Don Nickles

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for offering his amendment. We will consider the amendment tomorrow. We have already had three or four amendments that are in the queue tomorrow. I understand there will be others. We have asked other Senators to come forward tonight to offer their amendments. The Senator from Maryland is doing that and explained it. I appreciate his explanation of the amendment. I am sure we will try to get that in the queue. I know Senator Crapo has an interest on this issue as well. It is 8:45, and we have requested colleagues if they had amendments to bring those to the floor. I am concerned about having a vote-arama or having so many people saying: Wait a minute, I didn't have a chance to offer my amendment. We have been saying all along that we would be in session very late tonight to receive amendments. We will be in session very late tomorrow tonight to dispose of amendments. I would like to see if we can't work out some amendments, accept some amendments, voice vote some amendments, and work toward completing this bill and avoid the crash at the end, the vote-arama where we have votes on amendments without having the slightest idea what is in them. We have done that in the past. That is not a good way to legislate. I would like to avoid that if possible. I thank my colleague from Maryland for coming late tonight and offering the amendment. I wish more Senators would have. I look forward to working with him tomorrow.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 4 p.m. on Thursday, the Senate proceed to a series of votes in relation to the following amendments: Kyl amendment No. 288; Dorgan amendment No. 294; Rockefeller-Collins amendment No. 275. I further ask unanimous consent that no second-degree amendments be in order to any of the preceding amendments prior to the vote, and that there be 2 minutes for debate equally divided prior to each vote.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to limit the time on the last two amendments to 10 minutes.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period for morning business.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on Nonproliferation Programs of the Department of State. Witnesses Panel 1: The Honorable John S. Wolf, Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation, Department of State, Washington, DC. Panel 2: The Honorable Rose E. Gottemoeller, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC. The Honorable Charles B. Curtis, President and Chief Operating Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Washington; Dr. Amy E. Smithson, Senior Associate, The Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing on the Effects and Consequences of an Emerging China. Witnesses Panel 1: Mr. Randall Schriver, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China, Department of State, Washington, DC; Mr. Charles Freeman, Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative, Office of the US Trade Representative, Washington, DC. Panel 2: Dr. Robert A. Kapp, President, The US-China Business Council, Washington, DC; Ms. Hillary B. Rosen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Recording Industry Association of America, Washington, DC. Panel 3: Dr. Larry Wortzel, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC; Dr. David M. Lampton, Director of Chinese Studies, The Nixon Center, Washington, DC.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet in Executive Session during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 19, 2003. The following agenda will be considered: Agenda S. , Lifespan Respite Care Act. S. , Pediatric Drugs Research Authority. S. 15, Biodefense Improvement and Treatment for America Act. Any nominees that have been cleared for action.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct an oversight hearing on the operations of the Secretary of the Senate and the Architect of the Capitol.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on Indian energy legislation, S. 424, the Tribal Energy self-Sufficiency Act, and S. 522, the Native American Energy Development and Self Determination Act of 2003.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing entitled ``Promoting Ethical Regenerative Medicine Research and Prohibiting Immoral Human Reproductive Cloning'' on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 10:30 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. Panel I: The Honorable Sam Brownback, United States Senator, [R-KS]; The Honorable Jim R. Langevin, United States Representative, [D-RI-2nd District]. Panel II: Dr. Leon Kass, Addie Clark Harding Professor, The College and the Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago. Hertog Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Chicago, IL; Dr. Thomas Murray, President, The Hastings Center, Garrison, NY. Panel III: Dr. Harold Varmus, President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY; Dr. Anton-Lewis Usala, Professor, East Carolina University Professor, Greenville, NC; Dr. Micheline Mathews-Roth, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Dr. Paul Berg, Cahill Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. Panel IV: Mr. James Kelly, Patient Advocate, Granbury, TX; Mr. Gregg Wasson, Patient Advocate, Cotai, CA. THE PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Subcommittee on Personnel

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Personnel of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 3 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on the National Guard and Reserve Military and Civilian Personnel Programs, in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2004.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support of the Armed Services Committee be authorized to meet during the Session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., in open session to receive testimony on acquisition policy and outsourcing issues, in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2004.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 8, S. 153.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 24, S. 342.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the record.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed immediately to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's executive calendar: Calendar Nos. 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 20. I further ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of S. Con. Res. 23, the concurrent budget resolution; provided further that there be 14\1/2\ hours remaining for debate on the resolutions with 6\1/2\ hours remaining under the control of the chairman of the Budget Committee and 8 hours remaining under the control of the ranking member.

Mr. NICKLES. I thank my friend and colleague from Nevada for his comments in support of the President and the troops. We do wish them Godspeed and God's blessing and protection as well.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, we have agreed to have votes on several pending amendments. I tell my colleagues, I am disappointed we are going to go out of session shortly. We stated our intention to stay in session, stay in business, to receive amendments late into the night, to work to pass and/or to modify, to accept or to come up with second degree amendments. We did not get as many amendments done as I had hoped. We plan on being on this resolution from 9:30 in the morning until midnight tomorrow. So I do not want colleagues coming to me and saying they did not have a chance to offer their amendment. They had a chance tonight. They will have a chance tomorrow. I am trying to avoid a calamity towards the end called a ``vote-athon'' that we have had in the past. My colleague from Nevada and I know that is not the way the Senate should work, and we should avoid it if we possibly can. We are going to be in on the bill tomorrow morning at 9:30. I urge Members, if they have amendments, please share those amendments with us. I have not seen any amendments that are expected to be offered by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. I would like to see them. We would like to review them. We would like to analyze them. We would like to know what we are voting on. I urge our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if they have amendments, please share those with us. Likewise, I say to any of my colleagues, if they have amendments, I would like to share them with the managers on the other side so we can cooperatively work and manage this budget. It is very much the leader's intention and my intention to finish this budget this week. As with most budgets in the past, I expect we will have a lot of votes. It needs to be done in a way that we know what we are voting on. So I make those editorial comments. Again, I want to thank my colleagues from Nevada and North Dakota. Both have been a pleasure to work with. I hope we will have greater progress in moving amendments. I mentioned in our unanimous consent request, which has already been agreed upon, we have three votes. My expectation would be that we would have several other votes tacked on in addition to those. I hope we will have substantive amendments.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I will be happy to work with my colleague. Because I have been running back and forth to a lot of meetings, I have not had a chance yet to even address the Senator's amendment that is pending, so I wish to do that. Are we still working through the lunch break?

Mr. NICKLES

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

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. How much time remains on the Conrad amendment?