Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send two resolutions to the desk appointing the Senate legal counsel and deputy legal counsel and ask they be considered en bloc and agreed to en bloc and they be printed in the Record separately.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send five Senate resolutions to the desk and ask that they be appropriately referred en bloc and that they appear as introduced separately in the Congressional Record. They are: A Senate resolution regarding the rule XVI change, legislation on appropriations bills; a Senate resolution regarding procedures in the Senate for consideration of emergency legislation; a Senate resolution regarding budget process reforms; a Senate resolution regarding extending the Special Committee of the Year 2000; and a Senate resolution regarding rules changes to general appropriations bills.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that access to the Senate wing, the Senate floor, and the Senate Chamber galleries, during all proceedings involving the exhibition or consideration of the articles of impeachment of the President of the United States, and all times that the Senate is sitting for trial with the Chief Justice of the United States presiding, be in accordance with the allocations and provisions on the documents I now send to the desk.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the Senate limited access to the Senate wing of the Capitol, the Senate floor, and the Senate galleries to those with official business and those with tickets to the proceedings. Over the Christmas holidays, staff of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, including the Parliamentarian, legislative clerk and others, and staff of the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, and others, have reviewed the historical precedents but also considered what we could do to facilitate the public's access to the proceedings while taking into account contemporary security requirements and the flow of business here in the Chamber. Staff have recommended some restrictions to the access of the Senate wing, floor, and galleries coupled with a ticketing system that will make as many seats in the gallery available to the public and others as is possible for us to do. Accordingly, in a few minutes I will ask unanimous consent be given to a set of policies that reflect the staff recommendations which will confine access to the Senate floor and galleries and to the second and third floors of the Senate wing of the Capitol during the consideration of the articles of impeachment and at all times the Chief Justice is presiding. I thank the distinguished Democratic leader for his efforts and his cooperation in this matter. We have been very careful to make sure we reviewed all the precedents, all the rules; that he has had a chance to check off on these rules, as I have. And I wish to thank all staff who researched the precedent and evaluated current conditions to develop these recommendations. Before seeking unanimous consent, however, I will now yield to the assistant Democratic leader.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the duration of the 106th Congress, the Ethics Committee be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the duration of the 106th Congress, when the Senate is in recess or adjournment, the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to receive messages from the President of the United States, and--with the exception of House bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions--messages from the House of Representatives; and that they be appropriately referred; and that the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the Acting President pro tempore be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills and joint resolutions.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, for the duration of the 106th Congress, the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to make technical and clerical corrections in the engrossment of all Senate-passed bills and resolutions, Senate amendments to House bills and resolutions, Senate amendments to House amendments to Senate bills and resolutions, and Senate amendments to House amendments to Senate amendments to House bills or resolutions.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the provisions of Rule XXVIII, conference reports and statements accompanying them not be printed as Senate reports when such conference reports and statements have been printed as a House report unless specific request is made in the Senate in each instance to have such a report printed.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Parliamentarian of the House of Representatives and his four assistants be given the privilege of the floor during the 106th Congress.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Majority and Minority Leaders may daily have up to 10 minutes each on each calendar day following the prayer and disposition of the reading of, or approval of, the Journal.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the duration of the Congress, it be in order for the Secretary of the Senate to receive reports at the desk when presented by a Senator at any time during the day of the session of the Senate.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the duration of the 106th Congress, there be a limitation of 15 minutes each upon any rollcall vote, with the warning signal to be sounded at the midway point, beginning at the last 7\1/2\ minutes, and when rollcall votes are of 10-minute duration, the warning signal be sounded at the beginning of the last 7\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on January 19, 1999, all Senators be permitted to introduce legislation and read or submit accompanying statements for the Record. This would represent the first day that legislation can be introduced in the 106th Congress.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, as all Members are aware, I have been working for some time on various rules changes that would ensure a more efficient process by which the Senate considers appropriations bills. One of our concerns has been reinstating rule XVI with respect to legislation on appropriations bills. I believe that many of the extraneous items that have been added to appropriations bills over the past few Congress would have been ruled out of order if the Senate still had the ability to raise a point of order against legislation on appropriations bills formerly contained in rule XVI. Other rule abuses occurred during the closing days of the 105th Congress. Consequently, I will shortly introduce five Senate resolutions regarding rules and budget process changes and will ask for their proper referral. Once the resolutions have been referred to the appropriate committee, it is my hope the chairmen of the committees will begin swift committee work on the resolutions so the committees can act on the changes as early as possible in the 106th Congress. I urge Senators to consider these resolutions and hope when the Senate votes on these measures they will receive huge bipartisan votes.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the duration of the 106th Congress, it be in order to refer treaties and nominations on the day when they are received from the President, even when the Senate has no executive session that day.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the duration of the 106th Congress, Senators be allowed to leave at the desk with the Journal Clerk the names of two staff members who will be granted the privilege of the floor during the consideration of the specific matter noted, and that the Sergeant at Arms be instructed to rotate such staff members as space allows.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the following unanimous consent requests are those of the standing orders--for example, setting the leader's time each day--which are obtained at the beginning of each Congress, which govern the day-to-day activity. As in the past, these consents have been cleared by the Democratic leader. Therefore, I send to the desk 11 unanimous consent requests and ask for their immediate consideration en bloc, that the requests be agreed to en bloc, and that the various consents be shown separately in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

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

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I, therefore, now send a resolution to the desk fixing the daily meeting of the Senate at 12 noon, and ask for that resolution to be reported by title, agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, Senator Daschle and I have notified the President that a quorum is present and the Senate is ready to proceed with business.

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum so that the leaders will be able to notify the President we are in session as required by the resolution.