Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today, we begin the process of restoration. Restoration and renewal. Today, we look to our past, our history, as prologue of our future. We examine the events of recent years in the context of history in an effort to restore and renew our faith in this place we call America. They lynchpin of this process will be our restoration of what our flag--our American flag, the flag of these United States, the flag of what our founders referred to as ``We, the People''--means to us as a people, as citizens, as people united in the common cause of Freedom. Our flag is no mere piece of cloth, even a brightly-colored piece of cloth--it is the symbol of our nation, and it stands for our ideals, our freedom, our hopes and dreams and, yes, our faith in our nation and in one another. Let's consider this common cause, freedom. Some may say that we need no symbols to embody this cause. I might agree with those people if I had no knowledge of our history or how the American flag is viewed by people around the world. For many, in this country and around the world, the American flag is the symbol of the freedom that they long for, that they strive to achieve and to preserve and that they honor. America has been called a ``melting pot'', where people of many cultures and nationalities come together to live, work and raise their families. Immigrants all, save those native Americans whose roots in this land we must also continue to honor and preserve, we recognize our fortune derived by living in a country where we don't merely talk about freedom, we practice and work to preserve it. Symbols such as our flag don't just appear and receive acceptance. The flag hanging at the Smithsonian didn't come to be so large by chance--those who made that flag wanted our people to see it waving in the breeze and take cheer and for our opponents to see it and beware. The flag was born in our struggle for independence, and continues to exist in our struggle to ensure freedom for all Americans and other peoples of this world. Our flag has survived burning and desecration in this country and in other countries. It will survive, as will our faith in our country and our freedoms, no matter the strength of our enemies. We who believe in this country must recognize that our symbols, such as our flag, are important and must be protected and preserved for they are the very embodiment of the ideals, hopes and dreams they stand for. We must protect our flag just as we would protect those ideals. In 1942, Congress recognized that the flag should be treated in a way more special than the way we treat any other symbol. That year, the Congress enacted the Flag Code to set requirements for how the flag should be displayed and honored. In that day and time, the question was not how to prevent destruction and desecration but merely to set rules for the care and handling of the flag. There was no thought given to doing what we propose to do today because it was beyond thought that conditions would exist in this country that would require such action. Even then, Congress recognized that with freedom comes responsibility. It is time that we recognize that responsibility again as our predecessors in the Congress in 1942 did. Mr. President, I will close by quoting from an address in 1914 by Franklin K. Lane, then Secretary of the Interior, to the employees of the Department of the Interior on Flag Day, commenting on what the flag might say to us if it could speak: I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the most daring. I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute-makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, counselor, and clerk. I am the battle of yesterday and the mistake of tomorrow. I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. I am the clutch of an idea and the reasoned purpose of resolution. I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you believe I can be. I am what you make me, nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this nation. My stars and stripes are your dream and your labors. They are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making. Mr. President, we made this flag as we made this nation. We can destroy this flag or we can protect and preserve it, just as we can destroy this nation or we can protect and preserve it. The choice is clear. The result is in our hands. As for me, I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I urge the adoption and passage of this Constitutional amendment.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Daschle for his comments. I think this is a fair agreement. Senators understandably want to be able to offer relevant amendments, and these amendments do pertain to this general area of discussion. I think that is reasonable. I think that is fair. I was concerned earlier on at the suggestions that were being made that we would wind up with just a litany of amendments making it impossible for us to bring this to a reasonable conclusion, and delaying other issues that we have already made a commitment to do. So I am pleased that we have this agreement.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, with regard to S. 1575, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 301, S. 1575, the Ronald Reagan airport legislation, and it be considered under the following agreement: One amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle or his designee regarding a commission; one amendment to be offered by Senator Dodd regarding a commission; one amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle or his designee regarding Dulles Airport naming; one amendment to be offered by Senator Coverdell, which is a technical change amendment; one amendment to be offered by Senator Reid regarding the FBI building renaming; one relevant amendment to be offered by Senator Lott or his designee; and one relevant amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle or his designee. I further ask that these amendments be the only amendments in order and they all be in the first degree and must be offered and debated prior to the close of business this evening, and any votes ordered with respect to the amendments or passage occur on Wednesday morning, at a time to be determined by the majority leader after notification of the Democratic leader.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:30. Under the order, the first hour will be under the control of the other side of the aisle and the second hour under the control of Senator Coverdell or his designee. At 11:30 the Senate will proceed to executive session for 30 minutes to debate and then to consider two judicial nominations: Carlos Moreno, of California, to be U.S. District Judge and Christine Miller, of the District of Columbia, to be a judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Following that debate, at approximately 12 noon, two back-to-back votes will occur on the confirmation of those nominees. And then after the first two votes at 12, at 12:30, by consent, the Senate will recess until 2:15 in order for the weekly party conferences to meet. It is my hope we will be able to consider and complete action on the Ronald Reagan airport naming bill. I will be consulting with the manager of that bill, Senator Coverdell, and others who have ideas of how it should be handled. I hope to be able to discuss it with Senator Daschle so we can work something out on that and then be able to complete it and move on to other bills or nominations that we had hoped to be able to take up. There is a possibility there could be another vote today, and I had expected that there would be a vote early on Wednesday morning, but we will not be able to determine that until we get something worked out on the Ronald Reagan airport bill. I do want to mention also as a reminder to all Senators that at 5 o'clock this afternoon, from approximately 5 until 6, in room S. 407 of the Capitol, there will be a briefing with regard to Iraq by Secretary Cohen and Sandy Berger, the National Security Council Adviser, and other military officials to bring us up to date on what is the situation in Iraq. We had hoped that Secretary Albright would be back and could attend that briefing, but she will not be present. I think it is important we go ahead with that briefing and then once she returns, maybe Thursday or early next week, we will ask her to come and brief us on what is happening and what happened during her trip to the Middle East and Europe. I think it is important we have close communication with the administration on what is happening, what they are finding from our allies and what their plans are so we can have input. So I invite Senators who possibly can to be in room S. 407 at 5 o'clock this afternoon. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

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

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I further announce to all Senators that it will be my intention to call up and consider the IRS restructuring legislation no later than March 30, 1998. I have done that after consultation with Members on both sides of the aisle and, particularly, the chairman of the Finance Committee. He has assured me that he is very dedicated to getting this done. We found out last year in our hearings in the Finance Committee that, in fact, the abuses we had heard about were occurring. The House passed a bill that made some very positive changes and sent that over to the Senate right at the end of the session. We believe that we are finding out still other problems that exist, and that that bill can be strengthened. We have given our word, frankly, on both sides of the aisle, that we are going to deal with this issue and we are going to deal with it in a timely way. I think the Finance Committee may have another hearing or two, although I am not limiting it to that. I didn't ask the chairman how many more he wanted to have. We heard from the Secretary of Treasury last week and the new IRS Commissioner, Mr. Rossotti about their reorganization plans. We are still learning things that are happening in order to maybe try to change the culture at IRS, but at the same time we are continuously finding additional problems that have not been addressed in the bill that came across from the House. I believe we can have whatever additional hearings that we need to have and have a markup and have this legislation on the floor of the Senate by the end of March. The only reason why I didn't want to narrow it down more than that, frankly, is we have a number of issues we have to deal with in March, as Senator Daschle knows, such as NATO enlargement, the budget, supplemental appropriations, which I presume will involve at least a part, or all of IMF, as well as this issue. Now, I believe this issue may not take that much time. But we have to make sure that we have looked at the entire schedule for March and we have allowed appropriate time to consider this very important issue of restructuring of the IRS. I think this is a good agreement and we should move forward with it.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I wish to take this opportunity to recognize and say farewell to an outstanding Naval officer, Commander Ray C. Simmons, upon his retirement from the Navy after more than twenty years of commissioned service. Throughout his career, Commander Simmons has served with distinction, and it is my privilege to recognize his many accomplishments and to commend him for the superb service he has provided the Navy and the nation. Commander Simmons entered the United States Naval Academy from the State of New Hampshire in 1973 and was commissioned as an Ensign upon graduation in 1977. Since then, Commander Simmons has spent his career patrolling the world's oceans as a Naval Flight Officer and oceanographer. Following flight training, he began his service in Patrol Squadron Four in Barbers Point, Hawaii, making three deployments to the western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, including operations in support of the 1979-80 Iranian hostage crisis. In 1990, he joined the staffs of the United States Sixth Fleet and NATO Strike Force South, embarked in USS Belknap, homeported in Gaeta, Italy. During the Persian Gulf War, Commander Simmons, as Fleet oceanographer, served as a member of the TLAM cruise missile targeting team, planning strikes on Iraq from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. He also served as Flag Lieutenant and personal aide to the Sixth Fleet Commander. When not at sea, Commander Simmons has likewise served with distinction on the staffs of Patrol Wing Two and the Chief of Naval Operations, in the Naval Western Oceanography Center and as Aide and acting Deputy Executive Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as the first Department of Defense liaison officer for joint NASA-Defense earth science applications programs. In 1995, he commanded the United States Naval Ice Center, with additional responsibility as Director of the joint Coast Guard, Navy and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration United States National Ice Center, and served as the lead Department of Defense lead technical advisor to the Russia-United States Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission Environmental Working Group. Among Commander Simmons's many awards and decorations are the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, four Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy Expeditionary Medals and the Southwest Asia Service Medal. He is both a qualified Naval Flight Officer and Naval oceanographer. During his more than twenty year career, Commander Simmons has served the United States Navy and the nation with excellence and distinction. He has been an integral member of, and contributed greatly to, the best-trained, best-equipped and best-prepared naval force in the history of the world. Commander Simmons's unflappable leadership, integrity, and limitless energy have had a profound and positive impact on the United States Navy and the nation. Commander Simmons will retire from the United States Navy on March 1, 1998, after twenty years and nine months of dedicated commissioned service. On behalf of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I wish Commander Simmons fair winds and following seas. Congratulations on completion of an outstanding and successful career.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, on behalf of the Senate, I thank Dr. Russell Blowers, of Indiana, for being here with us this morning. We thank you for that beautiful prayer. We are glad to have you visiting with us.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today, we will be in a period of morning business from 12 noon until 1 p.m. to accommodate a number of Senators who have requested time to speak. For this week's legislative schedule, it's my hope that the Senate will be able to complete consideration of the legislation renaming the Washington National Airport after former President Ronald Reagan. At this time, I am still hopeful that the other side of the aisle will allow the Senate to get a time agreement worked out so that we can complete that very, I think, appropriate legislation, in a reasonable time this week. Also, the Senate may consider a resolution regarding Iraq, as well as several nominations on the Executive Calendar, specifically, the nominations of Carlos Moreno and Christine Miller to Federal judicial appointments, as well as the nomination of David Satcher, to be an Assistant Secretary of HHS. As I announced last week, no rollcall votes will occur today. However, all Members should be prepared to be present and voting throughout the remainder of the week, with the exception of Friday. We will not have recorded votes on Friday. We will not be in session on Friday because of a conflict we have with a conference that a number of Members wish to attend. The first votes will occur as early as noon on Tuesday, February 3, with respect to the two judicial nominations. We had thought those votes would occur earlier, but we will have morning business first in the morning, and then we will have the two recorded votes probably right at noon. In addition, we will be in session next Monday, February 9. At this time, it is not anticipated that any votes will occur on that Monday, February 9. I thank all Senators for their attention. We will have, I suspect, a number of votes Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week. And then we will continue to move on to legislation that we have pending, which are very important to be considered before we go out for the President's Day recess. I yield the floor. Mr. INHOFE addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I have a unanimous consent request with regard to S. 1295, which is the naming of the National Airport the Ronald Reagan Airport. But before I propound that request, let me say I want to make some comments after we have this request, about why we are doing this, and put in the Record some of the history about what is involved. I have been talking to the principal sponsor, Senator Coverdell. I know he has been talking to Members on both sides of the aisle. Senator Daschle and I have talked about it. I don't think we have, it would appear, an agreement worked out as to how this is to be considered, but I hope we can continue to talk about why this is important, why we want to do it, and see if an agreement can be worked out. I think it is the right thing to do. One week from Friday is the birthday of former President Ronald Reagan. I think it would be a very good and a magnanimous gesture by the Congress and by the President of the United States if he could be able to sign this bill on President Ronald Reagan's birthday. That is why the timing is critical and why we want to go ahead and begin to talk about it. Because Senators on both sides of the aisle had conflicts today, we are not going to be able to vote on it today--or would not have been able to vote on it, probably, today, anyway. But it is my hope, my intent, that we could get it done next Tuesday and then complete the process so we could do this in recognition of this great President. I ask unanimous consent the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1297 and further the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, and further, that there be one amendment in order relative to the modification of the original bill, with total time for debate limited to 2 hours equally divided between Senators McCain and Hollings or their designees, and, following the debate, the Senate proceed to a vote on or in relation to the amendment, to be followed by third reading and final passage. I further ask that if a rollcall vote is requested in relation to the amendment or passage, the votes be postponed to occur on Tuesday, February 3, at a time to be determined by the majority leader after notification of the minority leader.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I yield to the chairman of the committee that has jurisdiction in this area.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I just want to read some brief, selective passages from what Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, had to say: President Reagan is one of the greatest men of our time, and one of the greatest American Presidents of all time. If that is not fully appreciated today, and sadly it is not, it isn't really surprising. After all, so many people have been proved wrong by Ronald Reagan that they simply daren't acknowledge his achievement. . . But in my political lifetime I believe that it is fortitude or courage that we've most needed and often, I fear, most lacked. Today we are particularly conscious of the courage of Ronald Reagan. It was easy for his contemporaries to ignore it: He always seemed so calm and relaxed, with natural charm, unstudied self-assurance, and unquenchable good humor. He was always ready with just the right quip--often self- deprecatory, though with a serious purpose--so as to lighten the darkest moments and give all around him heart. . . Right from the beginning, Ronald Reagan set out to challenge everything that the liberal political elite of America accepted and sought [as gospel]. They believed that America was doomed to decline. He believed it was destined for further greatness. They imagined that sooner or later there would be convergence between the free Western system and the socialist Eastern system, and that some kind of social democratic outcome was inevitable. He, by contrast, considered that socialism was a patent failure which should be cast onto the trash heap of history. They thought that the problem with America was the American people, though they didn't quite put it [that way.] He thought that the problem with America was the American government, and he did put it just [that way.] In conclusion, and what I think is so beautiful a statement about our country and our world and about Ronald Reagan, she summed it up perfectly. She said: It is time to proclaim our beliefs in the wonderful creativity of the human spirit, in the rights of property and the rule of law, in the extraordinary fecundity of enterprise and trade, and in the Western cultural heritage, without which our liberty would long ago have degenerated into license or collapsed into tyranny. These are as much the tasks of today as they were of yesterday, as much the duty of our conservative believers now as they were when Ronald Reagan and I refused to accept the decline of the West as our ineluctable destiny. As the poet said: ``That which thy fathers bequeathed thee Earn it anew if thou would'st possess it.'' A great speech. I have just taken some portions from it. It meant a great deal to me. I hope we will honor former President Ronald Reagan in this way. I can think of a lot of Democrats I would be perfectly willing to name some building or some facility for. I think President Jimmy Carter has really been an example since he has been President. I don't know that we have named anything after him. I don't know that he sought it, or his family. I am not saying we should do it now. This is not partisan with me, but it is very emotional, and I hope that we will find a way, working together, to get this bill through in time for his birthday. I yield the floor. Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. I thank the chairman of the committee, Senator McCain, for his comments. I know we will be interested in hearing the balance of his comments. I thank him for allowing me to explain a little bit about what is going on here, if I could. First of all I want to emphasize that the proposal is to name National Airport, which is commonly referred to as Washington National Airport, the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Washington National Airport was not named after George Washington. It was named after the District of Columbia, to denote a location, a physical location. I think everybody would understand that that would be appropriate, the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. This idea, as I understand it, originally came from the immediately- past Governor of Virginia, the State where this airport is located. That was the first time I ever heard it was from former Governor George Allen. The principal sponsor, Senator Coverdell, has worked in previous Republican administrations, has been committed to this and has been doing very good work in the preparation for this to happen. As for my personal situation, I had the clear impression that this was something that was supported by the family and friends of the President. But I also want to emphasize again something I noted earlier. The reason why we want to do it early is not just because we are looking for work, not just because we want to ram it through--I really thought it would go through, you know, on a shouted unanimous vote. It's because it is a special time in the life of a man who has meant so much to this country and to so many of us. In my 29 years in political life, this man, former President Ronald Reagan, has meant more than any other single person. I think history will show clearly he is one of the two greatest Presidents of this century, and in my opinion, the greatest by far. So I was very comfortable with moving it quickly, because of the birthday consideration. Keep in mind, now, this is a President, as you would expect from Ronald Reagan, who is sort of riding off into the sunset. He has been a credit to our country in so many ways, and since he has been President he has gone back to his beloved California and he has been battling a terrible disease that millions of Americans have to deal with, Alzheimer's disease. It is one of the programs, one of the diseases where we really don't fund adequate research. We hear all of these other things that are really looked into at NIH, all these other research programs, all these other problems, yet this one probably gets the short end of the stick. So I have been proud, and saddened, by the fact that he is afflicted, now in an advancing way, with this terrible disease. So I want, in any way we can, to say to him how much we appreciate him, what he has done for our country, and to his family and the sacrifices they made. Every President makes sacrifices to be President, and their families probably even more. So that is what is the driving force here. Who he is, what he is going through, what he has meant to this country, what he has meant to so many of us, and the fact that it is a special time in his life. The point is made, this is not an appropriate edifice. It is really not that pretty. It is new. Or that, ``Gee, it may not even be here in 25 or 50 years. We need something, a monument, that will be there for 100 years, 200 years or 1,000 years.'' I think there is some merit to that. Some people say, ``We have this building down on Pennsylvania Avenue that is going to be named after him,'' and that is fine. It is not as if we can only name one facility. I don't know how many Roosevelt monuments and memorials we have. That's OK, and I voted for memorials and monuments to a lot of Democrats. I don't think we vote on these things because they are Democrat or Republican. Once they become a former Secretary of State, like John Foster Dulles, or former President Kennedy, they are a former President or a former Secretary, and, in many instances, we owe them an awful lot. I even think somebody said, ``Usually we wait until they have passed on.'' I think it is a ridiculous idea. What good is it to them then? Do they have any idea how much they meant to us then? I don't think we ought to make it a practice to do it immediately or while they are still in office. But for special people and special occasions, I think it makes us a greater people. I would like to include some examples of memorials and monuments that in the past have been named for U.S. Presidents: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 1963; James Madison Building, 1965; Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site, 1969; Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir, 1970; Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Grove, 1973; Lyndon B. Johnson Manned Spacecraft Center, 1973; Lyndon B. Johnson Civilian Conservation Corps Center, 1974; Gerald Ford Building, 1977; Herbert Hoover Building, 1981; Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate System, 1990; Theodore Roosevelt Building, 1992; Ronald Reagan United States Courthouse, 1992; Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1994; Ronald Reagan Federal Building and International Trade Center, 1995. I do believe that we want to do this in a bipartisan way. I know there are some in both parties in this country who are not all that excited about this--with good reason, I understand that. But I also know there are people on both sides of the aisle and all over the country who don't care about partisan politics who feel like this should be done. Maybe I am influenced in bringing this up by a speech I read just a couple weeks ago by Margaret Thatcher, another great leader in this century, a speech she made on December 10, 1997, at the Sheraton Washington Hotel. I ask unanimous consent that her entire speech be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I thank Senator Daschle for his cooperation in this. This is not just on one side of the aisle. We are both working this problem. We will fulfill our obligation as leaders in ways that have not always been the case around here. Senators have already been told when they can expect to be in session or have recess periods for the whole year. We will indicate as far in advance as we can when we may not have a vote on Friday or Monday if we know for sure, for instance, that there is a conflicting conference. We will also try to have a legislative calendar that really shows the bills we are going to be dealing with all year. So we will give everybody as much advance notice as we possibly can, and then we would expect cooperation in return. On the Iraq resolution, this is an important resolution. This is a sensitive time. I think we should think about it carefully. There is no need to rush to judgment. We ought to talk about it. We ought to think about it. We ought to make it clear what our concerns are about Saddam Hussein and the fact that the inspectors are not in Iraq. We need to think about its ramifications not only for the region but the world. We need our allies to be with us--not just the British but the French, the Russians, and the Chinese, and everybody else because this is a threat to the whole world. We need to make it clear that the present situation will not stand. This resolution that Senator Daschle and I have been working on, as always you have to craft it with words of art. You have to make sure that you have the right words in there. And we do not want to go beyond what is responsible. But I think that it is timely. I think we would have been doing this resolution sometime in the first 2 weeks at the beginning of this year regardless of other events unrelated to this. This is something that the Senate usually does. So again, I urge Senators to look this resolution over. Let's do the responsible thing and let's do it very quickly. We need to have a full discussion. We need to do it today. And we can do it again on Monday. But we should vote on it on Tuesday. If not, it could be overrun by other events maybe not as important. But we already have the schedule set for Tuesday in terms of some debate and some votes on nominations. We have a couple of other bills that we are considering for next week. Senator Daschle will work with me. And let's just talk today about how we can proceed today and whether or not we know we are going to have votes today or when we can be assured we will have votes on Tuesday morning. Thank you, again, and I thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. I would be glad to yield to the Senator from South Dakota, the Democratic leader.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will proceed to 2 hours of morning business with several Senators recognized for individual periods of time. At 12 noon it is my hope that the Senate can consider the Ronald Reagan Airport naming bill and/or the Senate concurrent resolution condemning Iraq's threat to international peace and security. It was my hope that the minority leader would be able to enter into a reasonable time agreement on both of these issues which would allow for the debate to occur today and any amendments and votes on those amendments and final passage to occur on the morning of Tuesday, February 3rd. I am now informed at this point that will not be possible. Therefore, those votes could occur today. Now, there are some ominous signs on the horizon that really bother me. This is the first week that we are back. It takes a little time to get back in the swing of things. I understand that. I know Senators didn't expect a lot to occur in terms of votes this week. But already I have had numerous Senators come to me and say, ``Oh, could we not have votes on Thursday? Certainly we will not have them on Friday and Monday, and, by the way, I can't vote on Tuesday morning.'' There is a limit to how much the Democratic leader and I can cooperate with Senators in protecting their schedules. I certainly have a record that shows that I am sensitive to that. I would like for the Senate to work during the daylight instead of night, for instance, and we achieved that to some degree. But if every Senator thinks that he or she can inconvenience 99 Senators because they have some little bit they want to do somewhere, that is not the way it is going to work this year. They should not start out that way. So I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, don't do this. Don't even come to leadership on both sides of the aisle and say, ``Can you defer a vote on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday?'' or, for that matter, late Monday afternoons or Friday mornings. We have legislative days this year that will probably add up to around 100 days and a lot of work to do--a lot of important budget issues, infrastructure issues, foreign policy issues that we can't ignore or delay. So I am not threatening. I am not complaining yet. This is the kickoff. We will get going here pretty quickly. But I am having difficulty getting Senators to be ready to go to work. I have at least four bills that we should consider this week or next week, and for one reason or another I am being told, ``Well, we are not quite ready.'' The recess is over. It is time for the class to get back to work, and let's work to do that.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I, too, would like to join in extending my thanks to Dr. Neal Jones, and to express my appreciation to him for what he has meant in my own life and my family's life. He was a pastor at Columbia Baptist Church. My family and I attended there during the years that our children were in their teens, and it was a wonderful experience. As a matter of fact, he baptized our daughter, our son, and even my wife. So I have a special feeling in my heart for that church and for the pastor. We are delighted to have you here today. I, too, want to thank you for those little messages that I get at critical times in my life. Sometimes I am under certain pressure, and Dr. Jones seems to sense it. But he has a wonderful message always at the end: ``No response necessary.'' Thank you, Dr. Jones, for all you do.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, no legislative or executive business will be transacted during today's session. Therefore, no votes will occur during the session of the Senate today. We will recess mid to late afternoon to reconvene at 8:30 p.m. this evening in the Chamber. All Members are asked to be in the Chamber at approximately 8:30 in order that we can go over as a body to the Hall of the House of Representatives to hear the President's State of the Union Address beginning at 9 p.m. this evening. During tomorrow's session we will consider three judicial nominations, those being Barry Silverman to be a circuit judge for the ninth circuit, Richard Story, to be a district judge for the northern district of Georgia, and Ann Aiken, to be a district judge in Oregon. We hope to enter into a time agreement of approximately 2 hours, with rollcall votes expected on each nomination. Therefore, there could be three votes tomorrow, Wednesday. In fact, I think the Members should expect that there will be three votes. Then on Thursday of this week we hope to consider the Ronald Reagan airport bill which is presently in the Commerce Committee. Amendments could be offered. Therefore, votes can be expected to occur on that item on Thursday of this week. The Senate will not be in session on Friday. Following the Senate's consideration of the Ronald Reagan bill, the Senate would proceed over until Monday, February 2nd. The schedule for Monday will be announced later in the week. However, no votes will occur during the session on Monday. We do expect votes, of course, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week. We will be talking to committee chairmen, sponsors of bills and with the Democratic leadership to decide exactly what bills could come up. We are considering possibly the PUHCA legislation, the Public Utilities Holding Company Act modifications. We are still considering a cloning bill that I believe could be considered. We have several others that we are considering, as well. Next week we expect to take up the FEC, the Federal Election Commission nominees, the nomination of Mr. Satcher to be the Surgeon General, and possibly two more Federal judges that are now going through the process of being cleared. I do want to say, again, Mr. President, I appreciate the year we had last year. I thought we had a good year. I thought we accomplished a great deal for the American people, most of the time with very little rancor. I want us to continue to be able to work together for the interests of the people and do it in a way where Members are not exhausted and they can do their work during the daylight instead of always at night. I want to thank those of you that work for the Senate here in the Chamber. You do outstanding work and we quite often don't thank you sufficiently for the way you help us keep things running smoothly doing the people's business here in the Senate. I do look forward to a very active year even though we may have around 100 legislative days--because of the necessity of adjourning early in October for the election. There are several things we need to do and we will do for the best interests of the American people. I look forward to working with the Senate and working with the leadership on both sides of the aisle.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I also hope that all Members are ready for what I hope will be a very productive second session of the 105th Congress. I have spent some time with the distinguished Democratic leader. We have talked in general about bills we want to try to consider before the Easter recess in April, and of course we have gone over the schedule just for this week. We have a number of very important legislative items that we need to consider before the Easter recess, including, I hope, even a budget resolution. I think it is important this year that we not go after April the 15th to take up a budget resolution. I will be talking further to the chairman of the Budget Committee and the ranking member and the leadership to make sure that we are all in agreement in that effort. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the list of potential floor items and a calendar for the first week of the session be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, first and foremost, I welcome our colleagues back to the Senate from what I hope has been a restful and a beneficial period of time. I think it has been very good for the Senators to be able to spend some time with their families, be able to perhaps read a book, to work with their constituencies, and in many cases look into very important foreign policy and international issues. I know this has been a very good time for our colleagues to do some things that were long overdue, and I hope they enjoyed and benefited from it.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I now send a second resolution to the desk informing the House that a quorum is present and ask that it be considered and agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum in order to ascertain the presence of a quorum to begin the second session of the 105th Congress.