Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. In light of that agreement, then, as enjoyable as it was-- --

Mr. LOTT. I don't see any problem with that. That will be fine. And I would like the managers to come back and take it from here.

Mr. LOTT. In light of this agreement, there will be no further votes this evening. There will be 8 hours remaining for debate on the reconciliation bill during Monday's session. A series of votes is anticipated at 6 p.m. on Monday. The last in the series will be final passage. Senators should make their plans accordingly. I thank all for their cooperation.

Mr. LOTT

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe the manager of the legislation is going to offer a unanimous consent request we have worked out that will allow us to have some morning business for Senators who wish to speak for a brief period of time and for Senator Akaka to offer his amendment and also to get to a vote this afternoon on a Reed of Rhode Island amendment. Let me plead with the Members, though, if we could avoid interruptions as much as we could today. Senators Kennedy and Jeffords and others working on the legislation are trying very hard to make progress on the education bill. When we have interruptions for other issues, Senators tend to get away from the floor, and it slows us down. We want to try to finish this legislation at a reasonable time next week. I thank Senators Jeffords and Kennedy and Reid for trying to make that happen. At this point, we thought the fair thing was to work out an agreement where we could have a brief period of morning business and then return to the bill. Senator Jeffords has an agreement we are ready to offer.

Mr. LOTT. If I could inquire while we are waiting, is it correct then that Senator Akaka will have an amendment right after morning business?

Mr. LOTT. Would Senator Reed be ready to go immediately after this sequence is lined up?

Mr. LOTT. Does the Senator have a unanimous consent request?

Mr. LOTT. Go ahead then.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if Senator Byrd will yield, Senator Byrd has made this point before, and I certainly understand how he feels, and others, as a matter of fact, about the need to cut these votes off in a reasonable period of time. I would be perfectly happy, and I am sure the managers would be happy, to see us limit these to 10 or, I believe, 10 minutes plus 5 minutes over the time, which has been allowed, for a total of 15 minutes. I will be glad to do that. What happens, of course, is Senator Daschle and I will receive a call from a Senator who is on the way. We had last week a mistake where the Senator from West Virginia had not been recorded when, in fact, he had voted, and we, thinking he had not voted said: No, wait until he gets here. We know he wants to be recorded. We make a mistake by bending over backwards too much trying to accommodate all 100 Senators. But the Senator's point is well taken. Since we are all here and listening attentively, this vote will be cut off in the prescribed time, as was suggested by the Senator from Vermont, if in fact that request is honored.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, let me say if the Senator will yield, I would like to have a chance to talk to the managers of the legislation about the possibility of yielding some time tonight or we will work with you to make sure you have time in the morning. We know you want to speak on this matter, and we will work with you to find a time that is agreeable with you to do so, either after these votes or in the morning. If you will allow us to talk to the managers and get with you, we will find a way you can do that.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am not sure; does Senator Byrd still have the floor?

Mr. LOTT. If the Senator from Vermont will yield, as we try to get the unanimous consent agreement worked out, I believe we have requests that would allow us to have this sequence and then have two votes in about an hour. I think maybe then there would be a time where Senators will be in the Chamber and perhaps we could do it after the two votes that are supposed to occur in an hour. Would that be agreeable to Senator Byrd?

Mr. LOTT. That is correct.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I know the Senator would like to have an opportunity to speak when there would be the maximum opportunity to have the arguments heard, but I do not think Senators are going to stay after these two stacked votes. We were hoping we could stay on the education issue and get through this agreement that has been worked out, the final two. Then while we are working on the next amendment we thought it would be a good time for Senator Byrd to make his statement.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I believe we have two votes that are already ordered and we can go to the vote.

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

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

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank the managers of this legislation and all those who have been involved in continuing to try to move it forward. It is not easy to accommodate the wishes of all Senators in terms of time for final debate before amendments or those who would like to speak on other issues, but we try very hard to accommodate all of those wishes. We have come up with an agreement that I think will allow us to make progress on the education bill, move to the reconciliation bill, and make progress there. So to put it in layman's language, we have two votes on amendments back to back that are already ordered. What we would do then would be to go to the debate on the next amendments. Those two votes would occur in the morning, beginning at 9 o'clock, preceded by 3 minutes of time before each vote. Then at 9:30 or so, as the votes are completed, we would go to reconciliation, and Senator Byrd would be recognized for up to 30 minutes as the first speaker on reconciliation. So that is how it would work out. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the votes that are ordered, and any cleared amendments, the Senate then resume consideration of the Dayton amendment No. 622 and the Voinovich amendment No. 443. I further ask consent that there then be a total of 20 minutes, equally divided, for closing remarks with respect to both amendments. Further, I ask consent that following that time, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business. I ask consent that these votes occur beginning at 9 a.m., with 3 minutes prior to each vote for explanation. I further ask consent that Senator Byrd be recognized immediately following the two stacked votes for up to 30 minutes immediately following the reporting of the bill by the clerk.

Mr. LOTT. For Senator Byrd?

Mr. LOTT. If the Senator will yield, I think we could probably spend more time working through this. Let's make that accommodation. We will have two votes in the morning, but Senator Byrd will speak for 30 minutes. Then we will go to the reconciliation bill, which would be at approximately 10 o'clock or 10 after, whatever it would be.

Mr. LOTT. Because of his objection, perhaps others, it would not count against that time. But we are going to have to use about 12 hours or more tomorrow. So I was thinking that since it was relevant to that issue those 30 minutes could count against the 12 or 14 hours we need to use tomorrow. But if there is objection to that, it is more important we get the agreement, hear what he has to say, and get started with the reconciliation bill.

Mr. LOTT. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Vote on Amendment No. 550

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the outstanding accomplishments of Craig Somers throughout his 32-year career with the U.S. Senate. I, along with my colleagues, congratulate Craig on his retirement from the Sergeant At Arms Office. His Senate career began in August of 1962, as a part-time employee and Senate page. In 1969, he became employed full-time with the Printing, Graphics & Direct Mail Department, then know as the Service Department, where he acquired many varied skills, including his initial position as an Addressograph Operator. Craig worked his way up to his current position as the Night Supervisor of the Lithographics Department. All of us in the Senate thank Craig for his tireless efforts with our printing needs and processing of our constituent mail. His work has helped us keep in touch with those we represent. Craig, we congratulate you and wish you well in your retirement.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.