[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 43 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3239-S3240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, the Senate will be in a period for morning 
business until 1 p.m. in order for Senators to make statements and to 
introduce legislation. At 1 p.m. today, the Senate will begin 
consideration of the Coverdell education A+ bill under the provisions 
of the consent agreement of March 27, 1998. As previously announced, 
there will be no rollcall votes today, but it is hoped that Members 
will be available to offer their amendments to H.R. 2646, the Coverdell 
bill. As a reminder, the next rollcall vote will occur tomorrow morning 
at 10 a.m. on or in relation to the Gorton amendment to S. 414, the 
Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
  Just to remind Senators, we did have debate on the Ocean Shipping Act 
on Friday when we went out for the Easter recess period, and we 
completed all the work except for the vote on the amendment and then, 
of course, final passage after that, if that is necessary, and I 
presume it may not be.
  Senators should expect further votes throughout Tuesday's session on 
or in relation to pending amendments to the Coverdell education bill.
  In addition, it is hoped that during this week the Senate will be 
able to consider the NATO expansion treaty and the State Department 
reorganization conference report under the consent agreement of 6 
hours.
  I want to say again that there will be no rush to judgment on NATO 
enlargement. I want to make sure that Senators on both sides of the 
aisle and on both sides of the issue will have a chance to make their 
statements and point out their concerns or their reasons for support. 
So, if it is necessary to take that over into next week before we get 
to the conclusion of the NATO enlargement, we will certainly do that.
  During the next 5 weeks, the Senate can be expected to consider the 
following items, and therefore Members can expect busy days with votes 
most every day that we are in session, including Mondays or Fridays, 
except for those where we have already indicated we will not have 
votes, and we will reconfirm those during the next 2 days so Senators 
will know for sure the Mondays or Fridays where there will not be 
recorded votes.
  In addition to the items I mentioned, this week we also will take up, 
hopefully, with cooperation from both sides of the aisle, the IRS 
reform legislation; Department of Defense authorization; the budget 
conference report; supplemental appropriations conference report--
perhaps even reports, depending

[[Page S3240]]

on whether there are one or two there--the nuclear waste bill; a series 
of high-tech bills. There could be as many as three or four of those 
coming out of the Commerce Committee. I will have to consult with the 
chairman as to exactly how many there will be. I believe they have 
already reported a couple, and there may be two more.
  The Iran sanctions legislation is pending. We have tried to be 
cooperative with the administration on this issue, but we did get an 
agreement right at the end of the session before we went home for 
Easter as to when action could occur on the Iran sanctions. I believe 
that is before May 20, but we will reconfirm that later. And, of 
course, the tobacco legislation issue is pending before the Senate, 
having been reported by the Commerce Committee.

  This is not an exclusive list, of course, and additional legislation 
or Executive Calendar items may be cleared for action. I look forward 
to a productive legislative period.

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