[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 3, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S384]]
                       CONDUCTING SENATE BUSINESS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me first express the sentiment that I 
know is shared by the entire Senate family in expressing our concern 
and our admiration for Senator Frist and his staff. Having been through 
this ordeal in another form a couple of years ago, I know the 
difficulty it presents personally to staff and to families of staff, 
and I know we are probably in a better position to confront these 
challenges today than we were 2 years ago. But we speak with one voice 
in expressing our concern for those staff and our optimism about our 
ability to successfully confront this challenge as we did 2 years ago.
  I know this has been a long 24 hours for the majority leader. He had 
a late night the night before, and then last night it would not 
surprise me if he got no sleep at all. So he is working on little 
sleep, and I appreciate his report this morning.
  Obviously, we have a number of decisions to make over the course of 
the day, and I will consult with him. I do hope, to the extent it is 
practicable, that we use this opportunity to continue the debate on 
highways. We do not have a lot of time, and I know each day is valuable 
from that perspective. But we also want to be practical, recognizing if 
the offices are closed, it will be hard for Senators and their staff to 
do work related to the highway bill. I look forward to consulting and 
working with the distinguished majority leader as we deal with the 
necessity this situation has presented to us.
  Mr. President, I know colleagues on both sides of the aisle are 
interested in the schedule. I know the majority leader had announced 
that there will be caucus lunches. I want to make sure people 
understand, we will have our normally scheduled caucus lunch today. 
Both the Democrats and Republicans will be meeting. They will be held 
in the same location.
  I yield the floor.

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