Trent Lott: “Senator Daschle and I have continued to confer, and a number of Senators have started asking about the plans for the…”

“Senator Daschle and I have continued to confer, and a number of Senators have started asking about the plans for the night. I am looking at the list of amendments here. We still have a good number, somewhere between 25 and 30 first-degree amendments, but only 2 or 3 of them are relevant to this underlying bill. Our intent is to keep working. The managers have been working, trying to get things agreed to. We have a couple of pending amendments we are trying to get to an understanding on how to vote on them. We are acting in good faith. As I look at this list, so many of these amendments, really, should not be offered. We should go ahead and get this work done. We are in agreement now, the leadership on both sides of the aisle, that we are going to get it done tonight. We are going to keep working and dealing with these amendments. We are going to keep voting until we get this bill completed. Then we will be able to advise Members when we get it done tonight, we will have debate tomorrow but no votes. We are now coming close to getting an understanding on what we can do on Monday, with votes early Tuesday morning. Members can do what needs to be done, fulfill commitments and religious holidays, but to get that done we must finish this bill tonight. So, please, we should not offer these amendments that are not serious. We should the job done. Our intent is to keep going tonight. We are honoring my colleague, Sonny Montgomery, after 30 years of service in Congress.”