[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 18882]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will be in a period 
for morning business until 11 a.m. Following morning business, the 
Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 2555, the Department of 
Homeland Security appropriations bill. One amendment is pending. It was 
offered by Senator Byrd during yesterday's proceedings. I anticipate 
further debate on that amendment today, and then it is hoped that a 
consent will be reached for a time certain to vote in relation to that 
amendment. There will be no votes prior to the policy luncheons.
  In addition, this afternoon, there will be an all-Senators briefing, 
and therefore I will be discussing with the Democratic leadership the 
best timeframe for the scheduling of votes today.
  It is hoped that once debate is complete on the Byrd amendment, we 
can set that aside and consider other amendments. We will make further 
progress on the bill throughout the day and stack rollcall votes for 
later this afternoon. We will stay in session this afternoon and early 
evening to dispose of as many amendments as possible.
  As I indicated last week, we hope to complete this important Homeland 
Security bill during Wednesday's session of the Senate. That would 
enable us to proceed to other appropriations bills that are available 
this week.
  The end of the fiscal year is fast approaching, and the Senate should 
continue to work through the constitutionally required appropriations 
process as expeditiously as possible.
  Next week is the final week of legislative work prior to the August 
recess, and that will be devoted to finishing the Energy bill. I would 
therefore ask for all Senators' consideration as we continue through 
this last week and a half. I should add that it would be helpful to 
both Senator Cochran and Senator Byrd if Members would come forward 
today with their amendments so that we could schedule the debate and 
votes in an orderly way.
  I thank all Members for their attention.

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