our liberty. I pray to God that we who have the honor to represent them continue to act in a manner worthy of them. In this difficult time, I ask my colleagues to measure their words to remember those who are privileged to serve and to aspire to that same level of greatness. We will debate and we will disagree. We will differ in how we vote, but we are all Americans. The losses we have incurred will serve as a constant reminder for how fortunate we are for just that.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. For the information of all Senators, on Monday the Senate will be in a period of morning business throughout the afternoon. There will be no rollcall votes on Monday. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the constructive week we have had. Under the previous agreement, we now have a time certain for passage of the budget resolution, and I thank my colleagues for their cooperation. The Senate will return to the budget resolution on Tuesday morning at 9:30 and immediately begin a long series of stacked rollcall votes. Members are encouraged to remain in the Chamber during Tuesday's session as numerous votes are expected. With the cooperation of all Senators, we can reach a final vote on the resolution in a timely manner.