Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. We will be leaving here shortly. I will mention what time we may have votes on Monday afternoon. I do hope that we can use as a goal Monday completion of these committee resolutions. There are a number of issues that we are working on, but until the committees are organized, assignments are made, we cannot fully address the issues before us. Senators should anticipate a busy week next week as we address a whole range of issues, including the committee resolutions; and then, I should add the appropriations, which is the next big challenge for us-- the 11 appropriations bills that we were unable to finish in the 107th Congress. I very much would like to have as a goal by the end of next week completion, if at all possible, of that unfinished business. I think we should remain in session--and this is unfinished business from the last session--until we finish the committee resolutions, as well as the appropriations. I hope Senators can plan their schedules accordingly. Rollcall votes are possible during each day next week, including Monday, although we would not have a vote before Monday at 5 o'clock. We don't anticipate any votes. We don't know absolutely for sure that we will have a vote at that point in time, but I think it is important to proceed in that direction with the business before us. I want to thank my colleagues for their cooperation and all the kindness they have shown in the last few days as I have taken on this new position. We have addressed a number of issues that are important to the American people during this first week of the 108th Congress. If I may look back over the last several days, it has been one of active negotiation. It is not all that apparent to the world at large, but we have had action and accomplishment and achievement. It has been a productive start. By working together over the course of the last week, there are three things in addition to the debate on the floor that we have been able to accomplish. One is the unemployment insurance, which, again, working in a bipartisan way, we were able to pass within several hours of opening the session. That will aid thousands of our fellow citizens in need. It is a problem that we addressed in this body before. We were able to address it in a very cooperative spirit, and we have accomplished that. A number of us had the pleasure of meeting with the President 2 days later as he signed that bill. That is to the benefit of Americans. Secondly, we passed a continuing resolution that will keep our Government functioning and give us the time we need to complete the spending bills, the appropriations bills, that I mentioned earlier. Third, just a few minutes ago, we wrapped up one other issue that came from the 107th Congress, one report. To our colleagues who are here and are listening, that was a promise made in the 107th Congress that we have been able to fulfill in the last few minutes. Many will recall that immediately prior to passage of the homeland security bill in the Senate, Senator Lott secured an agreement with Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader DeLay to revisit in this Congress certain provisions in the homeland security bill. I am pleased to tell my colleagues that we have done just that in a manner that is acceptable to our Members. We have reached agreement. The changes will be included in the omnibus appropriations bill that I hope we will be able to consider shortly. The specifics of that will be released in the coming days. I thank Speaker Hastert for his willingness to work with the Senate to address these specific issues. I thank Majority Leader DeLay for his assistance, and I thank Senators Chafee, Collins, and Snowe for their cooperation, as well as Senators Gregg and Roberts for their assistance. In closing, I wish to acknowledge the help of my colleagues because, as I said in my opening remarks, the spirit of working together in cooperation, I know--I absolutely know--will be to the benefit of the American people. I hope the 108th Congress will be increasingly characterized by that spirit of cooperation. On Tuesday, we promised the American people we would get right to work. We have in a strong bipartisan way. It has been a good week. We extended the unemployment insurance, we passed the continuing resolution, and we have made good on a promise to revisit those provisions in the homeland security bill. I am delighted to report that after 72 hours, I got voice mail in my office.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements regarding this matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 141, which was introduced earlier today by Senators Snowe, Bond, Kerry, and others.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Will the Senator yield for one more question?

Mr. FRIST. If the Senator would yield for a question, the answer to his question is yes; I would like, as a percentage of GDP, the deficit to be as low as possible. That is correct.

Mr. FRIST. Is it not true, though, that even at the worst projected deficit in the very article that the Senator read for 2003, as a percentage of GDP, about $10.5 trillion, is less than it would be in 1992?

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H.J. Res. 1, the short-term continuing resolution which is at the desk; further, that the resolution be read the third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended until 3 p.m., with the time equally divided, and that Senators be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning there will be a period of morning business for 2 hours, until 11:30 a.m., for Senators to speak and introduce bills. Today, we expect to receive from the House a continuing resolution. It is my hope that we will be able to take up that measure and pass it in short order. We also hope to have the committee resolutions completed so that we can get the committees up and running so they can all begin their work for the 108th Congress. Yesterday, the Republican conference approved our membership and, therefore, we would like to have the respective party committee resolutions passed today if at all possible. Over the course of the morning we will be talking leadership to leadership to establish a timetable, but hopefully that can be done today in terms of the committee composition and chairmanships. Senators should know that rollcall votes are possible today. We will let Senators know the timing of votes as soon as they are scheduled. Also, Senators should be aware that if we are unable to complete our work today, there could be rollcall votes on Friday. I yield the floor. (Mr. ALEXANDER assumed the chair.)

Mr. FRIST. Yes.

Mr. FRIST. I understand. It is absolutely critical that we finish much of the business from last year. There are 11 appropriations bills that are very dependent on us having the committee resolutions passed. Hopefully that can be done as soon as possible. We made real progress yesterday. I am very hopeful, over the course of today, we can come to some conclusion with that, and then we would be able to have the appropriations meetings and be able to address the spending bills--11 of those spending bills that are critically important to this country-- over the course of Friday and next week. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I renew my original request.

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

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am obviously disappointed with this objection for the reasons that I have set out. There are 750,000 people and their dependents who depend on these distributions, as well as another 2\1/2\ million people. We had been told this had been cleared on both sides after a lot of hard work. I am obviously disappointed, because this is the first move out for me, after it had been cleared on both sides, but I guess that is what I can come to expect. I do hope that my colleagues will rethink today's objection and allow us, for the reasons I have said, to have this cleared later today. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in my unanimous consent request, I wanted to close what has become some debate here and basically say that we have an opportunity--and I believe an obligation--to finish up the business that we didn't finish in the last Congress, on which we have an opportunity to take the next very important step, which will affect the lives of 750,000 people after next Thursday, which doesn't have anything to do with the House or the Senate. Thursday is the deadline for these checks. If they don't go out, it affects 750,000 people. The 5 months' extension that is being proposed here also affects the lives of about 2\1/2\ million other people who will be enrolling over that period. Because we worked so hard on both sides of the aisle over so many months and weeks--and over the last several days--I didn't recognize that we would get to a point now where we would have so many reservations of the right to object. We are talking about Thursday, checks not going out, a dislocation affecting 750,000 people, an additional 2\1/2\ million, if we don't address this today. With that, I will call for the regular order.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in response to the question by the Senator from Rhode Island, it is clear we are not solving the problem today. Because of the reality of scheduling, and in part because of what happened in the last Congress, we are faced with the reality that if we do not act today, there are going to be as many as 750,000 people who will have a disruption in benefits as of Thursday. I believe the House is going out tomorrow. We have a compromise on both sides of the aisle we have been working on that was agreed to--worked on by Senators Clinton, Fitzgerald, Nickles, Specter, Cantwell, and a range of people. I understand what we are doing today, if this is accepted by unanimous consent, is taking care of the 750,000 people who will be able to continue to receive their benefits. I know there is a lot more to do. I am not sure it is necessary to go over everything that is in the bill. Basically, what the compromise does is extend unemployment benefits from December 28--which was while we were all out on vacation--up until June 1, 2003, which is an additional 5 months of coverage. That is what we would be agreeing to today, well recognizing there are other issues in addition to this that we are going to have to do as we go forward on this issue. The compromise, I should also add, since some of the details were brought up, also provides coverage allowing benefits to be phased out rather than just shut off immediately when the program ends. President Bush has made it very clear that the extension of unemployment benefits is a top priority. On both sides of the aisle, we have tried to come together. Given the circumstances of having been on our recent holiday, I would like to see us respond in a timely manner, meaning now, through the unanimous consent request, recognizing there is more work to do as we go forward. The President, as we speak, or in the last hours, has addressed other parts of reemployment. At the end of the day, people want the checks, but what they really want are the jobs. There are other ways we will continue to address that in the future. I urge my colleagues, very soon, to take the regular order--I will not call for it at this point--so we can take this first important step very significant to the American people, many of whom are not going to see their checks unless we act, and act today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, a number of Senators on both sides of the aisle have been very aggressively working on this legislation for, indeed, several months and most intensively over the last several days. I believe we have reached a bipartisan agreement to allow us to pass the bill today so that the House will consider it and in order for it to become public law this week. As most of my colleagues in the Senate Chamber know, if this bill is not passed by Thursday and signed by the President of the United States, there will be tremendous dislocation among the American people. With that, I urge that we proceed with the underlying unanimous consent.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. 23, an unemployment insurance extension bill introduced today by Senators Fitzgerald, Clinton, and others; further, that the bill be read the third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. FRIST. I send a resolution to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, 35 of our colleagues have just sworn the oath of a United States Senator. I wish to congratulate all 35 of our colleagues, the 11 new Members and the 24 returning to this Chamber. I also want to welcome back to the Senate the rest of our esteemed colleagues, the former Members and the many friends that we have with us today, and family members--all who have joined us on what is truly a historic day as we convene the 108th Congress. The very special tradition that we have just witnessed dates back to that first Congress in 1789, when that oath was a very simple one sentence, the oath being: I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. Those words in the version that we just heard recited--when you come down to the essence--are a truly sacred bond that we all share in this body, regardless of what status, what State, what party, or what rank and what creed we represent. Indeed, it is my hope that in this Congress we will be defined by achievement as well as a cooperative spirit. At this point in time, our Nation faces truly historic challenges-- winning the war against terror, boosting economic growth, job creation, addressing multiple health care challenges that now have become crises, and ensuring our agenda is inclusive of all Americans. I look forward to working with our colleagues both on our side of the aisle and on the other side of the aisle--in particular with my colleague from South Dakota, Senator Daschle--to ensure that we succeed. I am convinced that we will find, based on our own principles, common ground to bridge this aisle between us. As majority leader of the Senate, I pledge to serve this body, to serve the people of Tennessee, and to serve the American people to the best of my ability. I will remain guided by those same timeless principles of our founding documents. And, above all, I hope to enable this body to continue to contribute to the greatness of all Americans. (Applause, Senators rising.)