[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 29394-29395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              SECRET HOLDS

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, and colleagues, this is the time of the 
legislative session when too many important bills and nominations are 
killed in secret through a process known as the secret hold. This 
session of the Senate was supposed to be different as a result of an 
agreement between the majority and the minority leaders. I am going to 
read from that agreement. On February 25, Senator Lott and Senator 
Daschle wrote all Senators:

       All Members wishing to place a hold on any legislation or 
     executive calendar business shall notify the sponsor of the 
     legislation and the committee of jurisdiction of their 
     concern. Further written notification

[[Page 29395]]

     should be provided to respective leaders stating their 
     intentions regarding their bill or nomination. Holds placed 
     on items by a member of a personal or committee staff will 
     not be honored unless accompanied by a written notification 
     from the objecting Senator by the end of the following 
     business day.

  Suffice it to say, colleagues, I suspect there are a few sponsors of 
legislation here in the Senate who have not been notified that there is 
a hold on their legislation.
  I hope as we move towards the last hours of this session all 
Senators, Democrats and Republicans, will honor the policy set out by 
Senators Lott and Daschle. The secret holds are a breach of all that 
the Senate is supposed to stand for in terms of openness and public 
accountability.
  I hope Senators will comply with that new policy set out by Senators 
Lott and Daschle.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________