[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 106 (Thursday, September 9, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S8977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning following my remarks, which 
will be brief, and any comments from the Democratic leader, we will 
have a 60-minute period for morning business, with the first 30 minutes 
under the control of the majority, and the last 30 minutes under the 
control of the Democratic side.
  At the conclusion of morning business, we will resume consideration 
of the Homeland Security appropriations bill. Last night, we were able 
to reach an agreement which limits amendments to the bill, and although 
the list is much longer than we would like, I am hopeful many of the 
listed amendments will not be offered. As we continue discussion among 
ourselves and between both sides of the aisle, hopefully many of those 
amendments can be either addressed in another way or will not be 
offered at this point in time.
  It is imperative for us in this body to stay focused on the safety 
and security of the American people, and this bill demonstrates that. 
We have worked very well together thus far.
  I want to share with my colleagues the importance of staying focused 
on this bill. Let's move on with the amendments--we are on the 
amendments--and debate them in an expeditious way so we can finish this 
bill.
  I previously stated we should finish the bill this week. Given the 
list of amendments which have appeared, we will, in all likelihood, go 
over into next week. We absolutely must have as our goal and make it 
reality of finishing the bill in the early part of next week or prior 
to the Rosh Hashanah holiday. I know Members' schedules are fluid, 
especially at this time of year when people have so many demands back 
in their home States, as well as here. The schedules are challenging, 
but I ask everybody to work with the Democratic leader and myself in 
terms of the scheduling so we can have real movement on these bills and 
bring them to completion in as expeditious a way as possible.
  On Fridays and Mondays, we will be in discussion to let people know 
exactly what the voting schedules will be. In large part, it depends on 
how much participation we get during the course of the day today and 
tonight and a day like yesterday. If everybody can help us, I think we 
will be able to complete this bill in an expeditious way with respect 
to everybody's schedules.
  We will have a full day today and this evening, I would suspect, as 
we continue to make progress on the bill.

                          ____________________