Trent Lott: “if I could respond to Senator Kennedy's question, first of all, I, too, would very much like to see us complete the…”

“if I could respond to Senator Kennedy's question, first of all, I, too, would very much like to see us complete the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The committee did very good work on that legislation. The Senate spent a week, over a week perhaps, having amendments offered and voted on. With regard to the underlying Elementary and Secondary Education Act and other nongermane amendments that were offered, that delayed our ability to complete that legislation. But I feel very strongly about getting it done. I am very pleased with the condition the bill is in. I think it might be a good idea that we workout an arrangement on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for next week, perhaps similar to what we have done with the DOD authorization bill, hoping to work on that bill tonight and having votes on amendments, if any are ordered, in the morning; the same thing tomorrow night with votes occurring the next morning. We could do the same thing on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. But there is a key thing here.”