The Focus of Today's Session will be
S.1072, the Highway Funding Bill

6:05 P.M.

The Senate is currently in a quorum call and no Senators have sought recognition.  There will be no roll call votes this evening.  More From The Floor will return bright and early tomorrow morning when the Senate convenes. 

4:55 P.M.

Senator Daschle is speaking about country of origin labeling and its importance in the wake of the decision by the Bush Administration to end an investigation into the discovery of Mad Cow Disease in the United States.  He is urging that the investigation be reopened so that all cows believed to have Mad Cow Disease can be found. 

4:15 P.M.

Senator Warner of Virginia again proposed his amendment to require states to increase the percentage of seat belt usage to 90%.  Senator Inhofe, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee is objecting to a unanimous consent motion to include this amendment in the bill. 

3:45 P.M.

Correction: Cloture has been filed on the Inhofe Amendment, S.Amndt.2285.  The text of this amendment will be posted as soon as it is available.

3:30 P.M.

Senator Frist has sent a cloture motion on S.1072 to the desk.  This motion will require a vote to end debate on the Highway Funding Bill so that a vote on final passage can occur.  

2:30 P.M.

The Senate is again in session, but no Senators have sought recognition.  The pending business is the Highway Funding Bill. 

1:25 P.M.

The Senate is currently in a temporary recess why members meet for their weekly policy lunches.  The Senate will return to session at 2:15 p.m.

11:45 A.M.

After a brief break in which no one spoke on the floor, Senator Kit Bond returned to voice his opposition to an amendment offered yesterday to the Highway Funding bill which would sanction states that do not meet primary seatbelt standards.

11:30 A.M.

Senator Kit Bond is joining Senator Feingold in discussing the use of intelligence, however, Senator Bond is defending the Bush Administration's decision to go to war based on the estimates it had seen.

11:15 A.M.

Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is speaking on the floor about the issue of the intelligence surrounding going to war with Iraq has been discussed by.  The Senator, while a supporter of regime change in Iraq, is voicing his outrage about the way in which the intelligence was used, calling it "an  example of the President misleading the American people."

10:15 A.M.

Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan expressed her concern about the outsourcing of jobs to overseas corporations, a topic which has been discussed by a number of Senators recently.

10:00 A.M.

Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota is using his leadership time to discuss health care. The Senator is discussing how virtually every industrialized country has almost universal coverage, with the exception of the United States, and how important it is for the U.S. to improve its health care coverage system so that our country can have a lower rate of child mortality and a higher life expectancy.

9:30 A.M.

At 9:30 this morning, the Senate will resume consideration of S.1072, the Highway Funding Bill. Amendments pending to S.1072 include Senator Dorgan's amendments #2267 and #2276, about an agriculture exemption and about open alcohol containers, respectively, and Senator Gregg's amendment #2268 about the public safety employer-employee cooperation act.