[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S304-S305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 1575
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, with regard to S. 1575, I ask unanimous
consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of
Calendar No. 301, S. 1575, the Ronald Reagan airport legislation, and
it be considered under the following agreement:
One amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle or his designee
regarding a commission; one amendment to be offered by Senator Dodd
regarding a commission; one amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle
or his designee regarding Dulles Airport naming; one amendment to be
offered by Senator Coverdell, which is a technical change amendment;
one amendment to be offered by Senator Reid regarding the FBI building
renaming; one relevant amendment to be offered by Senator Lott or his
designee; and one relevant amendment to be offered by Senator Daschle
or his designee.
I further ask that these amendments be the only amendments in order
and they all be in the first degree and must be offered and debated
prior to the close of business this evening, and any votes ordered with
respect to the amendments or passage occur on Wednesday morning, at a
time to be determined by the majority leader after notification of the
Democratic leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I will
not
[[Page S305]]
object, but I would simply clarify that this has been a work in
progress for several days. I appreciate very much the cooperation of
the majority leader in accommodating Democratic Senators and Republican
Senators who wish to offer amendments.
There were two issues here. One was the opportunity to offer
amendments. This unanimous consent request does that. People can vote
up or down on the amendments and can certainly vote up or down on the
bill. There will be plenty of discussion about the reasons for a vote
on either side of these amendments as the debate unfolds.
The second issue was one relating to the IRS bill. It was our view
that the bill reforming the IRS needed to be brought to the attention
of the Senate and needed to be scheduled. The majority leader has
acknowledged the need to do that as well, and he has given me a
commitment that we will take up the IRS bill prior to the end of March.
So given his commitment to address the IRS and to allow amendments to
be offered, that will, in my view, certainly provide us with an
opportunity to move forward. So I appreciate very much his effort to
respond to those concerns.
We have no objection.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Regarding the majority leader's unanimous
consent request, without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Daschle for his comments. I
think this is a fair agreement. Senators understandably want to be able
to offer relevant amendments, and these amendments do pertain to this
general area of discussion. I think that is reasonable. I think that is
fair. I was concerned earlier on at the suggestions that were being
made that we would wind up with just a litany of amendments making it
impossible for us to bring this to a reasonable conclusion, and
delaying other issues that we have already made a commitment to do. So
I am pleased that we have this agreement.
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