[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 3 (Thursday, January 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE SENATE WEEK

  Mr. FRIST. Madam President, I take a minute and again welcome 
everyone back for this second session, this being close to completion 
of the first week. We have had a very good and productive week in the 
Senate.
  The President delivered his State of the Union Address Tuesday night, 
which is always an uplifting experience for all who have the 
opportunity to participate directly. And very much I express my 
appreciation for his very positive, constructive message as we all work 
together to move this country forward. Indeed, as the President said, 
the state of the Union is strong, and it is confident.

  Today we were able to finish our appropriations work for this fiscal 
year, really the unfinished business for last year. It took a strong, 
bipartisan vote of 65 to 28. And with that, we adopted the Omnibus 
appropriations conference report, which will allow us to proceed to a 
regular order for this upcoming fiscal year.
  In a few moments we will be considering and confirming several 
executive nominations. We have been working on that over the course of 
this afternoon. We will continue to discuss further nominations 
tomorrow, and I am very hopeful we will have a number of other 
nominations to be approved tomorrow. I am personally appreciative and 
glad we have been able to continue this process. It is important for us 
to continue that work and bring these nominations forward as soon as 
they are available.

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