Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I yield to Senator Warner.

Mr. LOTT. That will be fine.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I can respond to the comments, first, I want to make very clear I feel strongly we should try to find a way to pass this very important Department of Defense authorization bill. It has a lot of provisions in it, changes in the law we have to get done. We need to do this for our national security and for our men and women who serve in our military. Senator Daschle and I have talked about the fact we want to work together to move it forward. That is one of the many reasons we tried to find a way to conclude the disclosure requirements of the section 527 issue. We have achieved that. That is why I have been working with Senator Brownback to find a way to deal with an issue that is very important to him, NCAA gaming. We want to get it done. What I had in mind was for the managers to continue to work and clear as many amendments as they can, and the week we come back--again, I have not discussed the details of this with Senator Daschle, so I will not agree to anything without us both having a chance to check on both sides and clear it. But I was thinking in terms of asking the managers, who have done yeoman's work, to be prepared to work on Monday night, Tuesday night, or Wednesday night while we do other issues during the day. I am hoping one night will do the job but work a couple or three nights and complete this bill the week we come back. We are glad to work with them toward that goal. We want to get this bill in conference. I think Senator Daschle wants to help with that effort.

Mr. LOTT. I yield to the Senator from Kansas.

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Senator from North Carolina for yielding further. I ask his indulgence for a moment so the Senator from Kansas can respond.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for testimony in a criminal action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. In a federal indictment, the defendant has been charged with making a false statement on a passport application and possessing a false identification document in violation of federal law. In connection with the passport application that is the subject of the indictment, the defendant sought constituent casework assistance from the offices of Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Diane Feinstein. At the request of the U.S. attorney who is prosecuting this case, this resolution authorizes employees in both Senators' offices who worked on this constituent casework matter to testify and produce documents at trial, with representation by the Senate Legal Counsel.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the next votes in the series be limited to 10 minutes each.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could amend that request to ask consent that votes occur on the pending amendments at 7:45 in the order which they were debated, with no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes, and that there be 2 minutes for explanation prior to each vote.

Mr. LOTT. That is not limited by this. I further ask consent that the time between now and 7:45 be equally divided on the Jeffords amendment.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I think it is only fair to say to the Members that we are going to try to enforce the more limited time on these votes. I know we try to accommodate Senators on both sides when they get delayed because of elevators or the subway or whatever. But it is also unfair to the managers and people trying to do the bill, when we are all here, if we can't do the votes in the prescribed time. We will push for that. Secondly, I commend the managers for trying to begin to make some progress. We have had a whole series of votes here in this grouping-- four, I guess. But we still have an awful lot of pending amendments. I don't want to mention a number because it is too scary. I can't complain about the Democratic side because there are almost as many amendments on the Republican side. When Members are asked to come and either work out their amendments or offer them, they are too busy to get it done. We need to get this Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill done tonight. In order to do that, it is going to take an awful lot of work. The managers, or the whips, Harry Reid and Don Nickles, can't do it by themselves. Some are beginning to say how about Thursday night. When we get Labor-HHS appropriations done, we are going to the Interior appropriations bill, plus we have the military construction conference report with the emergency provisions, providing funds that we have been wanting to get completed for defense and for disasters and for Colombia. We may not get that until late Thursday night, so that we can't vote on it until Friday. We will have other votes on Friday. So we have to complete this bill, the Interior appropriations bill, and the MILCON conference report. I thank Senator Daschle for his work in that effort and for his support as we try to complete this work. I know it is a lot to do in 3 days, but I know we can do it if we really stick with it.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment lists be printed in the Record as they are. Senators knew there was a time. They checked this list. Statements were made. I think it would save some time.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: I believe Senator Reid was going to offer a second-degree amendment on this matter.

Mr. LOTT. How much time remains?

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I renew the unanimous consent request with respect to the limit of first-degree amendments to the pending bill and send the list of amendments to the desk.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the Senator from Louisiana has 2 minutes remaining. Does she wish to use that time or reserve it?

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. So the Senator would have 5 minutes.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I believe we are ready to proceed.

Mr. LOTT. Right.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, there are a couple of Senators who are reviewing language, and I hope we can enter into this unanimous consent agreement momentarily. While we are waiting on that, I will outline what we have worked out. We have an agreement that I believe will satisfy all the Senators involved. The Smith amendment will be modified with changes that are at the desk. Then it will be in order for Senators Hatch and Leahy to offer a second-degree amendment to the pending McCain amendment No. 3610. I believe Senator Specter will be prepared to do that on behalf of Senator Hatch. Then there will be 10 minutes equally divided for debate relative to the first- and second-degree amendments. I believe that will be McCain and Hatch. Then we will ask the amendments be laid aside, and the Santorum amendment will recur, with the time between that time, which will be about 6:30 p.m., I presume, and 7 o'clock to be equally divided between the Senators who are interested--Senator McCain and Senator Santorum--and we will have two voice votes on the Smith issue and then two votes back to back on McCain and then Santorum. That is the outline of what we will do. We will have two recorded votes then at 7 o'clock. I am prepared to offer that unanimous consent request at this time. I will read the unanimous consent request. I believe Senator Smith will be here in a moment. Amendment No. 3628, As Modified

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Smith amendment be modified with the changes that are at the desk and, further, the amendment be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for Senators Hatch and Leahy to offer a second-degree amendment to the pending McCain amendment No. 3610; that there be 10 minutes equally divided for debate concurrently relative to the first- and second- degree amendments. I further ask unanimous consent that the amendments then be laid aside and that the Santorum amendment recur, with the time between then and 7 p.m. equally divided, with no second-degree amendments in order prior to the vote in relation to that amendment. I also ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Hatch-Leahy second-degree amendment at 7 p.m. this evening, and following that vote, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the McCain amendment, as amended, if amended, to be followed by a vote relative to the Santorum amendment, with 4 minutes prior to each vote for explanation.

Mr. LOTT. I believe we have 10 minutes that would be equally divided on that.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask consent there be 2 hours equally divided in the usual form prior to a vote in relation to amendment No. 3599.