Trent Lott: “I want to say, before I yield the floor, that I am very pleased that we are ready to go now with the Department of…”

“I want to say, before I yield the floor, that I am very pleased that we are ready to go now with the Department of Defense authorization bill. The committee has been ready to go for about 3 weeks. There have been some problems that are being ironed out with other committees. I know that in the years I have been on the Armed Services Committee this has been the most cooperative atmosphere we have had in the committee. I think we have a good bill. I know there are going to be some very serious amendments offered and debated. We will have plenty of opportunity to express our concerns and to change the bill in ways that Members feel strongly about. I commend, again, the chairman of the committee, Senator Thurmond from South Carolina, for the leadership he has shown on this bill. He said that we were not going to wait way into the summer and get tangled up into the appropriations process. We are going to have the authorization bill ready. He did that. The bill was ready by the Memorial Day recess. I appreciate him and have enjoyed so much working with him. I know he is raring to go, so, Mr. Chairman, it is yours. I yield the floor.”