Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask for its second reading, and I object to my own request.

Mr. LOTT. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside so I may send an amendment to the desk. I further ask consent that upon reporting of the amendment there be 8 hours for debate, equally divided between the two leaders, or their designees, for the purpose of debating both amendments, with 4 hours consumed this evening. I also ask consent that at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday the Senate proceed to a vote on or in relation to the Lott amendment, to be followed by a vote on or in relation to the Daschle amendment. I finally ask consent that no amendments be in order to either amendment prior to the votes.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my pending point of order be vitiated.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, in light of this agreement, there will be no further votes this evening. The next vote will occur at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. I thank Senator Daschle for his cooperation in getting this agreement.

Mr. LOTT. Absolutely, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, while the time will be equally divided tonight--2 hours on each side that are required to discuss the pending amendments--I want to emphasize again that there is another very important issue pending that everybody thought would be the subject of debate this afternoon, and that is the language in the appropriations bill regarding Kosovo and how we will deal with our allies' involvement there, and how we will deal in the future with the funding. Some Senators may wish to take some time to speak on that issue. I also encourage colleagues that we work toward getting a time agreement tomorrow afternoon on the Kosovo issue, have a reasonable time, but have a focused, good debate and vote on that issue so we can complete the military construction appropriations bill. We are getting far afield from getting our work done on the appropriations bills. We would then go to the foreign operations appropriations bill. I encourage Senators to stay and make speeches tonight on these subjects. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we don't have anybody designated yet. I will either be here to do it myself or we will designate somebody. There are a number of Senators who have indicated a desire to be heard on this issue--Senator Sessions, Senator Craig, and others. But exactly when tonight or tomorrow, we will have to make that determination since we just had this agreement entered into.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I raise a point of order that the pending Daschle amendment is not germane to the Military Construction Appropriations bill and ask for the yeas and nays on the question put before the Senate.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I have not had a chance to review this language, so I suggest the absence of a quorum in order to have the opportunity to do that.

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to instruct the Sergeant at Arms to request the presence of absent Senators, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe there is a point of order that has been made on germaneness, and the yeas and nays have been ordered. We should proceed to vote.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today I rise to pay tribute to an extraordinary young man who has persevered to overcome significant obstacles in his life and who, in spite of these obstacles, has excelled. Lampton O'Neal ``Trey'' Williams III, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, exemplifies the qualities of courage, dedication, commitment, and self-discipline that harken back to the days of this great nation's founding fathers who likewise employed these values to overcome seemingly insurmountable adversity. With this graduation from the Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg on Friday, May 19, 2000, I express my most heartfelt and warmest congratulations to Trey on this extraordinary accomplishment. As a deaf student, Trey has been saddled in life with a hardship that many of us will never be forced to carry. Yet, from an early age, Trey refused to allow his disability to overcome him and, instead, set out to conquer his disability. As a young boy, Trey was enrolled in The University of Southern Mississippi DuBard School for Language Disorders where his eagerness, ability to learn, and refusal to yield to his disability quickly warmed him to the hearts of all around him. During his tenure at the DuBard School, Trey excelled in speech, lip reading, learning language and academic skills. However, Trey's passion for learning and his commitment to his education did not end there. In 1992, having secured from the DuBard School the skills and abilities he would need to live a full and free life with his disability, Trey took the noble and daunting step of enrolling in regular education classes at the Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Throughout his years at the Presbyterian Christian School Trey has continuously challenged himself and has demanded only the best from himself. His motivation, self-discipline and character have earned Trey the highest praise from his teachers and the respect of all who know him. And while Trey's forthcoming graduation from the Presbyterian Christian School is a truly extraordinary achievement in and of itself, it is only part of the story. As the result of his academic excellence and exceptional accomplishments over the past several years, Trey has earned a college scholarship. I have no doubt that Trey's strength of character and commitment to his education will result in a college career marked with awards and honors only few can ever expect to achieve. Mr. President, Trey's dedication, commitment and perseverance is unique and truly commendable. With his graduation on May 19, 2000, Trey will receive a concrete representation of his years of perseverance-- his diploma. And while his accomplishments thus far deserve the highest praise and commendation, I have no doubt this young man's future will be marked by even greater accomplishments. Trey's refusal to yield to his disability and his determination to overcome it should serve as an inspiration and motivation to all of us. It is an example of what we can achieve when we demand the most from ourselves. I want to extend my highest congratulations to Trey on his graduation and wish only the best for him in the future.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the military construction appropriations bill, S. 2521, immediately following the adoption of the African trade conference report; further, there be debate only relative to the bill, other than any amendments offered and cleared by the two managers, which would continue until 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2000. This has been cleared with the Democratic leadership. We are extending it until this time on Tuesday at the request of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I might say, this does not preclude that. But the rules of the Senate are that once you vote on cloture, and the fact that cloture was adopted, postcloture, the debate has to be on the cloture item. If the Senators want to talk on this subject, we will be glad to talk with them about the appropriate time to do it. But under the rules, the regular order will be that we have debate on this measure.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I may, I inquire of the Senator, what was the question?

Mr. LOTT. As a matter of fact, after the vote on the conference report, it would be debate relative to the pending bill only. But, again, we always work together to find time for Senators to have morning business and talk on subjects that they wish to talk about. But we are trying to set up a process to complete the African trade bill and then move to the military construction appropriations bill. We have it worked out. Again, we will be glad to talk to Senators who may be interested in a time when that could be done. But the rules do not allow that now.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I hope we can work this out in some amicable way. The regular order is that debate now is on the African trade and CBI conference report.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again, I think we can work out a time to do this. We have a problem in that the manager of the bill has a time problem--or one of the managers--and she has to leave later on this afternoon.

Mr. LOTT. The point is, it would take consent in order for that to happen. Generally speaking, as long as everybody is being considerate of each other--we haven't objected to Senator Lautenberg speaking. But he would not be able to speak on the subject if Senators objected. He actually has spoken on both. I think we are making a mountain out of a molehill here, and we ought to be able to work through this.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I did not hear the request, but I understand that Senator Lautenberg will yield so that I can proceed to a unanimous consent request at this time. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President. I believe that we are postcloture now, and the subject for debate should be the African and CBI trade bill; is that correct?