[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the Senate returns to session today and 
joins the world in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II. I know many 
of my colleagues will want to pay tribute to one of our greatest 
spiritual leaders. Therefore, we will have a period of morning business 
throughout the day to accommodate those speeches. I also alert my 
colleagues that we are working on a Senate resolution which would pay 
the appropriate respect and tribute to Pope John Paul.
  We have also returned to the sad news of the passing of one of our 
former colleagues, Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. Our thoughts and 
prayers go out to his family.
  With regard to the schedule this week, we have a busy legislative 
schedule with a number of scheduling challenges over the next several 
days. We hope to begin consideration of the State Department 
authorization bill tomorrow, on Tuesday. Chairman Lugar is preparing to 
bring that bill to the floor, and we hope to complete work on that over 
the course of the next couple of days. I hope we can reach an agreement 
that will allow that bill to come forward, with amendments relevant to 
the underlying legislation.
  In addition, on Wednesday, there will be a joint meeting of the House 
and Senate to receive an address by Ukrainian President Viktor 
Yushchenko. That is scheduled for 11 a.m. We ask that Members be in the 
Senate Chamber at approximately 10:30 so we may proceed together to the 
Hall of the House of Representatives for that address.
  Also this week, we have a couple of district judges who are available 
for consideration, and we will want to schedule those for floor action.
  On behalf of the Republican and Democratic Policy Committees, I 
remind everybody that on Tuesday we will have a floor debate on the 
issue of Social Security. Senators Santorum, DeMint, Durbin, and 
Stabenow will participate in the scheduled debate. I encourage all 
Members to listen to this constructive conversation. I applaud both 
policy committees for preparing this format. I was pleased to work with 
the Democratic leader in securing a time for this debate tomorrow. This 
week, Senator Cochran will be marking up the supplemental 
appropriations bill. We hope to have that available next week.
  Again, we have much on the plate for this week both in terms of floor 
schedule and other important Senate events. I look forward to a busy 
legislative period this spring, and trust all of my colleagues are 
rested and ready to proceed.

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