Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I am glad to yield to the minority leader, Senator Daschle.

Mr. LOTT. Having said that, Mr. Chief Justice, in order for the managers to prepare debate for the motions, I ask unanimous consent that the House managers and the White House counsel be allowed to make reference to oral depositions during this debate on pending motions.

Mr. LOTT. Consequently, four votes, then, would occur in the 4 p.m. timeframe today with respect to these four motions. We will take at least one break--maybe two--between now and then, and that would determine exactly when that series of votes would occur-- once we begin the process of offering and debating the motions. And we will make a determination as to exactly when those provisions would occur. In addition, if the motion for additional presentation time is agreed to by the Senate, it would be my intention to adjourn the trial after today's deliberations over until Saturday for the parties to make their preparations, then to present their presentations of evidence on Saturday, and the trial would then resume on Monday at 12 noon for the closing arguments of the parties. Again, I remind all of my colleagues to please remain standing at their desks when the Chief Justice enters the Chamber and leaves the Chamber. I thank my colleagues for their attention. I believe we are ready to proceed, Mr. Chief Justice.

Mr. LOTT. I understand that the pending motion is divisible, and as is my right, I ask that the motion be divided in the following manner: The first paragraph be considered division I; the second paragraph be considered division II; and the final paragraph be considered division III.

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Chair.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, I identified this as the first paragraph to be considered division I. Actually, that should be the second paragraph would be division I, the third paragraph division II, and the fourth paragraph would be division III. I want that clarification.

Mr. LOTT. Also, so that both sides will understand, the motion--there is one motion, but we have divided it into three parts so there will only be 2 hours equally divided, one on each side; not 2 hours equally divided on each one of the three divisions. We had one clarification I believe we have cleared up, and I believe now we are ready to hear from the managers, Mr. Chief Justice.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, I believe it would be appropriate to go ahead and get this unanimous consent agreement. We will continue to work with both sides to try to make sure there is a fair way to proceed on Saturday. We will have the remainder of today and tomorrow to work on that. So I would like to renew my unanimous consent request.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, briefly, if I could say on behalf of my unanimous consent, and in brief response to the question, we have all worked hard and bent over backward trying to be fair. I am sure if there is something that would be needed on Saturday, it would be carefully considered by both sides.

Mr. LOTT. I am not sure I understand the question, except that we will come in at 10, and we will have 6 hours equally divided. I presume that the House would make a presentation first and then the White House and then close. There would be time during that 6-hour period for the White House to use it as they see fit. Are you asking that there would be some sort of break so they would be able to consider that?

Mr. LOTT. I believe we got approval that they be used in the oral presentations at the beginning of the session today.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I want to take a few moments to turn our attention to an exciting and worthwhile project for America's young people: the Children's Scholarship Fund. Last June, two great Americans, concerned about the state of education in America, particularly about the way in which children of low-income families are often without educational options, founded the Children's Scholarship Fund with their own substantial private investments. I speak of Ted Forstmann of Forstmann-Little and Company and Gulfstream Aerospace and of John Walton of Wal-Mart Stores. Based on their firm belief that a child should not be denied educational opportunity because of his or her family's financial situation, these two citizens are improving the education of young Americans, and thereby improving the lives of all Americans. When Mr. Forstmann and Mr. Walton announced the creation of the Children's Scholarship Fund in June 1998, they began with programs in five cities. The demand and enthusiasm with which they were greeted was so overwhelming that scarcely three months later they joined with donors around the country to make scholarships available in forty three cities and three entire states. Now, only eight months after the launch of the Children's Scholarship Fund, low-income children throughout the entire United States are eligible for scholarships. As of today, the Children's Scholarship Fund is nationwide, and will provide approximately 40,000 scholarships worth nearly $170 million. All low- income families throughout this country with children entering kindergarten through eight grade next fall may now be eligible to receive scholarships. On April 22nd, the names of the Children's Scholarship Fund scholarship recipients will be selected in a random drawing. Families must have submitted their completed applications no later than March 31st to be eligible. I urge my colleagues to make a note of these important dates. In the meantime, I commend Ted Forstmann and John Walton and everyone associated with the Children's Scholarship Fund for the invaluable contributions they are making to improve the lives of so many of our young people. They set an example for all of us. The enormous public response to the Children's Scholarship Fund serves as an important reminder to those of us in Congress of the need to creatively expand educational opportunities for all of our citizens.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, I send an amendment to the desk modifying the last paragraph of page 3.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, with regard to the beginning of the depositions, I ask unanimous consent that title II of S. Res. 30 be modified with the language I send to the desk.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. chief Justice, I ask unanimous consent that the unanimous consent agreement I send to the desk be agreed to. This all deals with the taking of depositions.

Mr. LOTT. Now, I understand, Mr. Chief Justice, that the Democratic leader is prepared to agree that the depositions will begin on Monday, February 1, and with this having been decided, and the vote we just took, we have discussed the schedule for the remainder of the week. In view of the fact that at this point the parties will begin to prepare for depositions and the depositions will begin on Monday, Members will not be expected to be here for any business before Wednesday, but we could be required to have a session Wednesday afternoon. I want to emphasize that as the deposition material becomes available, we will have the Sergeant at Arms have it in a room for Members to begin to review. So beginning Tuesday, Senators who would like to begin reviewing the depositions, the material in the depositions, it will be available in installments as it becomes available on Tuesday. So you would have that opportunity Tuesday and Wednesday. Not later than Thursday, then, we would go to the next phase of our agreement that we have voted on. At this time, we are notifying the Members that there will be no further recorded votes and no further business while we await returning of the depositions through Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, but Members should expect to be here on Wednesday and they would need to be here on Wednesday, in order to begin to make sure they have had time to review the documents, the deposition material, so that we can proceed, then, on Thursday.

Mr. LOTT. I yield.

Mr. LOTT. Under the agreement we just passed, Mr. Chief Justice, if I may proceed and respond to that question.

Mr. LOTT. There will be a Senator from each side at the depositions who will preside over the depositions. Senator Daschle and I also will have certain staff there, but a Senator other than the two presiding Senators would not be in order to what we agreed to. There will be one from each side who will be presiding and will actually make determinations when objections are made. Adjournment

Mr. LOTT. I now ask unanimous consent that the Court of Impeachment stand in adjournment until the hour of 1 p.m. on Thursday, February 4.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. Chief Justice, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LOTT

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