[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12091]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morning there will be 15 minutes 
remaining for debate on the religious freedom bill. At 9:45, under a 
previous order, the Senate will proceed to vote on the passage of the 
religious freedom bill. I commend Senator Arlen Specter and Senator 
Nickles and Senators on both sides of the aisle who have worked on 
this. I am sure Senator Lieberman was involved, and others. I think 
this is a really fine accomplishment in the waning hours of this 
session of Congress.
  Following that vote, the Senate may consider any available 
appropriations conference reports--we have at least one that I believe 
could be taken up, that is the Treasury-Postal Service bill--and any 
other legislative or executive items cleared for action. It is 
anticipated that we will move at some point today to the nomination of 
Mr. Paez from California, to be a judge for the Ninth Circuit. There is 
opposition, significant opposition to that nomination, so there will 
have to be some debate and I am sure a vote.
  The Senate will also consider a continuing resolution or an omnibus 
appropriations bill, should they become available or when they become 
available. Members should expect, then, rollcall votes throughout 
today's session and into the evening. I thank my colleagues for their 
attention.
  I might just note, last night a lot of good work was done in the 
wrapup, including approval of the intelligence authorization conference 
report and the water resources bill. This is a very significant bill 
that is important to every State in the Nation. It had been tied up 
with various and sundry problems, but with a lot of hard work and a lot 
of cooperation, that bill was cleared. We hope, now, the House will 
take expeditious action and we can complete action on the water 
resources bill before we go out for the year. Also, we did the human 
resources reauthorization and the vocational education bill. When you 
couple higher education and vocational education, plus the Coverdell A+ 
bill that Congress passed, there has been a significant achievement 
this year in education. Even though the President vetoed the ability 
for people to save for their children's education, higher education and 
vocational education are two areas where we have completed our action 
and will be signed into law.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

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