[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 23424]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            MORNING BUSINESS

  I now ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period for 
morning business with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes 
each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. WELLSTONE. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, my understanding is we are on the 
bankruptcy bill, is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. No. We are on a motion to proceed to S. 2557.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I withdraw my objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if the Senator from Minnesota will withhold 
for a moment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant minority leader.
  Mr. REID. I wanted to ask the majority leader a couple of questions. 
I say to my friend, as he knows, there is some angst over here as to 
whether or not the people, especially from the West, have to travel 
back here on Tuesday.
  We will have to know Monday night; otherwise, Senators have to catch 
planes early Tuesday morning to get back on time.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I say to Senator Reid, we had to make a 
decision last Monday. Unfortunately, we did not immediately communicate 
with both sides of the aisle because it was late in the afternoon. We 
need to be in close touch. I will be here Monday. I know the Senator 
from Nevada will be. Once we see when the reports are filed and when 
these votes will be ready, we will be prepared to notify everybody as 
to when they can expect a vote.
  It appears to me it is possible we could have one or more of these 
conference reports ready late Tuesday, but if it becomes apparent the 
House is not going to get it until late Tuesday or even late in the 
afternoon, we may want to make a conscious decision to go ahead and 
announce Monday those votes may not occur until Wednesday.
  I think we need another day or perhaps the weekend to see if these 
agreements can be worked out between the House and Senate Republicans 
and Democrats and the White House and get the reports filed. It is 
impossible to say right now. I assume all Senators would like to get 
this work completed as soon as possible. If we can do it Tuesday and 
Wednesday, I presume that is preferable, but if it is going to be 
Wednesday or Wednesday/Thursday, then obviously Senators want to know 
that. I will stay in close touch with Senator Reid, and we will make 
those decisions and those announcements jointly, not later than Monday 
afternoon.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I say to my friend, if we knew sometime late 
Monday afternoon, 4, 5, even 6 o'clock, we could----
  Mr. LOTT. I will be out here. I will see the Senator from Nevada on 
the floor. We will make those calls at that time and notify everybody 
so they at least have 24 hours' notice.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

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