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Mr. LOTT. If I could get this unanimous consent request in, then we would understand what the procedure would be for today and tomorrow and even Thursday morning. So if my colleagues will bear with me one moment.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the Senate proceed to the conference report to accompany the Africa trade bill, that the report be considered as having been read, and the vote occur on adoption of the motion to proceed immediately, and following the vote and the reporting by the clerk, I be immediately recognized to send a cloture motion to the desk. I also ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote occur on Thursday, May 11, at 10:30 a.m., with the mandatory quorum having been waived.
This has been discussed with the Democratic leadership.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
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Mr. KENNEDY. Reserving the right to object, I would like to see if we could give at least some assurances to the Members about when we would come back to deal with the education legislation.
As the Senator himself knows, this is our one chance every 5 or 6 years to try to deal with this issue. We have been making some progress during the course of these last few days. We do not have a whole long list of amendments, and we are prepared to deal with short time limits.
I am wondering now whether the leader could give us at least some idea when we are going to come back to it.
Mr. LOTT. Let me again emphasize, first, that this would provide for a vote at 9:30 in the morning on the motion to proceed to the Africa and CBI trade bill. If it is agreed to, then the cloture vote, by agreement, will be Thursday morning at 10:30.
With regard to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, our colleagues probably are aware we have already agreed that there are two more amendments that, by unanimous consent, we would go to next--the Stevens-Jeffords and others amendment; to be followed by a Kennedy amendment. So we have the next group of two amendments that would be in order.
I have discussed this with Senator DASCHLE. It is our intent, now that we have appropriations bills that are becoming available, that, for probably now on into the summer, we are going to be dual-tracking bills wherever it is necessary, so we can get an appropriations bill done or an urgent bill such as the conference report on Africa trade and CBI. There is a belief we should go ahead and get that done and move to appropriations bills when they are available, and then come back to the authorizations, whether it is the elementary and secondary education bill or trade bill or whatever it may be.
So it is our intent to come back to ESEA and proceed with the amendments that it is already been agreed we will consider next while we work to see if we can get another grouping of two or more amendments to be considered.
I agree, there has been good debate. The amendments have been focused on elementary and secondary education, and we have amendments still pending on both sides that relate to that. As long as there is that kind of cooperation and progress being made, I think we should continue to pursue it.
So it is my intent to come back to elementary and secondary education, if not later on this week, then next week, when we have a window.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I appreciate what the Senator has said. As I understand, he will make the best effort to come back
to it this week, but we will have an opportunity to come back to it next week. Is that the leader's plan?
Mr. LOTT. That is my hope and intent. We should be able to do that and continue to move appropriations bills, also.
Again, it will take cooperation on the MILCON construction appropriations bill, which does have the military funding for Kosovo and for the fuel costs. We have the agriculture bill that is available that has, I believe, the disaster funding in it in addition to the regular agricultural appropriations programs. And the Foreign Operations bill has been reported.
But we will work with the leadership as to exactly when those will come up. We will try to move through those three as quickly as we can and try to move the Africa trade bill with the CBI provisions, and the ESEA. I think those three appropriations bills and these two--the conference report and this authorization bill--will take the remainder of the time probably for the next couple weeks. We are going to stay on it.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, just further reserving the right to object, and I will not object, I take the assurances of the leader that we will return to this in every expectation next week. I think there are many of us who believe this issue is of equal importance to a number of the appropriations bills, since we are talking about appropriations next fall, next October, and we are running late in terms of the ESEA. So there is a real sense of urgency about it. But I am grateful to the leader for giving us those assurances.
I do not object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Several Senators addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could go further, I ask unanimous consent that the time between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Thursday be equally divided in the usual form on the subject of the African and CBI trade bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LOTT. Therefore, a rollcall vote will occur at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and a vote is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. There may be additional votes after that.
I think Members should expect additional votes on Thursday, although we have not agreed to what they would be at this point.
I do want to note that I certainly believe the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is very important. That is why we have been on it the second week. We have given a lot of time to it. I think that is fine. This is a high priority in the minds of the American people and every State in the Nation, and with us.
However, the appropriations bills each have emergency provisions in them--an emergency for the Kosovo funding and the fuel costs for our military; the agriculture bill has the emergency disaster funding in it, though some of it for North Carolina, and expected disasters; and the Foreign Operations bill has funding in it for the very dangerous situation involving Colombian drugs. That is why we are going to be trying to move those as quickly as possible.
I thank my colleagues and announce there will be no further votes this evening.
END