Harry Reid: “the Senate is going to be working today on the export administration bill. Senator Daschle called a joint leadership…”

“the Senate is going to be working today on the export administration bill. Senator Daschle called a joint leadership meeting today, and he and Senator Lott, among others, indicated a real desire to move on to the many things we have to do in this month, especially appropriations bills. Senator Sarbanes is certainly one of the most skilled legislators, and I know he is doing everything in his power, as is Senator Gramm, to move this export administration bill as quickly as possible. We had an overwhelming vote yesterday on an amendment. The opposition to moving this bill forward I think got 18 votes. From my personal perspective, that is a high water mark. I certainly hope the few Senators who oppose this legislation will recognize the need to move forward with the legislation not only for the Senate but, more importantly, for this country. We have eight appropriations bills we need to complete by the end of the month. Using the numbers we have, we probably only have about 12 legislative days this month, with the Jewish holidays and the big conference being held late in the month that will take a day away from us. We just need to move expeditiously. I repeat, I hope those people who oppose this legislation will recognize that we are going to pass this bill. It is just a question of when. Their holding this up isn't to the good of this country. I know that the people who oppose this legislation believe they are doing the right thing.”