Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. They don't have a professional football team, but they have an excellent college team, Delta State University.

Mr. LOTT. I would be glad to move those. If we can get an agreement on Stewart, they will be moved immediately.

Mr. LOTT. I do want to make the point that, as the majority leader, I can nudge a chairman and/or his ranking member, but I am not chairman or ranking of Judiciary. The majority leader can only deal with the nominations that hit the calendar. With the proposal I just made, two would be on the calendar, at which point I would then have the time to see how those might be dealt with.

Mr. LOTT. I could make another one, but before I do, I am glad to yield the floor to the Senator.

Mr. LOTT. Tuesday at 5:30. That would give you and us time to talk more tonight, or Tuesday.

Mr. LOTT. I just offered basically a package that could involve five judges.

Mr. LOTT. Is there any possibility that we can get a time agreement on Stewart? I know Senators would like to make themselves heard, perhaps, on that nomination, or perhaps as it relates to other nominees. I have no desire to cut Senators off at will. Maybe the time I asked for was too short, with 2 hours for Senator Leahy and only 30 minutes for Senator Hatch, where the nominee is from. We can go to 4 hours on each side.

Mr. LOTT. Possibly a fifth one. I would have to get clearance on it.

Mr. LOTT. I do, and I propound this one which I just read, and ask for its consideration.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Reid and Senator Leahy very much for their cooperation.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I also ask consent that it be in order for committees to file reported items from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m on Friday, September 17.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 2 p.m., the Senate turn to the conference report to accompany the D.C. appropriations bill under the same terms as outlined in the earlier consent, with a recorded vote to occur at approximately 2:30.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. For the information of all Senators, the Senate will reconvene on Friday. As I said, it is a pro forma session. The Senate will not be in session Monday in order to honor the holy day of Yom Kippur. The Senate will reconvene at 2:15 on Tuesday and conduct morning business until 5:30. At that time, there could be possibly two back-to-back rollcall votes. There will be at least one. The first vote is on a motion to invoke cloture on the bankruptcy bill. The second, if necessary, will be on the judicial nomination. I also remind Members, the fiscal year is coming to an end, and they will be expected to be here next week so we can complete action on the HUD-VA appropriations bill by the close of business next Friday.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I understand that H.R. 17 is at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res 158, and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I apologize.

Mr. LOTT. Surely.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we have one other block of remaining issues of consideration, and that is judicial nominations. We had planned to go forward with three judges--two that have been cleared and one that may require time for discussion, and a vote on that at some point. There may need to be, as I said, time for discussion. I hope we can get a reasonable agreement on that. I would not want to have to file cloture on Federal judges. I think it would be a bad practice if we began to have filibusters on Federal judicial nominations, requiring only 41 votes to defeat a judicial nomination. I guess that has been done in the past but not recently, not since I have been majority leader, that I know of. So I hope we can work out an agreement on time, as we have done on the nomination of Mr. White of Missouri. We have a time agreement. At some point in the next 2 or 3 weeks that will be called up, and it will have a discussion period and a vote. I hope that would be the case with any of these three that we had hoped to bring up. If we can't get an agreement of how to deal with all three of them, then we will not be able to move any of the three. But we are still working on that, and we hope to get it worked out.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 178, which was reported by the Judiciary Committee.

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I know Senators are interested in the schedule for the remainder of the day. We believe we have worked out an agreement of a reasonable time for discussion on the District of Columbia appropriations conference report. Then that would be followed with a recorded vote. We would need to have a recorded vote under our arrangement where if we do not have a recorded vote on an appropriations bill when it goes through the Senate, then we do have a recorded vote on it when it comes back from conference. So we will need that recorded vote. We hope to get the UC locked down, and hopefully, then, at around 2 or so we could get to final passage on the D.C. appropriations conference report. Therefore, then, there would not be the necessity, obviously, for there to be a vote on it at 10 o'clock on Friday.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, there will be no further rollcall votes today. The Senate will be in pro forma session on Friday, and there will be no session on Monday in recognition of the Jewish holy day. The next rollcall votes will occur at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday in a back- to-back sequence, if there are two votes, with the first vote on cloture on the bankruptcy bill, and the second vote on the nomination of Ted Stewart, if one is required. The Senate may also consider the Department of Defense authorization conference report under a 2-hour time limit. Finally, the fiscal year is coming to an end. Therefore, Members should expect late sessions during next week, and they should anticipate being in session each day--Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday--so that we can complete action on the Department of Defense authorization conference report, the Interior appropriations bill, the HUD, and the Veterans' Administration appropriations bills, and any other actions that can be cleared. I think we have made good progress today in spite of the rain and sometimes windy weather. I think we made the right decision to stay here. As a result of us staying and working today, we passed the Treasury and Postal Service appropriations conference report, the District of Columbia appropriations conference report, and the Transportation appropriations bill, and have put in place a process to move a number of Federal judicial nominations. I thank my colleagues for their patience, and for being here today as we have made that effort.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on September 16, 1999, by the President of the United States: 1997 Amendment to Montreal Protocol (Treaty Document 106-10). I further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and the President's message be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from consideration of S. Res. 183, and the Senate proceed to consideration of this bill, which is a resolution designating the week beginning September 19, 1999, and ending September 25, 1999, as National Home Education Week.