[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25520]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we return for what I 
personally hope--and we all hope--is a very short and productive 
session. We are currently waiting on House action on the intelligence 
reform conference report, and that should occur today. We will consider 
that measure whenever it arrives from the House. After consultations 
with the Democratic leadership, we announced yesterday that there will 
be no rollcall votes today. We recognize people's schedules are complex 
and people are coming back but that people are literally all over the 
country right now and waiting on House action. Therefore, we felt it 
would be next to impossible to have a rollcall vote today and so we let 
people know yesterday.
  Further, we are in discussions and it is still possible for us to 
consider the intelligence reform conference report without the need for 
a rollcall vote. That is under discussion, and we are talking to all 
our Members. I did want to mention that publicly early on so we can 
continue that discussion over the course of today.
  With regard to the schedule, because there is some uncertainty, by 
necessity, given the fact we must wait on House action before bringing 
it to a vote, I encourage all Members who wish to speak on this 
legislation to come to the floor today and speak. Earlier is 
preferable, in the event that when a vote is scheduled, we would like 
to move to that vote in a relatively expeditious way.
  If we are able to complete or able to clear the conference report, 
then it is my hope we could pass the measure in short order, and it 
would be my preference to deal with it on a voice vote, without a 
rollcall vote, if that is possible and if our colleagues agree to that.
  If a vote becomes necessary, then we would, in all likelihood, 
schedule that vote for sometime tomorrow, and in discussions with the 
Democratic leadership, we would pick an appropriate time to do that. 
Again, we will do our best to accommodate all our Members' schedules, 
and we are working on that right now.
  In the interim, there are a few remaining legislative and executive 
matters we may be able to clear. We have been working on that over the 
course of yesterday and today, and we will continue to do that. We will 
process many of those cleared items before we finish our business. We 
will not be taking up new business. We will be stressing the importance 
of finishing business for this Congress, and, in all likelihood, we 
will be doing that by the end of the day tomorrow. We could even finish 
by the end of the day today. It depends on the House activity.
  I yield the floor, Mr. President.

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