[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005--Continued

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have the floor, though I see the 
distinguished Senator from Virginia and, of course, I will yield to him 
if he is seeking the floor.
  Mr. WARNER. Yes, Mr. President, I am seeking the floor at this point 
in time.
  We have reached a juncture in the bill where the majority leader and 
the distinguished minority leader, together with the two managers, are 
trying to resolve what further business may occur on this bill. At this 
point in time I can only suggest to colleagues we are very close, 
hopefully, to resolving this matter. But until such time as we get an 
indication on my side of the aisle of the ability with regard to the 
other side to reach constructive resolution of this matter, I am going 
to have to ask that a quorum be put in.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, if the Senator----
  Mr. WARNER. Reserving the right to the floor, I yield for a question 
from my colleague.
  Mr. LEAHY. I wanted to accommodate the distinguished chairman, of 
course. I thought he was about to bring something up. I hope he would 
not put in a quorum call. I would like to speak about some of the 
matters that may be coming up later. I have been talking with him and 
Senator Reid and Senator Levin. If it becomes ripe to make that 
agreement, naturally I would yield the floor immediately as I did for 
the chairman. But I find in the joys of allergies, my voice is fast 
disappearing and I would like to speak now while I know I can so speak.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, my good friend and I have done many things 
together. At this point in time, I think, in good faith, the leadership 
of the Senate, together with the two managers, has developed a 
construct. Until such time as that construct is put in place, I must 
say with due respect I will have to maintain the quorum call.
  Mr. LEAHY. If the Senator will yield again before he did that? I 
note, as the Senator knows, I could be speaking now if I wanted to 
because I already had the floor and I could have refused to yield to 
him. I did not.
  Mr. WARNER. I think you yielded to me.
  Mr. LEAHY. I yielded to him, and had I not done that, of course I 
would have retained the floor and would have gone forth.
  Yesterday we had hours upon hours of quorum calls. All I am 
suggesting is that I be allowed to continue, and at such point as the 
Senator reaches an agreement, I would, of course, yield to whomever 
wishes to make the unanimous consent request. Being unable to do that, 
I believe my courtesy in giving up the position I had has not been 
returned. But, of course, the Senator has the parliamentary right to do 
whatever he wants because he has the floor.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I hope this is not a matter of courtesy. 
It is a matter of pure management of the bill. There has been a clear 
understanding between both sides, and I am abiding by the understanding 
on this side. I think this side has, in good faith, lived up to its 
commitments. From all I know, the manager on this side and the 
leadership on that side is doing everything to live up to their 
commitments.
  Until that time, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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