[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 1911]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                PROGRAM

  Mr. FRIST. Tomorrow, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1072, 
the highway bill. The vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the 
pending substitute to the highway bill will occur at 9 a.m. It is my 
hope that if cloture is invoked, we will be able to dispose of any 
additional germane amendments in a timely manner, thereby clearing the 
way to wrap up consideration of the substitute. Once the substitute 
amendment is disposed of, we still may require a cloture vote on the 
bill itself. Again, it is my hope that we will be able to speed the 
process along and be in a position to complete action on the bill 
tomorrow. It is my intention, however, to remain in session until we 
pass this bill.
  Senators should expect rollcall votes throughout the day tomorrow, 
with the first vote occurring at approximately 9 a.m. In addition, I 
remind all Senators that all second-degree amendments must be filed at 
the desk no later than 9 a.m. tomorrow.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I know the hour is late. I want to 
acknowledge how difficult this has been for the majority leader. This 
has been extremely difficult. I know there is pressure from a lot of 
different sources to do things differently than we have done this week.
  I say to the majority leader, whom I compliment for standing firm on 
what he believes to be the proper role of the Senate on this matter, 
everyone will have their day. When we complete this legislation--I 
believe we will be able to do it tomorrow--the House will do theirs and 
there will be some process to meld together the legislation from the 
two bodies. Then, of course, there will be input from the 
administration. At this stage we don't have to be concerned about 
vetoes. We are a long way from that.
  I want the Record to reflect my personal appreciation for the courage 
of the majority leader during this most difficult 2 weeks.
  Mr. FRIST. I thank the assistant Democratic leader. It has been a 
challenge for both sides the last 2 weeks as we have been on this bill. 
Again, we gave the time for discussion and debate, and we had regular 
order throughout using the Senate rules. With that, we will be able to 
complete our goal of giving very careful consideration to this bill. At 
the end of this 2-week period, during which people have had plenty of 
time, plenty of opportunity to understand what is in this very 
important bill, they will have the opportunity to vote. They will have 
that opportunity tomorrow.

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