[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 25 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S1662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                PROGRAM

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today the Senate overwhelmingly, finally 
adopted the PATRIOT Act conference report with a vote of 89 to 10. We 
spent a great deal of time considering this bill, and I am pleased and 
relieved that we reached a final conclusion on this important 
legislation. It has a very careful balance of civil liberties and at 
the same time guarantees elimination of that barrier between law 
enforcement and our intelligence community to make sure that men and 
women and children and families are protected here in our homeland. It 
has been tough to get to this point with a lot of negotiation and a lot 
of delay and postponement, but finally we have completed that important 
bill.
  We are now considering the LIHEAP bill, and we hope to complete 
action on that bill early next week. Also, next week we will begin work 
on the lobbying reform measure. We made progress on the whole effort of 
lobbying reform both in the Government Affairs Committee today, as well 
as in the Rules Committee earlier in the week.
  Next week we will be busy with votes each day as we work through 
initially LIHEAP and then the lobbying bill. Tomorrow I will have more 
to say on both the sequencing and timing of the lobbying bill and 
LIHEAP. The next votes will occur on Monday at 5:30 in the evening on 
the confirmation of three district judges.

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