I anticipate that the reply from the administration would be forthcoming on Monday. I think the Senator would be available to debate this matter later in the afternoon.

I assure you that you will have 5 minutes in that period of time. If the Senator from Oklahoma could present his amendments, followed by the Senator from Maine, the Senator from Tennessee, and then Senator Kennedy. The PRESIDING OFFICER…

I urge adoption of these amendments. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendments are agreed to en bloc. The amendments (Nos. 1318, 1319, 1320, 1321, 1322, and 1323) were agreed to.

I believe, unless my distinguished colleague has a need to further address the Senate, we have concluded the opening round of our bill. My understanding is that the pending business will be amendment No. 1314 to S. 1042, am I correct? The…

I rise regarding the pending bill, provided that no other Senators seek recognition on another matter. Seeing none, I wish to accommodate my colleagues whenever possible. It is now my privilege to once again bring forward for consideration…

on behalf of the leadership, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding passage of H.R. 3057, Salazar amendment No. 1263, as modified, which is at the desk, be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. The…

I send an amendment on behalf of Senators McConnell, Bunning, Allard, and Salazar, which would provide the Secretary of Defense authority to use research and development funds available for chemical weapons demilitarization activities…

So I was privileged to have that opportunity. In the context of performing that task before the Judiciary Committee, I made an independent assessment for myself of his credentials to be a Federal judge. Indeed, I talked to a number of…

Now, Mr. President, I have, I think, discussed with our colleague another amendment. It relates to a subject that one of our distinguished Members of the House of Representatives, Congressman Skelton, sent. He actually brought this up as a…

I certainly concur in those observations about our highly esteemed colleague from West Virginia. I thank the Senator for his kind remarks. I think this is No. 27 for us--a quarter of a century. It is a pretty good record. I am quite…

there has been tremendous effort of our committee on both sides of the aisle with respect to the equipment being used, primarily in Iraq at this time, but could well be used elsewhere. We refer to them as the up-armored high mobility…

I have the floor. We have served together on this committee for 27 years and we have, once again, with the other wonderful collection of Senators on this committee and the staff, produced a bill which clearly supports our men and women in…

I wish to thank my longtime friend and committee member, the Senator from Alabama. We have worked together. We have traveled together. We have been to Iraq together. We went down last Friday to Guantanamo to inspect the detention…

it is a perfectly reasonable request. I fully wish to accommodate my colleague's wishes. We will lay this amendment aside. But I would like to draw attention to the fact that the subject is one which has been under constant review, the…

the pending amendment which I sent to the desk, I ask unanimous consent that it be laid aside. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

In brief, the amendment would amend section 2163 of title 10, United States Code, to authorize the president of the National Defense University to confer the degree of Master of Science in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy on those…

with the attention of my distinguished ranking member, we ask that a series of amendments, which I will now send to the desk, which have been cleared, be considered, and I ask that any statements relating to the individual amendments be…

the amendment is acceptable to this side. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate? Without objection, the amendment is agreed to. The amendment (No. 1325) was agreed to.

I urge the Senate to adopt this amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate? If not, the amendment is agreed to. The amendment (No. 1324) was agreed to.

today our President, President Bush, spoke so eloquently upon learning of Justice O'Connor's desire to step down and spend more time with her husband. I think that is such a beautiful and warm way to send a message all across America. I…

My distinguished colleague on the Armed Services Committee is fully aware that we have worked on this matter for several years. There is an existing law that we passed on our bill. But the simple, basic, elementary thing here is we are…

I could only say to my distinguished colleague, the Secretary of Defense Colin Powell, a man who has been held in high esteem by this body, disagrees respectfully with my good colleague from Michigan. But the effect of denying a study on…

In reply to my colleague, I refer to a letter from the Secretary of State a year ago: Dear Mr. Chairman--addressed to me--I am writing to express support for the President's 2004 budget request to fund the feasibility and cost study for…

I am sorry, I did not hear the ruling of the Chair. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senators are advised to address their questions through the Chair, not directly from Senator to Senator.

Why not have the study so the Senate and the Congress can all be well informed? And it will either verify or there will be a denial of the assertions made by our three colleagues who are in opposition, and possibly a fourth. It is…