[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SENATOR BYRD'S BIRTHDAY

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I agree with my friend from West Virginia. 
No man should be put through this on his 87th birthday. Happy birthday, 
Senator Byrd. We hope you make it home in time for the cake.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, is it possible now to proceed to the 
conference report that is before us?
  I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to the conference report 
before us.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I say to my 
colleague that there are discussions going on to try to resolve this 
matter. I think they are about to bear fruit. I just left a 
conversation in the cloakroom, and they were coming up with a process 
to try to make certain that this provision never becomes law. It sounds 
as though they are making progress. Before we proceed, I think we will 
want to have the leaders here to be able to tell the rest of us what 
they have arrived at.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts is recognized.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we have just had an election. Republicans 
are firmly in power in the White House and also in the Congress. Now, 
just 18 days after the election, we see in this bill breathtaking 
arrogance of power. It is an abuse of power because it gives power to 
Republican leaders, at the expense of your right of privacy, to pry and 
snoop into your tax returns.
  They can even leak your taxes to the press and post them on the 
Internet without penalty. It is an abuse of power because it gives 
insurance companies the power to deny your right to know all of your 
health care options. It gives insurance companies the power to order 
your doctor to tell you only part of what you need to do.
  It is an abuse of power because this bill gives the power to 
corporations to prevent you from knowing where your food comes from. It 
is an abuse of power because it gives companies the power to deny your 
right to overtime pay.
  What other abuse of power is in this bill? We should take some time 
and delay action until we have read it and until we have the 
opportunity to fix it.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. May I inquire if we are still in morning business with 
Senators able to speak for up to 10 minutes each?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are in morning business, limited to 10 
minutes each.

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