[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 172 (Thursday, November 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16584-S16585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            FIRST SESSION OF THE 104TH CONGRESS--STATISTICS

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, this may be of interest to all my 
colleagues. We thought they might be interested in a statistical 
comparison from January through October 31 of the first session of the 
previous four Congresses to this current first session of the 104th 
Congress. The comparison contains the number of session hours, rollcall 
votes conducted, and measures passed in the Senate.
  In the first session of the 104th Congress, the Senate has already 
conducted 558 rollcall votes, as compared to the first session of the 
last four Congresses, as follows: 100th Congress, 362 rollcall votes; 
101st Congress, 279 rollcall votes; 102d Congress, 241 rollcall votes, 
103d Congress, 342 votes.
  In this first session alone, the Senate conducted 119 rollcall votes 
just on the budget resolution and reconciliation bill, and we are not 
finished yet.
  Actual session hours for the first session are 2 minutes' shy of 
1,548 hours, as compared to the 100th Congress, 1,026 hours; 101st 
Congress, 861 hours; 102d Congress, 1,014 hours; 103d Congress, 1,091 
hours.
  The final statistic I will share with my colleagues is the number of 
measures passed in the Senate in the first session of the various 
Congresses. In this first session, the Senate passed 259 legislative 
measures, as compared to 477 in the 100th Congress; 452 in the 101st 
Congress; 476 in the 102d Congress; 356 in the 103d Congress.
  Needless to say, this session has been historical in many ways, 
including the number of rollcall votes conducted in one day.
  The good news is that we have not passed as many legislative measures 
as 

[[Page S 16585]]

the previous four Congresses. However, in this Senator's opinion, we 
have passed more sweeping, fundamental reforms that will help bring 
this country back to financial soundness, putting the American people 
back in control of their own budgets, and getting big Government off 
the backs of the American people and our States and cities across the 
country.
  I guess my one regret thus far--whether it is in this session or the 
next--is the failure to pass a balanced budget amendment. We failed by 
one vote. However, this Congress is far from over. Senators may yet get 
another opportunity to do what this Senator from Kansas believes is 
fundamental in controlling Government waste and spending--that is, 
passing a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget.
  I think it is clear, if the time we have spent here and the number of 
rollcalls are any indication, that the Senate has worked very hard this 
year, and I commend all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I 
thought this might make rather interesting bedtime reading, if we ever 
get home in time.

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