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The Focus of Today's Session will be
the Pension Reform Bill

5:00 P.M.

Senator Byrd, the senior Senator from West Virginia is reading a passage from the bible.  Senator Byrd mentioned that although he is not a minister, he is fortunate enough to be able to read.  After concluding the bible passage, Senator Byrd is speaking about how the meaning of Easter has changed as it has been commercialized. 

4:00 P.M.

Senator Grassley is speaking about the high cost of prescription drugs and likened the situation to highway robbery.  In the past the Senate, and Senator Grassley, have supported the reimportation of prescription drugs.  Senator Grassley is remarking that he and Senator Kennedy have been working on another bill that would legalize the importation of prescription drugs.  It has been announced that there are no further votes this evening and the Senate is not expected to be in session tomorrow.   

3:40 P.M.

Senator McCain asked unanimous consent that his sense of the Senate resolution be passed.  A "Sense of the Senate" resolution is a non binding resolution that offers the thoughts or opinions of the Senate but does not indicate the passage of legislation. 

3:25 P.M.

The voted to adopt the Pension Reform Bill conference report with a vote of 78-19.  Senator McCain is now speaking on a sense of the Senate resolution he introduced that pertains to steroid abuse in Major League Baseball.  The Senator is currently reading a letter to the editor of an Arizona newspaper, from a 12-yearold Boy Scout who believes that baseball players should not take steroids.  

2:45 P.M.

Per the request by Senator Gregg, the Senate is now beginning to vote on the Conference Report on H.R. 3108, the Pension Reform Bill. 

2:25 P.M.

Senator Gregg of New Hampshire just requested that the Senate hold a vote on the Pension Reform Bill at 2:45 p.m. this afternoon.  No objections were made so the Senate is expected to vote shortly. 

2:15 P.M.

Speaking on the issue of asbestos litigation, Senator Specter is noting that the Senate will take up the issue on Monday, April 19th when the Senate returns from a week long recess. 

2:05 P.M.

Senator Landrieu is speaking on the Pension Reform Bill, responding to charges made by other Senators about her position.  She has lamented the fact that the Senate no longer heads into a conference committee with the House of Representatives unified over which provisions to advocate for.

12:40 P.M.

Senator Kennedy is now discussing the issue of hunger in our country.  Citing the fact that 300,000 more families are hungry today than when President Bush took office, Senator Kennedy is reading from a recent Parade Magazine. The magazine states that 34.9 million Americans are "food insecure," and 13 million of those are children.

12:30 P.M.

Senator Ted Kennedy, Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, is joining Senator Landrieu in claiming that this conference report is not good enough because it leaves out 30% of the people who are in trouble.  While expressing that he understands that our country is facing difficult economic times, Senator Kennedy is pointing out that 3.3 Americans have lost their pension coverage since 2000.

12:05 P.M.

Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is stating that the multiemployer pension system deserves relief, especially since this could happen "without costing the Treasury a nickel." She is frustrated that the pension bill was pretty good when it passed the Senate, but that the conference report that came back is "fairly defective."

11:50 A.M.

Following Senator Leahy, Minority Leader Tom Daschle expressed his concerns with the asbestos litigation bill stating that he feels it is "grossly inadequate and fundamentally unfair." For instance, under the bill’s current provisions, victims with asbestos related lung cancer would not be entitled to any more than $25,000 in compensation. Senator Daschle urged that his colleagues address the issue of equal access health care, because he feels that we presently have a "two-tiered health care system," and that is "quickly becoming a national emergency." The period of morning business is now over, and the Senate has begun consideration of the conference report to the pension reform bill.

11:40 A.M.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont came to the floor to speak about his disappointment that after months of bipartisan negotiations on legislation to enact a national trust fund for victims of asbestos-related disease, the Judiciary Committee Chairman and the Republican Leader yesterday introduced a partisan asbestos bill. Senator Leahy has been working with his colleagues over the past year to create a fair and efficient compensation system that could be offered to individuals suffering from asbestos-related diseases and to those victims yet to come. Unfortunately, the Senate majority leadership decided to walk away from those negotiations and to resort to unilateralism by introducing a partisan bill without bipartisan support.

11:30 A.M.

The ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont came to the Floor to discuss major policy and legislative accomplishments that have been achieved over the past thirty years for the betterment of our environment. He wanted to contrast those advancements made under both Democratic and Republican administrations with the setbacks being enacted by the current administration. During his time in office, President Nixon signed among other laws, The Clear Air Act, The Clean Water Act and The Endangered Species Act. President Reagan signed The Nuclear Waste Policy Act into law while he was in office. After praising these achievements, Senator Jeffords sited a long list of environmental rollbacks, including slashing the funds for clean drinking water and opening more public land for toxic waste dumps all being undertaken during the current Administration.

11:00 A.M.

The Majority Whip, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, came to the floor to express his concern that many in Washington are no longer at war with just the terrorists, but also with one another. He continued his remarks by praising the measures taken by the Bush Administration within the last few years that have, in his opinion, advanced the war on terrorism and increased our security. Senator McConnell also emphasized his belief that there are currently two prevailing but fundamentally different philosophies of how to win the war on terror. Those critical of the Bush Administration’s handling of this greater war would state that it should only be fought against those terrorists directly responsible for the events of 9/11, and it is a war that can be fought under the leadership of the U.N. The other school of thought embraces the idea that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 were only “one head of the hybrid” and that it would be deeply irresponsible to focus resources simply on them.

10:30 A.M.

Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas came to the floor to speak about the importance of marriage and upholding what he referred to as the “traditional” family structure. Claiming that heterosexual marriage is a social good vital to the well-being of children, he stated that kids being raised in other arrangements face higher risk of developmental problems. He did acknowledge that healthy children are being raised in other settings, however. Using floor charts, Senator Brownback also expressed his alarm at the increasing amount of children who are growing up without fathers and the rate of couples who are getting divorced.

10:05 A.M.

Majority Leader, Senator Bill Frist came to the floor to announce that the first vote of the date will be held at 3:00 p.m. on the conference report for H.R. 3108. Four hours of debate on the report prior to a vote on final passage were agreed to in an unanimous consent agreement reached yesterday. The Senate is now in a period of morning business.

10:00 A.M.

The Senate convenes today at 10:00 this morning for a period of morning business. At 11:00, the Senate will take up consideration of the conference report to the Pension Reform bill, H.R.3108. The House of Representatives approved the conference report on April 2nd by a vote of 336-69. This bill would reduce the amount that companies must contribute to pension funds by over $80 billion over a two year period.