Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I will yield briefly to the Senator from Idaho, who did a lot of work on this sort of issue when he was in the House, and he believes very strongly we should not be legislating on an appropriations bill. He was not here when we made this mistake. He is right, I think, that we should find a way to fix it. By the way, we are going to have a vote on this issue this summer. I am going to find that sooner or later an amendment will come up in a way that I am going to appeal the ruling of the Chair, and we are going to fix this problem, or at least we are going to vote on it. I believe when we get a vote, it will actually pass. I hope some Democrats will vote for it. I think we changed the rule XVI inadvertently without actually understanding the impact of what we were doing. It has been sitting there for 4 or 5 years, and I think it is time that we do something about it. Would the Senator from Idaho like to comment on that?

Mr. LOTT. Why don't I do this because I think it would be more appropriate. Let me just yield to Senator Daschle so he can respond. When he finishes, I will go back and do this procedural work.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. Nickles.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I may respond to that, I thought the best way to do it was not have any time limits.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am glad to yield to the Senator from New Hampshire for an appropriate response.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I do have some things I need to do. I know Senator Daschle would like to respond. Does the Senator wish to ask a question or to respond on his own time or I should just yield and keep the floor and wait for you to finish?

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, so we can get a focus on where the problem is, and so everybody will understand that what is being affected here is the regular appropriations process, I send a cloture motion to the desk to the pending agriculture appropriations bill.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to S. 1234, the foreign operations bill, and I send a cloture motion to the desk on that bill.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, with all of that in mind, I had no other alternative but to file these cloture motions to show the American people just how the funding for our Government agencies is being held up, and not the least of which, of course, is the Department of Agriculture bill. But under rule XXII, these votes will occur in a stacked sequence on Monday, unless changed by consent. And I ask unanimous consent that these cloture votes occur beginning at 5:30 on Monday, and that in each case the mandatory quorum under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, there was a lot of discussion earlier today about the importance of law enforcement agencies and the need for the Federal Government to be a part of fighting crime and drugs in our schools in our streets and our neighborhoods. Therefore, I move to proceed to S. 1217, the Commerce, Justice, and State Department appropriations bill, and I send a cloture motion to the desk on this important bill.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. LOTT. I will be glad to yield.

Mr. LOTT. I believe we are. I will need to talk to Senator Hatch. We would have to confer on the Senators who would be conferees. But it is my intent to have conferees appointed on that bill. When we get through here, I would be glad to talk to the minority leader about that.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today the Senate will resume consideration of the agriculture appropriations bill. Amendments are expected to be offered, and it is my hope the Senate can consider agriculture-related amendments during today's session of the Senate. All Senators can therefore expect rollcall votes throughout the session. As a reminder, there will be no votes on Friday, June 25. However, votes are expected very likely into the evening on Thursday in an effort to complete action on the important agriculture appropriations bill. I might also say that Senator Daschle and I are in the process of exchanging some suggestions of how we might further consider the Patients' Bill of Rights issue. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Inhofe be permitted to speak in morning business for up to 30 minutes.

Mr. LOTT. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk due for its second reading.

Mr. LOTT. I object to further proceedings on this bill at this time.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Today the Senate will resume consideration of the State Department authorization bill under a previous order. A cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 975, the steel import limitation bill, will take place at 12:15, with 40 minutes of debate on the motion prior to the vote. Following that vote, the Senate will stand in recess until 2:15 p.m. so the weekly party caucuses can meet. It is our intention to complete action on the State Department reauthorization bill during today's session of the Senate and to resume consideration of the agriculture appropriations bill. I thought we had reached an agreement as to exactly how to complete the State Department authorization bill late yesterday afternoon, but because of the absence of some Senators who needed to be consulted, we were not able to lock in the procedure and the time for completing that action. I hope we can complete it this morning and have a vote or votes on or in relation to the State Department authorization bill after the party caucuses at 2:15. When we go back to the agriculture appropriations bill, we would expect a number of votes this afternoon. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership has chosen to confuse the issue and delay action on the agriculture appropriations bill by offering the Patients' Bill of Rights to this very important bill. We could work out an agreement otherwise, if they would be reasonable as to how we might consider that issue. But for now it is pending to the agriculture appropriations bill, and I would expect there would be a couple of votes on or in relation to that issue also.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, has all time been consumed?