Trent Lott: “Mr. President, I thank the majority leader and the Democratic leader, without whose strenuous efforts we would not have…”

“Mr. President, I thank the majority leader and the Democratic leader, without whose strenuous efforts we would not have been able to enter into this unanimous consent agreement. I want to make one thing clear: This campaign finance reform will be before the Senate bumping up against the April recess. I hope we can devote every effort to get that done in the final 2 weeks before the April recess. It would be very good if we could, over a 2-week period, dispose of amendments and move to final passage. It is critical that we do that. Perhaps, if necessary, we could even delay the recess, something that none of us like, but we really don't want to have this issue clouding the legislative agenda for the rest of the year. I thank Senator Lott and Senator Daschle, but I do want to point out, I do insist that we get a final vote on this issue. We really need to have it disposed of finally. I know Senator Daschle and Senator Lott appreciate that. If there is a filibuster, in other words, just a loading up of amendments, whether they be extraneous or not, but basically covering the same ground, I will be the first to condemn that, and I know that my friend from Wisconsin feels the same way.”