[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22697]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--H.R. 3210

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that immediately 
upon passage of H.R. 5005, the homeland defense bill, the Senate 
proceed to the terrorism insurance conference report to accompany H.R. 
3210; that the Senate then vote immediately on cloture on the 
conference report; that if cloture is invoked, the Senate then 
immediately, without any intervening action or debate, vote on passage 
of the conference report; that if cloture is not invoked, the 
conference report continue to be debatable.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. I do not fully understand this request. I want to know what 
this does to homeland security.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, if I can respond to the distinguished 
Senator from West Virginia, this has no effect at all on the debate on 
homeland defense. All Senators are protected with regard to their 
rights under cloture, if cloture is invoked on homeland security. This 
only deals with the next issue, the terrorism insurance bill, to be 
taken up once homeland defense has been completed.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, further reserving my right to object, and I 
will be very brief, I am supportive of the measure the distinguished 
majority leader is seeking to advance in connection with this request. 
Does this in any way have a psychological effect with respect to the 
cloture we are going to vote on this morning?
  I plead to Senators--further reserving my right to object--I plead 
with Senators not to invoke cloture today. I understand cloture will be 
invoked at some point. I just hope it will not be today. I hope we will 
have the weekend for our staffs to study this bill so that we will be 
better prepared after we have had more time to study it.
  What I am concerned about is the desire to get to the bill about 
which the majority leader is speaking and which I fully support. I hope 
that desire will not have some psychological impact on Senators causing 
them to vote for cloture today.
  I wonder if our two leaders would propose a unanimous consent request 
that would vitiate a cloture vote for today, push the cloture vote over 
until Monday. I know cloture is going to be invoked, but for God's 
sake, for Heaven's sake, for the sake of liberty and justice, and for 
the sake of Senators being able to understand what they are voting on 
in this 484-page bill that has been sprung on us--and we have only been 
able to see it at the beginning of Wednesday, the day before 
yesterday--would the leaders please consider at least vitiating that 
vote and putting it over until Monday so that we and our staffs will 
have some more time for study?
  For Heaven's sake, would the majority leader and minority leader 
consider this request? That is all I am asking.
  I know cloture is going to be invoked at some point, but for Heaven's 
sake, we have a right to know what is in this 484-page bill, and the 
people out there who are watching this debate through those electronic 
lenses have a right also to know. We have a duty to know what we are 
voting on. At this moment, as we get ready to invoke cloture, we do not 
know what is in this bill.
  Mr. President, I remove my reservation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent 
request? Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I thank all of my colleagues. I thank in particular the 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia. I yield the floor.

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