[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9820-S9821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ORDER OF PROCEDURE

  Mr. LOTT. So Senators should be aware, this agreement will allow for 
two consecutive rollcall votes in the morning, Thursday, at 10 a.m. We 
will

[[Page S9821]]

come in session at 9:30, and then we will have the votes, two 
consecutive votes, at 10 o'clock.
  The two votes we just had will be the last votes of tonight, provided 
we can get agreement on a list of amendments that will be brought up 
tomorrow. I have the commitment of cooperation of the Democratic leader 
to work with us to identify the amendments, get a finite list of 
amendments, so we will have that list we can proceed on tomorrow. If we 
cannot, you know, get this list of amendments worked out, we will have 
to consider other options, but I am assuming we are going to have good-
faith cooperation, we are going to get these amendments, get them 
identified so we can complete action on the VA-HUD appropriations bill 
tomorrow. We had hoped to have more votes tonight and get it completed 
tonight, but there has been a good-faith effort made, certainly by the 
chairman and ranking Senator. And there have been other circumstances 
that have intervened that caused us to see if we could get the 
amendments agreed to and get the votes in the morning at 10 o'clock, 
back to back, and be prepared to complete the VA-HUD appropriations 
bill.
  For the information of all Senators, there are two other things they 
need to be aware of. We are working on a bipartisan basis to see if we 
can come up with a resolution with regard to the situation in Iraq. 
There is going to be a meeting at 10 o'clock in the morning, bipartisan 
meeting, to see if some language can be agreed to.
  In addition to that, with regard to the Defense of Marriage Act, you 
will recall there was a unanimous consent agreement entered into before 
we left for the August recess that provided a procedure to get that 
issue up for consideration beginning at 10 o'clock on Thursday. It 
provided that by 5 o'clock on Tuesday, up to four amendments could be 
offered on each side that would be voted on before we would get to 
final passage on the Defense of Marriage Act. But, also, after those 
four amendments on each side were filed as of 5 o'clock on 
Wednesday, the agreement could be vitiated and we would move on to 
other issues and decide on another way to handle the Defense of 
Marriage Act.

  That has happened. After the amendments were filed there was a 
feeling, I presume on both sides, that the amendments were going to be 
a distraction. They were going to contribute to an atmosphere that 
would not be helpful in our trying to get agreements and passage on 
appropriations bills that we simply must get done during this month. So 
the minority leader and I talked about it and we understand each other. 
We are not going to go with that unanimous consent agreement.
  I do want to emphasize we are going to have this issue brought up at 
some point. Unless we reach some other agreement, it would be my intent 
to bring it up and lay down the cloture motion on the motion to 
proceed. I have not made a decision exactly how we will do that or when 
we will do that. Part of it will depend on the cooperation we get on 
other issues, and whether or not we are making progress. But we would 
expect a vote or votes will occur on that issue sometime, probably next 
week, but without any final decision having been made as yet. Certainly 
I will consult with the Democratic leader before we take any action in 
that regard.
  There is a lot more that could be said, a lot more accusations, 
charges or countercharges. Can we dispense with that and just get on 
with the business? I would like to proceed that way. I hope that is the 
way we will approach this appropriations bill and other appropriations 
bills.
  I do have some additional unanimous consent requests here. I see the 
leader is on his feet. Would you like to comment at this point? I yield 
the floor at this time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me just confirm the agreement that 
was anticipated, I think, by the majority leader's comments. He and I 
have been talking throughout the day in attempts to find some 
resolution to the problems we are facing with regard to finalizing the 
list on amendments to the HUD-VA bill. I have committed to the majority 
leader that it would be our hope that we could come up with a finite 
list tonight. I think we are pretty close to having that finite list 
available. I will share that with the majority leader later on.
  It is my expectation the majority leader, as he has indicated, will 
work with us to finalize the language on the resolution relating to 
Iraq. The meeting, as he indicated, will be in his office tomorrow at 
10. It will be my hope we could have the vote tomorrow on that 
resolution, and find a way in which to resolve the outstanding issues 
on the HUD-VA bill.
  It is not our desire to preclude a vote, or to hold up a vote on the 
Defense of Marriage Act. Obviously, we had hoped we could come up with 
an agreement that would allow us a couple of amendments. As the 
majority leader indicated, there was concern on both sides and that was 
not possible. We want to work with the majority leader in finding a way 
to schedule that legislation and I am sure we can work through that as 
well.
  So we hope we can get everyone's cooperation. As it relates to the 
pending bill, I have committed our best effort to see if we can come to 
closure on it. I know there are a number of amendments that will be 
offered. Hopefully, if we have the list, at least we can confine 
ourselves to that list and I pledge our best efforts to make that 
happen.
  I yield the floor.

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