[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10229-S10230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, there has been extensive consultation 
between the distinguished majority leader and the Democratic leader, 
and we do have a unanimous-consent request to propound.
  I ask unanimous consent that the pending bill, S. 343, be temporarily 
laid aside; that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from 
further consideration of S. 21; and that the Senate turn to its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I reserve the right to object, and it is 
certainly not my intention to object. Let me make one observation and 
note a couple of concerns, as we propound the second part of this 
request. 

[[Page S 10230]]

  The observation is this: those who are engaged in trying to work 
through the remaining differences on the regulation reform bill 
reported to me just moments ago that real progress has been made this 
afternoon. I think that we have been able to report progress from time 
to time.
  I think in all sincerity, some effort has been made on both sides to 
continue to narrow the differences, and we made significant progress 
over the course of the last several hours. The time that has been spent 
since about 3 o'clock this afternoon has been well spent.
  As it relates to this resolution, I think the recommendation made by 
the majority leader and the majority whip is a good one. I think laying 
the bill aside will accommodate the negotiations, and I think that it 
is safe to assume that we are going to continue to make progress over 
the course of the next couple of days. We certainly do not relegate any 
rights to continue to object to closure on the legislation, should we 
find that progress has not been sufficient. But I think we need to 
recognize that, indeed, efforts are being made on both sides to try to 
accommodate the concerns. It is in that context that we want to allow 
that process to continue.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we certainly appreciate the comments of the 
distinguished Democratic leader.
  I further ask unanimous consent then that the Senate resume S. 343 
after the disposition of S. 21, as amended, if amended, and no call for 
the regular order serve to displace S. 21, except one made by the 
majority leader after notification of the minority leader, and if a 
call for the regular order is made, there be 1 hour for debate to be 
equally divided in the usual form to be followed by the third cloture 
vote on the Dole-Johnston substitute, and the mandatory quorum under 
rule XXII be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, again, reserving the right to object, now 
I simply want to state the two concerns I mentioned a moment ago. 
First, we have an understanding that over the course of tomorrow 
morning and early afternoon that there be no votes on amendments or on 
the resolution itself. A number of Senators have been invited down to 
the White House to discuss this matter. I think it would be very 
helpful if that discussion can take place prior to the time we are 
called upon to make any decisions.
  Second, should we find the need to come back to S. 21, it would be 
very helpful if we had plenty of notice. The majority leader and the 
majority whip have both indicated that, indeed, it would be their 
desire to give us plenty of notice.
  So it is with those two understandings that we have no objection and 
encourage Senators to comply with this unanimous-consent agreement and 
get on with the debate relating to the Dole resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is the entire request proposed?
  Mr. LOTT. It has been propounded, and if the Chair would like to go 
ahead and do the ruling, I have one further comment I would like to 
make.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the entire unanimous-
consent request?
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. I suggest 
the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi has the floor. 
Does he yield for the purpose of----
  Mr. LOTT. First, I was not aware that the Senator had a problem that 
he wanted to discuss with the minority leader. While that is being 
done, I would like to respond to a couple of points that the minority 
leader made.
  First, as is always the custom, the majority leader would certainly 
give notice to the other side, to the minority leader, before any votes 
would occur. That is always done. Certainly, they would give them the 
usual courtesy that would be expected in that regard.
  Second, I know, also, that the majority leader--while I have not 
discussed it with him--would want to honor any request for 
consideration of a meeting that might be occurring on this particular 
matter with the administration. So I know that the minority leader has 
already been assured of that. I would like to reconfirm that.
  Also, I would like to note, before the Chair rules, that I have been 
notified that we do not expect any more recorded votes tonight. The 
majority leader has sent that word. We had discussed that earlier with 
him and with the minority leader. So the Members should be on notice 
that there will be no more recorded votes tonight.
  I have no further requests. I thank the minority leader for his 
indulgence. I would like to see if we can get a ruling on the 
unanimous-consent request.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I want to notify the membership that if this 
agreement cannot be reached, it would be the intent of the leader to go 
on with the pending legislation, and then we could expect additional 
recorded votes tonight. I will be glad to yield to the minority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I was not aware of the concern of the 
distinguished Senator from Wisconsin with regard to the regulatory 
reform bill. We have an hour prior to the time we would go to the third 
cloture motion under this unanimous consent agreement. He would like to 
be protected to offer a nongermane amendment relating to a sense-of-
the-Senate resolution prior to that time. I think if we could 
accommodate the Senator from Wisconsin, perhaps we could accommodate 
this unanimous-consent agreement.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, in view of this development and seeing the 
Senator from North Carolina seeking recognition, while some further 
discussion takes place, I will withhold that unanimous consent request 
for now and yield the floor.
  Mr. HELMS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina is recognized.

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