[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[Senate]
[Page 28183]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning the Senate will begin a 30-
minute period of morning business. When that time has expired, we will 
begin consideration of the House message to accompany the deficit 
reduction bill.
  Last night the agreement we entered allows for up to 7 motions to 
instruct conferees. Several Members spoke to these motions, debating 
their motions yesterday. Today we will vote on those, prior to lunch.


                           Order of Procedure

  Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that at 11:45 this morning 
we proceed to three consecutive votes, first on the Baucus motion to 
instruct, to be followed by the Carper motion, to be followed by the 
Harkin motion; provided further that there be 2 minutes equally divided 
for debate prior to each of the votes; finally, I ask unanimous consent 
that following the third vote the Senate stand in recess until 2:15 for 
the policy luncheon to meet.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, therefore, Senators can expect three votes 
beginning at 11:45 today. The remaining motions will be debated this 
morning and this afternoon, and those votes will be scheduled for 
Thursday afternoon at approximately 3:30.
  Today we expect the PATRIOT Act conference report to arrive from the 
House. If we are unable to reach consent for a limited debate time, 
then I am prepared to file cloture on that conference report.
  I do hope we can come to a consent for the debate time. If not, 
cloture can be expected. If that is the case, that vote would occur 
Friday morning. The Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations 
conference report may also be available to the Senate today. I will be 
consulting with my colleagues about scheduling that vote as well.
  In addition to the items I have mentioned, there is a number of other 
legislative and executive items that remain. These include the Defense 
authorization conference report, the Defense appropriations conference 
report.
  As I have said over the last several days on the floor, I urge all 
Members to remain available and to adjust their schedules accordingly 
for the remainder of this week and into this weekend, and perhaps 
beyond as we schedule our final business of this year. We will make 
every effort to conclude our work as quickly as possible, but it will 
require the patience and cooperation of all Senators. As all of my 
colleagues understand, there is a lot of coordination with the House of 
Representatives with bills going back and forth.
  I thank everyone for their help in advance as we move forward on 
these matters.

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