[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11940-S11941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, Senator Daschle and I have been talking 
about the rest of the schedule this afternoon.
  First, once again, I am very pleased that after 3 years of effort, we 
have a bipartisan compromise on Amtrak reform. That was a good day's 
work. It still has to go to conference, but I believe now that we have 
a good chance to get that legislation through. That would be very 
beneficial to maintaining a national rail passenger system that would 
pay for itself.
  I believe we are now prepared to go to the D.C. bill. We have worked 
out an agreement on that. Then later on this afternoon we hope to be 
able to have another vote. We hoped we would get something on the 
labor-HHS appropriations conference report. We don't know for sure, but 
that may not be possible. We still have the option to go back to fast 
track, and there are some amendments, I am sure, that are in the 
offing. But whatever votes we would have this afternoon, and it appears 
it would be a minimum of one more vote, but the last vote for today 
would occur not later than 5 p.m. this afternoon, and we would then 
come back in tomorrow at noon and get an assessment of where we are.
  We are still hoping there may be an FDA reform conference report 
agreement. There is a possibility. We have worked out an agreement on 
the adoption-foster-care issue. If either of those are ready, we would 
try to do those tomorrow afternoon. We also would get an assessment of 
what will happen with regard to the appropriations bills coming from 
the House and also see if there is any way we can take some action that 
would help to expedite some conclusion to the appropriations process.
  With regard to fast track, we will continue to go back to it and have 
discussion, debate, and amendments when they are ready. The House has 
delayed their taking a vote on fast track until Saturday or Sunday. 
They will not do it today. Of course, that will have an impact on what 
we do and when we do it. I don't think we can say anything beyond that 
until we see what happens in the House.
  We have been asked by our colleagues in the House and by the 
administration to stay and continue to work to see if we can resolve 
the outstanding issues

[[Page S11941]]

on appropriations and be prepared to act on fast track, if and when the 
House does act. We will keep the Members informed. We will try to be 
conscious of schedules, but I think you should be prepared to have at 
least one more vote this afternoon, and there is a possibility that 
there would be a vote or two tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon.
  Again, on Sunday we would not be in until probably 1 o'clock to give 
Members an opportunity to go to church. One of the reasons why we won't 
have votes after 5 o'clock tonight is because of the Jewish sabbath. We 
are trying to honor Members' commitments in that regard while still 
trying to move this process forward.
  There is a 50-50 chance, still, that we can finish all this by 
Sunday. There is one thing for sure: If we don't stay here and keep 
working, there is a 100-percent chance we will be here next Friday. 
Let's keep trying to get it to a conclusion. I believe it is possible.
  I thank Senator Daschle for collaborating with me on these issues. I 
wonder if the minority leader might want to add anything?
  Mr. DASCHLE. I think the majority leader has laid it out pretty well. 
We have had a lot of questions about what the schedule is for the 
weekend. As the majority leader has indicated, we can expect to be here 
tomorrow and most likely on Sunday. I think if we can work as we have 
in the last few hours on appropriations bills and other related 
legislation, there is at least that 50-50 chance we can complete our 
work this weekend.
  One of the concerns that I have been hearing is that at some of the 
meetings we are not getting the kind of attendance that is necessary in 
order to complete the negotiations. I urge all Senators, as these 
meetings are scheduled--sometimes they are with very short notice--that 
people drop what they are doing and come to the meetings so we can 
expedite these negotiations.
  I appreciate everyone's participation and cooperation and, again, we 
will work with the majority leader to see if we can accommodate what he 
has laid out for the agenda for this weekend.
  Mr. LOTT. I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be able to yield 
to the senior Senator from Alaska without losing my right to the floor.

                          ____________________