Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3235, which is at the desk.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 5417, which is at the desk.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 775, H.R. 3048.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that H. Con. Res. 409, a concurrent resolution, which corrects the enrollment of H.R. 1654 be agreed to and the motion to reconsider with laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the conference report to accompany H.R. 1654, which is the NASA authorization conference report.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the conference report be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the report be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2842, and the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. LOTT. 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 relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, as amended, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, Senators McCain and Frist have an amendment at the desk, and I ask for its consideration.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to.

Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, as amended, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 841, H.R. 4868.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill be read a third time and passed, as amended, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Con. Res. 152, which makes a technical correction in the enrollment of H.R. 4868 and, further, the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open today until 1 p.m. for the introduction of statements by Members.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 17. I further ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, immediately following the prayer, 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 proceed to the conference report to accompany H.R. 4461, the Agriculture appropriations bill, as under the previous order.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess under the previous order.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, the Senate will not be in session on Monday. On Tuesday, the Senate will resume consideration of the conference report on this Agriculture appropriations bill--very important legislation. The debate will be limited to Tuesday's session and approximately 2 hours on Wednesday morning, with the vote scheduled to occur at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday on the Agriculture appropriations bill. For the remainder of the week, the Senate is expected to complete all action necessary for sine die adjournment. I pause for applause. That is certainly what we should do. It is possible we can do it. We were able to get a good deal accomplished this week. It took a lot of work on both sides of the aisle. We were able to get a package of five bills done, which included, of course, the sex trafficking issue as well as Aimee's law and the Violence Against Women Act. We were able to pass four appropriations bills and complete action on the Defense authorization bill and begin debate on the Agriculture appropriations bill. Next week we will have to deal with the foreign operations conference report final passage in some form; the Commerce-State-Justice appropriations bill; the Labor-HHS and Education appropriations conference report, and there are several tax provisions that need to be considered, including the FSC issue that we have been trying to get cleared, a bill that came out of the Finance Committee to make sure the United States complies with WTO requirements. We need to get that completed as well as several other items that have broad support in the House and in the Senate and the administration. So there are four categories that we will need to act on next week. I have been having conversations and meetings this morning with Members of both sides of the aisle and with the administration to try to help facilitate that. I notice Senator Conrad reacted positively to ``both sides of the aisle.'' I think it is clearly possible to complete our work by next Friday. I had hoped we could do it by Saturday, the 14th, but the unfortunate death of our friend and colleague, Congressman Vento from Minnesota, occurred and, therefore, Members are in Minnesota this morning for the funeral service. Clearly, we can get our work done next week, and we certainly will try to. Senators should expect votes throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday and into Friday, if it is necessary. I yield to the Senator from North Dakota for a question or comment.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me just say, Mr. President, I appreciate the fact that the Senator has raised this issue. It is appropriate that we acknowledge the service of our military men and women who are serving all over the world, more often than we realize, in very dangerous situations, and that we recognize those who lost their lives--in this instance, sailors on the U.S.S. Cole. I, too, have a personal feeling about this. I would like to make some comments on it myself. Before I do that, I yield to Senator Dorgan from North Dakota for his remarks.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the U.S.S. Cole was built in my hometown of Pascagoula, MS. I have been on it. I have visited with the sailors, the crew, and officers on many of these ships --destroyers, cruisers, and LHDs--that are built there. It is always a thrilling experience to see the enthusiasm of these young men and women and the caliber of the young men and women who serve our country, and also the tremendous sophistication of these ships. These ships are the most sophisticated in the history of the world, with an incredible array of radar and weapons systems. These ships can fire at 120 different targets simultaneously, using missiles and Gatling guns. They are incredible vessels. They are referred to as ``aegis class" destroyers. They have a tremendous shield where they can track and identify targets or enemy activities. But we see, once again, no matter how big, how sophisticated, or how capable they are in destroying enemy ships or aircraft, they are still vulnerable to a suicide attack by two men on a small rubber vessel. I think it is a very sobering thing that we are learning from this experience. You can be in a marine barracks somewhere, in a hotel, in a public building, or on a sophisticated ship, and you are still vulnerable to this kind of attack. This is clearly an unjustified, heinous, indescribable act that has taken place, and I know that our Government will act very aggressively to protect and provide aid to those who are injured and work with the families who are certainly going through a period of grieving now. It will also try to identify exactly who did this, who gave the order, and be prepared to take swift and very strong action against those who did it. I have no doubt that our Government will work in unity to accomplish that. In addition to that, I have a list before me which is not yet ready for release, and I would not want to do it before it has been properly released. But there are at least 7 identified as dead now and another 10, at least, missing potentially, and likely now 17 sailors on that ship who lost their lives. One of those was Ens. Andrew Triplett of Macon, MS. I have before me his record of service, and I take note that this is a young man who was very forward leaning and had advanced very quickly through the ranks to reach the position of ensign. To his entire family, and particularly his mother, Savanna Triplett of Shuqualak, MS, I extend my sympathy and prayers and also the grateful appreciation of our Nation. I know that Americans all over the world will be touched by what we have seen happen and will be thinking of the family and praying for them in this difficult time.