Trent Lott

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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, today the Senate is sending two very distinguished and qualified new Commissioners to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. I am pleased that my good friend Curtis L. Hebert, Jr. of Pascagoula, MS, is one of them. Curt has served the State of Mississippi as a member of the Public Service Commission for several years. During that time, he has demonstrated the ability to balance the diverse utility interests in our State. This is no easy task. Mississippi is the home to both public and private power companies, PUHCA's and providers of all sizes. 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. As a former member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I certainly appreciate the high standard that FERC nominees are held to during committee consideration. Throughout the nomination process, Curt has 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 steward of the utility industry in Mississippi. I expect that he will serve the FERC and our Nation with the same enthusiasm and foresight. We all must recognize that 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 on the State level. There is no industry as complex as the utility world--and none that impacts the lives of Americans more directly every day. The challenge ahead are great and must be tackled head on. There is no denying that the FERC Commissioners have their work cut out for them. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate has unanimously confirmed Curt Hebert as a member of the FERC, 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. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for morning business until 7:30 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Friday, November 7, 1997, to hold a business meeting.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the nomination of Donald J. Barry, of Wisconsin, to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, sent to the Senate by the President on November 7, 1997, be referred jointly to the Committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate receives House Joint Resolution 101 making continuing appropriations through Sunday, the joint resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, all without further action or debate.

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 November 7, 1997, by the President of the United States: South Pacific Regional Environment Programme Agreement (Treaty Document No. 105-32). I further ask unanimous consent 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 that the President's message be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I understand that S. 1414, which was introduced earlier today by Senator McCain, is at the desk. I now ask for its first reading.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I might say, Mr. President, since the Democratic leader is here, we have a couple things we are trying to work out. I believe by 10:30 a.m., we will have those problems resolved and that we can continue to consider the Inhofe amendment or the second-degree amendment to it and get the Amtrak legislation also cleared and other issues we will still be working on. Mr. President, tomorrow, the Senate will then be in a period for morning business from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. The Senate may also consider and complete action on any of the following: Amtrak reform, the D.C. appropriations bill--even though there may be some problems with that now, we will continue to try to see if we can work through that--and any other additional legislative or executive items that can be cleared for action. Therefore, Members can anticipate rollcall votes throughout Friday's session of the Senate.

Mr. LOTT. Well, I think that is a good notice. I think Members are already thinking that may be the case. I have already canceled my own events for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And we will continue to work to see if we can find a way to complete action on the three appropriations conference reports. And, of course, we will be waiting to see what the House does on fast track. And depending on that, then, of course, we would proceed accordingly. But if it is at all possible that we can finish our work on Saturday or Sunday, which I still think we can, I would think we should stay here and get that work done. If we cannot, then we will have to consider the alternatives, but Members should begin to be aware of it. And the odds are now that we will be in session Saturday and even possibly Sunday.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 334, 336, 340, 385, 387, 388, 389 through 391, 393 through 409, 411, 414 through 426, except for 419. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed; that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table; that any statements relating to the nominations appear at the appropriate place in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, before I respond, can I inquire, are these germane amendments the Senator is entertaining to the fast track?

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could respond, we have some business we need to go through here with regard to some nominations, also another piece of legislation, the PUHCA legislation, some statements that will be made. As I mentioned, we are trying to work out something to where we can move to the D.C. bill and Amtrak. It is our intent to return to fast track, so that there will be time for further debate and, I presume, amendments, as we go on into the afternoon and into the night and tomorrow. We are trying to get some of these other bills agreed to and moved today. We will try to do it before we get back into the debate. We, of course, ask for your cooperation as we try to get consent to move some of these bills.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate turn to the conference report to accompany the intelligence authorization bill, and the conference report be considered read, and under the following time restraints: Twenty minutes equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member; 10 minutes under the control of Senator Torricelli. I further ask that following the conclusion or yielding back of time, the conference report be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT. Let me just say that there are Members on both sides of the aisle that have amendments. I know they want an opportunity to offer them. We will return to that bill. There will be an opportunity to offer amendments. But I can't say exactly what time it will be at this point. It very well could be tonight. We will need to work with the Democratic leader and talk about the time and how we are going to handle that.

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, just a note. As we try to clear nominations on the Executive Calendar, there will be a necessity to bring up some of them for a unanimous-consent request or a vote. There will be objections sometimes on both sides of the aisle, but it is so we can make it clear that we are not just delaying some of these. This nomination affects another nomination, and it would be very hard for us to get those cleared, if there are objections. We will continue to move the nominations. We have several that we think we can clear tonight-- most of the ambassador positions, and others--and I am working with Senator Daschle on that.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, in light of the objection of our colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle, the Senate will not be able to consider this very important public utility holding company bill prior to the end of the 1st session of the 105th Congress. I regret the objection. We will certainly try again next year to move it when we will call it up, and, if we have to have cloture votes, we will do so. We will certainly consider it when we get into the 2nd session of the 105th Congress. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now turn to S. 621, the so-called PUHCA reform bill.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Friday, November 7. I further ask unanimous consent that on Friday, immediately following the prayer, the routine requests through the morning hour be granted and that the Senate proceed to morning business for not to extend beyond the hour of 10:30 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the following exceptions: Senator Daschle, or his designee, for up to 30 minutes, from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.; Senator Helms, or his designee, for up to 30 minutes, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we are honored this morning to have had today's opening prayer delivered by Rev. Ron Schoenfeldt, senior pastor of the McComb Church of the Nazarene in McComb, MS. I am very pleased to have Reverend Schoenfeldt here today, because he is highly well- known and respected in McComb for outreach work, such as his monthly nursing home ministry and work with area athletic programs. I know Reverend Schoenfeldt wanted to open the Senate with a prayer on his 40th birthday. We are honored to have him do so. I thank the Chaplain for all the work he does and allowing us to have this guest. I thank Reverend Schoenfeldt for taking the time to come here today to pray for this institution and our country. I also commend him for his fine work in the McComb Church of the Nazarene and wish him continued success and happiness. Thank you very much, Reverend Schoenfeldt.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morning, the Senate will debate the nomination of Ronald Lee Gilman, of Tennessee, to be a U.S. circuit judge for the sixth circuit. At the conclusion of debate, at approximately 9:40 a.m., the Senate will conduct a rollcall vote on the confirmation of the nomination. Following that vote, the Senate will debate the conference report to accompany H.R. 1119, the Department of Defense authorization bill, for up to 4 hours, as under the previous order. So we assume then that vote will occur on or about 2 o'clock. Also under the order, a vote on the adoption of the conference report will occur at the expiration of time. Again, we assume that will be around 2 o'clock. Amtrak reform, D.C. appropriations bill, the FDA reform conference report, the intelligence authorization conference report and any other additional legislative or executive items that can be cleared will be taken up. I understand that we are just about ready to call up the D.C. appropriations bill. I think that there was an FDA conference report yesterday. Hopefully, they resolved their problems. After the DOD authorization bill, we then should be able to move to the intelligence conference report. We will also continue to try to move Executive Calendar nominations. I believe yesterday we moved about 20 nominations. We will have a vote this morning on Mr. Gilman to be a sixth circuit court judge. We should expect to have further votes during the day in addition to the two at 9:40 a.m. and approximately 2 o'clock. We will advise Members when a time is set for future votes. I yield the floor, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, just for the information of all Senators, first, we are working now to see if we can get an agreement to move the DC appropriations bill, and we hope we are in the final stages of working out an agreement on Amtrak.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order until 9:30 in the morning.