William H. Frist

It is interesting, when you are around here at 2:30 in the morning... It is very important as we all work together to make the country a safer, healthier, and stronger place.

I do want to add my congratulations to the managers, Senators Warner and Levin. They have done a tremendous job on the Defense authorization bill, a very important bill. We had several pauses over the course of today that we were able to…

We have this promise of a new relationship between our Nation and India, which is the world's largest democracy, and it is a relationship President Bush has begun to construct. That can only grow if Congress delivers on the commitment the…

The reason I am turning around is, as the Democratic leader said, people have been working very aggressively since the agreement was reached. And every change, we have really tried to go to both sides--to the House, to the Senate, to the…

That is exactly where we are. I think the good news is both sides recognize this is a very important issue before this body and before the American people and that we have had a lot of work on this bill to where I think--speaking of the…

The legislation that leaves this Senate floor absolutely must achieve two goals: first, preserve the intelligence programs that we know have saved American lives; second, protect classified information from terrorists who could exploit it…

Today we passed the Oman Free Trade bill by a vote of 63 to 31. I am pleased that we were finally able to proceed to a vote on the confirmation of a very important nomination, and that is the nomination of Alice Fisher to be an Assistant…

Right on top of the 10 requests is the unanimous consent request that the Armed Services Committee be authorized to meet during the session. For the information of our colleagues, there had been an objection earlier today. I talked to the…

We began consideration of the very important port security bill on Thursday of last week, and earlier in the week we addressed the Department of Defense appropriations bill. We generally agreed as a body that we would address the security…

This morning we will have 30 minutes of morning business. Following that period, we will return to the Defense appropriations bill. We have three amendments pending on the bill at this time. We hope to lock in a vote in relation to the…

Today we continued debate on the Department of Defense Appropriations bill that we started before the August recess. We have three amendments pending, and we expect to have more amendments offered tomorrow. Votes can be expected before the…

We have had a very full day today addressing the Family Prosperity Act, the Pension Protection Act, and the Department of Defense appropriations bill. We will complete the Department of Defense appropriations funding bill in September…

A number of the nominations we just went through were sent back. For clarification, they were sent back based on objections from the minority. So it is clear, they are not coming from me as the reason they are being sent back…

During the next probably 20 or 30 minutes we will be working on a number issues which are coming up unexpectedly at this late hour given the fact that we will be out for 4 weeks. It is a little bit disjointed as we pull together a number…

Reserving right to object, S. 3765 to permit nationals being granted temporary protected status in United States is a bill that I personally support. And the chairman of the Judiciary Committee commented to the distinguished assistant…

I just wanted to thank Chairman Enzi for his tremendous leadership. So many people have been thanked over the course of the night, and it has been a very productive 4 weeks. But if you look at the committee chairman, he has probably been…

While we are talking about it, we will be out for, I guess, 4 weeks and then Labor Day, and we will come back that Tuesday. Again, I haven't talked with the chairman or ranking member, but does that mean we can finish it late Wednesday…

It is not. It is either a percentage or the amount $2.10 for every hour you are working if we pass it this week. It is the law of the land, by the way, if we pass it this week as it is written. We are talking about a 2.10 absolute. But…

That is exactly right. What is important is the permanent solution. Right now, it is absurd to think we almost have to have three types of planning for when you die: over the next 3 years, as these prices come down; and then total…

That is absolutely true. And I think as we enter this debate over the course of the week, with a lot of these straw men that are being thrown out, we will have the opportunity to talk about and address the reality of what the costs would…

I will tell my good friend from Minnesota that I do not consider the Gulf of Mexico energy bill to be the last word on energy policy this year. I am well aware of your proposals promoting renewables and energy conservation, and I look…

Today the Senate continued consideration of S. 3711, the gulf coast Energy bill. This morning we filed cloture on the bill, and that cloture vote will occur at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. I encourage Senators to come to the floor on Friday to…

The objection is heard. And I will say that I am disappointed. This bill passed the House of Representatives on April 17, 2005, and just passed this body 65 to 34 expressing the will of the Senate. Routinely, we would go to conference with…

Let's consider that. I think over the next day or so we need to get together and go through all we do need to accomplish before we leave for that month for the August recess. Let's talk specifically about that bill as well.