Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Daschle and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. LOTT. Since objection has been heard, I have no alternative other than to offer a series of amendments. This is important because we do need to move forward with the Agriculture appropriations bill. We brought it up earlier, this past month. It became embroiled in an unrelated issue, and we had to set it aside. The farmers in America and the consumers of America and the children of America are depending on this very important legislation going through the process. We are talking about $60.7 billion, probably more than that by the time it is completed, for agriculture in America. We need to get it completed. I know there are some issues that cause a lot of concern: How do you deal with a disaster in America, when do you deal with it, and how would any assistance be apportioned among the farmers that have been impacted by disasters in a number of ways. And also, of course, we have this very important dairy issue. I have advised Senator Cochran, Senator Jeffords, Senator Kohl, and Senator Daschle to make sure everybody understands what I am doing here. I am doing it because I do think it is so important that we move forward on this bill. Amendment No. 1499 (Purpose: To provide emergency and income loss assistance to agricultural producers)

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I now withdraw the motion to recommit.

Mr. LOTT. For the information of all Senators who may have missed a step or two there, a cloture motion was just filed on the dairy amendment. The vote on the cloture motion will occur Wednesday under Rule XXII, unless agreement can be reached to set a time certain for that vote. I encourage Senators on all sides of this issue to communicate with each other and see if there is some accommodation that could be worked out so that both sides can find it acceptable. In the meantime, it is my hope that we can continue to debate the important disaster relief amendments. I thank my colleagues. I am delighted to yield the floor to the distinguished Senator from Mississippi, or to Senator Daschle if he has any comment at this time. I yield the floor. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I believe we have a unanimous consent request now and some motions that we will need to make. It might take a few minutes to get through this. First, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Daschle be recognized to offer his amendment relative to disaster assistance and, following the reporting by the clerk, the amendment be laid aside and Senator Cochran be recognized to offer his disaster assistance amendment. I further ask unanimous consent that debate run concurrently on both amendments, with the votes occurring in a stacked sequence at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, the first in relation to the Cochran amendment to be followed by a vote in relation to the Daschle amendment, as amended, if amended, with 2 minutes of debate prior to each vote. I further ask unanimous consent that no amendments be in order to either amendment prior to the votes. I ask unanimous consent that following those votes, Senator Jeffords be recognized to offer his amendment relative to dairy and immediately following the reporting by the clerk, Senator Lott be recognized to send a cloture motion to the desk and that cloture vote occur at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with the mandatory quorum being waived notwithstanding rule XXII.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today the Senate is returning a very distinguished and qualified Commissioner back to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. I am pleased that my good friend Curtis L. Hebert, Jr. of Pascagoula, Mississippi is that Commissioner. As a former member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I appreciate the high standard that FERC nominees are held to during committee consideration. Throughout Curt's nearly two-year tenure as a FERC Commissioner, he demonstrated that he has not only the knowledge, but the determination and skills to get the job done. He has been a responsible and able federal steward of the utility industry across the United States. I expect that he will continue to serve the FERC and our nation with the same enthusiasm and foresight. Before Curt came to Washington, he served the state of Mississippi as a member and a chair of the Public Service Commission for several years. During that time, he demonstrated the ability to balance the diverse utility interests in our state. This was no easy task. Mississippi is the home to both public and private power companies, PUHCAs and providers of all sizes. Curt was also my representative in the Mississippi legislature, where he did an excellent job. Curt has proven that he has the skills necessary to address the needs of each of these entities, while keeping the best interest of the consumer in mind. Congress must recognize that national electric utility deregulation is on the horizon. How and when a new system will be created remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that the FERC will be instrumental in guiding Congress toward competition in the utility industry. I am confident that Curt has the experience and insight necessary to help us reach the right balance of interests. Most importantly, Curt understands what deregulation means at the state level. Already, Congress has witnessed deregulation of several states, but Congress will value the FERC's input concerning deregulation. There is no industry as complex as the utility world--and none that impacts the lives of Americans more directly every hour of every day. The challenges ahead are great and must be tackled head on. There is no denying that the FERC Commissioners have their work cut out for them. I have enjoyed working with Curt, and spending time with his wife, Virginia, and their two children, Lane and Ashley. They are an authentic, Mississippi family. I am pleased that the Senate has unanimously confirmed Curt Hebert as a member of the FERC, thus ensuring that the future of the electric utility industry is in good hands. I congratulate him on this accomplishment and wish him the best of luck 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. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would object to any unanimous consent regarding comments on my outfit this morning. I ask unanimous consent that the remaining votes in the series be limited to 10 minutes in length.

Mr. LOTT. I urge my colleagues, please stay in the Chamber. We still do have a number of amendments we will need to go through. Senator Daschle and I have agreed that we want to limit those to 10 minutes each, with 2 minutes between the 10 minutes for 1 minute of explanation on each side. If we do that, I believe we can still finish this bill at a reasonable hour. Mr. ROTH addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we have a unanimous consent agreement that I think will be constructive in getting our work completed. It has been discussed thoroughly with the Democratic leadership, and I know it is going to take some more time tonight and also an effort tomorrow, but I think that all things considered, it is the best way to proceed. I ask unanimous consent that the vote with respect to the pending amendment No. 1462 occur tomorrow morning beginning at 9 a.m, with 15 minutes for concluding remarks to be equally divided beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. I further ask unanimous consent that the vote with respect to the Hutchison amendment on the marriage penalty occur immediately following the above-described vote and there also be 15 minutes for concluding remarks to be equally divided beginning at 8:45. I also ask consent that following the conclusion of debate this evening, no further debate time be in order other than the concluding time as outlined above. I further ask unanimous consent that following the two described votes above, the Senate begin the voting sequence with debate on any amendment or motion properly filed in the consent agreement of July 29 limited to 2 minutes equally divided.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, may I inquire, what is the problem? So we can clarify this, I think just a temporary misunderstanding, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 renew my unanimous consent request as earlier stated.

Mr. LOTT. Yes.

Mr. LOTT. You do have options: they can be accepted or taken by voice vote or some insist on a recorded vote. As I see things, tomorrow we can finish up at 2 or 3 o'clock, or we can be here at 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. I hope Senators will weigh carefully the need for their particular amendment. As far as amendments that have not been thoroughly debated in committee, it is awfully hard to change the Tax Code in that way. We will try to accommodate Senators as best we can. Mr. BINGAMAN addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, in light of this agreement, there will be no further votes this evening. The first two votes of tomorrow will begin at 9 a.m. A number of votes will occur following those two votes. I hope Senators will work with the managers and work with the whips on both sides of the aisle. Senator Nickles is here and prepared to work with Senators to discuss the seriousness of their amendments. The ``Tasmanian junior'' here, Harry Reid, is going to be working on the Democratic side. Talk with the whips. It is not a very seemly way to do business to have repeated votes in the so-called vote-arama. A reasonable number is understandable and can be explained sufficiently. Senators will be asked not to leave the Chamber in the morning because once we start on the series of votes, votes will occur every 10 to 15 minutes, so we can get at least four done in an hour.

Mr. LOTT. I ask to withhold the suggestion of a quorum call.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I ask also unanimous consent that the next Democratic first-degree amendments be in the following order: Senator Kennedy, Senator Bingaman, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, and Senator Lautenberg.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Abraham be recognized to offer the next amendment regarding the Social Security lockbox, and immediately following the reporting by the clerk, the amendment be temporarily laid aside and Senators Baucus or Conrad be recognized to offer a lockbox amendment. I further ask unanimous consent that the amendments be debated concurrently for a total of 2 hours to be equally divided between Senators Abraham and Baucus, or their designees, and following the conclusion or yielding back of time, the amendments be laid aside. I further ask unanimous consent that following the debates just described, Senator Daschle, or his designee, be recognized to offer an amendment, and following that debate the Senate proceed to a period of morning business. I further ask unanimous consent that no other amendments be in order prior to the stacked votes and the votes begin in the stacked sequence at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday in the order in which they are offered, with 2 minutes of debate prior to each vote. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that following those votes, there be 10 hours remaining for the consideration of the bill and Senator Gramm be immediately recognized to offer his amendment.

Mr. LOTT. Therefore, the next vote in regard to the Democratic alternative is scheduled to occur at approximately 6:30 or 6:35 this evening. It will be the last vote of the evening. The lockbox issue and the Baucus amendment will be debated this evening, with those three votes occurring in the stacked sequence at 9:30 on Thursday morning. As a reminder to Members, a late session is expected Thursday, and votes are expected to occur on Friday, since it appears it may not be possible to finish Thursday night. I reiterate my commitment that if we find a way to finish the votes on this issue Thursday night, we will not have a session on Friday. If that is not possible, we will go into session Friday and continue voting as is necessary in order to complete this reconciliation tax relief bill. I yield the floor.