[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 173 (Monday, November 24, 2003)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1334-D1336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                          Monday, November 24, 2003

[[Page D1334]]

                              Daily Digest

                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S15669-S15879
Measures Introduced: Fifteen bills and two resolutions were introduced, 
as follows: S. 1936-1950, and S. Res. 273-274.
  Page S15812
Measures Reported:
  S. 1940, to reauthorize the Head Start Act. (S. Rept. No. 108-208)
  Report to accompany S. 710, to amend the Immigration and Nationality 
Act to provide that aliens who commit acts of torture, extrajudicial 
killings, or other specified atrocities abroad are inadmissible and 
removable and to establish within the Criminal Division of the 
Department of Justice an Office of Special Investigations having 
responsibilities under that Act with respect to all alien participants 
in war crimes, genocide, and the commission of acts of torture and 
extrajudicial killings abroad. (S. Rept. No. 108-209)
  S. 1786, to revise and extend the Community Services Block Grant Act, 
the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, and the Assets for 
Independence Act, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. 
Rept. No. 108-210)
  S. 573, to amend the Public Health Service Act to promote organ 
donation, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  S. 606, to provide collective bargaining rights for public safety 
officers employed by States or their political subdivisions.
  S. 1881, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to make 
technical corrections relating to the amendments by the Medical Device 
User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute.
Pages S15811-12
Measures Passed:
  NASA Workforce Flexibility Act: Senate passed S. 610, to amend the 
provisions of title 5, United States Code, to provide for workforce 
flexibilities and certain Federal personnel provisions relating to the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, after agreeing to the 
committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, and the following 
amendment proposed thereto:
  Page S15853
  Ensign (for Voinovich/Carper) Amendment No. 2214, in the nature of a 
substitute.
Page S15863
  New Hope Cemetery: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
was discharged from further consideration of S. 1537, to direct the 
Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the New Hope Cemetery Association 
certain land in the State of Arkansas for use as a cemetery, and the 
bill was then passed.
  Page S15863
  Ozark Land Exchange: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry was discharged from further consideration of S. 33, to 
authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange all or part 
of certain administrative sites and other land in the Ozark-St. Francis 
and Ouachita National Forests and to use funds derived from the sale or 
exchange to acquire, construct, or improve administrative sites, and 
the bill was then passed.
  Page S15864
  Green Mountain National Forests Boundaries: Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry was discharged from further consideration of S. 
1499, to adjust the boundaries of Green Mountain National Forest, and 
the bill was then passed.
  Pages S15864-65
  National Veterinary Medical Services Act:  Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry was discharged from further consideration of 
H.R. 1367, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a loan 
repayment program regarding the provision of veterinary services in 
shortage situations, and the bill was then passed, clearing the measure 
for the President.
  Page S15865
  Wind Cave National Park Boundary Revision Act:  Senate passed S. 425, 
to revise the boundary of the Wind Cave National Park in the State of 
South Dakota.
  Page S15865
  Wild Sky Wilderness Act: Senate passed S. 391, to enhance ecosystem 
protection and the range of outdoor opportunities protected by statute 
in the Skykomish River valley of the State of Washington by designating 
certain lower-elevation Federal lands

[[Page D1335]]

as wilderness, after agreeing to the committee amendments. 
                                                        Pages S15865-67
  Idaho Panhandle National Forest Improvement Act: Senate passed S. 
434, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange all 
or part of certain parcels of National Forest System land in the State 
of Idaho and use the proceeds derived from the sale or exchange for 
National Forest System purposes, after agreeing to the committee 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  Pages S15867-68
  Sandpoint Land and Facilities Conveyance Act: Senate passed S. 435, 
to provide for the conveyance by the Secretary of Agriculture of the 
Sandpoint Federal Building and adjacent land in Sandpoint, Idaho, after 
agreeing to the committee amendments.
  Pages S15868-69
  Cold War Study: Senate passed S. 452, to require that the Secretary 
of the Interior conduct a study to identify sites and resources, to 
recommend alternatives for commemorating and interpreting the Cold War, 
after agreeing to the committee amendment.
  Pages S15869-70
  Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area Act: Senate passed S. 714, to 
provide for the conveyance of a small parcel of Bureau of Land 
Management land in Douglas County, Oregon, to the county to improve 
management of and recreational access to the Oregon Dunes National 
Recreation Area, after agreeing to the committee amendments. 
                                                            Page S15870
  Salmon River Commercial Outfitting Act: Senate passed S.1003, to 
clarify the intent of Congress with respect to the continued use of 
established commercial outfitter hunting camps on the Salmon River, 
after agreeing to the committee amendment.
  Page S15870
  Coconino and Tonto National Forests Act: Senate passed H.R. 622, to 
provide for the exchange of certain lands in the Coconino and Tonto 
National Forests in Arizona, after agreeing to the committee 
amendments.
  Pages S15870-71
  Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site Establishment Act: 
Senate passed H.R. 1012, to establish the Carter G. Woodson Home 
National Historic Site in the District of Columbia, after agreeing to 
the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute. 
                                                        Pages S15871-72
  Captive Wildlife Safety Act: Senate passed H.R. 1006, to amend the 
Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to further the conservation of certain 
wildlife species, after agreeing to the following amendment proposed 
thereto:
  Pages S15872-73
  Ensign (for Inhofe/Jeffords) Amendment No. 2215, to make certain 
modifications to improve the bill.
Page S15873
  Preserving Independence of Financial Institution Examinations Act: 
Senate passed S. 1947, to prohibit the offer of credit by a financial 
institution to a financial institution examiner.
  Pages S15873-74
  American Dream Downpayment Act: Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs was discharged from further consideration of S. 811, to 
support certain housing proposals in the fiscal year 2003 budget for 
the Federal Government, including the downpayment assistance initiative 
under the HOME Investment Partnership Act, and the bill was then 
passed, after agreeing to the following amendment proposed thereto. 
                                                            Page S15874
  Ensign (for Shelby) Amendment No. 2216, in the nature of a 
substitute.
Page S15874
  GAO Human Capital Reform Act: Senate passed S. 1522,to provide new 
human capital flexibilities with respect to the GAO, after agreeing to 
the committee amendments.
  Pages S15875-78
  Authorizing Document Production: Senate agreed to S. Res. 274, to 
authorize the production of records by the Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
  Page S15879
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act 
Agreement: Senate continued consideration of the conference report to 
accompany H.R. 1, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
provide for a voluntary prescription drug coverage program under the 
Medicare program, to modernize, strengthen, and improve the Medicare 
program, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 
deduction to individuals for amounts contributed to health savings 
accounts, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with 
respect to abbreviated applications for the approval of new drugs and 
the importation of prescription drugs.
  Pages S15670-S15771
  By 70 yeas to 29 nays (Vote No. 457), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn, having voted in the affirmative, Senate agreed 
to the motion to close further debate on the conference report. 
                                                            Page S15698
  During consideration of this measure today, Senate also took the 
following action:
  By 61 yeas to 39 nays (Vote No. 458), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn, having voted in the affirmative, Senate agreed 
to the motion to waive sections 311(A)(2) and 302(f) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, with respect to the

[[Page D1336]]

conference report to accompany H.R. 1. Subsequently, the point of order 
that the conference report was in violation of sections 311(A)(2) and 
302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, was not sustained, and 
thus falls.
Pages S15698-S15711
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing for further 
consideration of the conference report at 8:15 a.m., on Tuesday, 
November 25, 2003, with a vote on adoption of the conference report to 
occur at 9:15 a.m.
Page S15879
National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act: Senate concurred 
in the amendment of the House to S. 1768, to extend the national flood 
insurance program, clearing the measure for the President. 
                                                            Page S15874
Removal of Injunction of Secrecy: The injunction of secrecy was removed 
from the following treaty:
  Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Japan (Treaty Doc. No. 108-12).
  The treaty was transmitted to the Senate today, considered as having 
been read for the first time, and referred, with accompanying papers, 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed. 
                                                            Page S15878
Appointments:
  American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress: The Chair, on 
behalf of the President pro tempore, pursuant to Public Law 94-201, as 
amended by Public Law 105-275, appointed Dr. Daniel Botkin, of 
California, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American 
Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, vice Susan Barksdale 
Howorth, of Mississippi.
  Page S15878
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nomination:
  Jane J. Boyle, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the 
Northern District of Texas.
Page S15879
Enrolled Bills Signed:
  Page S15811
Additional Cosponsors:
  Page S15812
Statements on Introduced Bills/Resolutions:
  Pages S15813-45
Additional Statements:
  Pages S15809-11
Amendments Submitted:
  Pages S15845-53
Privilege of the Floor:
  Page S15853
Record Votes: Two record votes were taken today. (Total--458) 
                                                   Pages S15698, S15711
Adjournment: Senate met at 9 a.m. and adjourned at 11:12 p.m. until 
8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, November 25, 2003. (For Senate's Program, see the 
remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page 
S15879.)