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

6:30 P.M.

By a voice vote the Senate has accepted a managers amendment to the Highway Funding Bill.  This amendment usually contains provisions that both parties have agreed upon to include in the bill.  A vote on final passage of the bill is expected shortly. 

4:05 P.M.

Senator Dorgan is proposing his amendment regarding open alcoholic beverages in motor vehicles, S.Amdt.2430.  He has mentioned that on average, every thirty minutes someone dies as the result of a car crash and that the leading cause of death for children 4-14 is motor vehicle accidents. 

4:00 P.M.

The Senate has just completed a vote on the Kyl Second Degree Amendment, defeating the amendment with a vote of 20-78.

3:30 P.M.

The Senate has begun a vote on Senator Kyl's second degree amendment.  The amendment would limit the 6-year cost of the bill to $256 billion, which is the amount requested by the president. 

3:25 P.M.

Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire is offering his thoughts on the Highway Funding Bill and his view of the Senate debate to this point.  He has outlined how the taxes collected on each gallon of gas in New Hampshire is collected and sent to Washington and then redistributed, with New Hampshire receiving less money than the state as a whole paid into the highway trust fund. 

2:40 P.M.

The Senate has just completed a roll call vote on S.Amdt.2285, voting to waive the budget act by a vote of 72-24.  The Senate is now debating Senator Kyl's second degree amendment, S.Amdt.2273, to Senator Inhofe's substitute amendment that was just accepted. 

1:25 P.M.

Freshmen Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is speaking about how this bill would affect the budget.  He is offering his opinion on the status of the bill and has mentioned that President Bush has indicated that he would veto the Highway Funding Bill if it authorized too much spending.  A frequent topic of discussion this afternoon has been the size of the deficit and how this bill would affect both the budget and the deficit. 

1:05 P.M.

Senator Don Nickles, who is Chairman of the Budget Committee, is debated a Budget Act point of order to the Inhofe substitute amendment #2285.  While cloture was invoked in a vote this morning, a vote on whether to accept the Inhofe amendment has yet to take place.  A successful cloture vote sets a time limit for debate, before a final vote or motion occurs.  Senator Nickles is considered a budget hawk, and consistently advocates for keeping government spending within the constraints laid out in the budget. 

12:30 P.M.

Senator Max Baucus of Montana is talking about the importance of passing this highway funding legislation, especially since the passage of this bill has already been postponed.

12:00 P.M.

Senator Jon Kyl is speaking about the fact that the highway funding bill exceeds the budget and is asking that his colleagues support a budget point of order.

11:30 A.M.

Senator John McCain came to the floor to counter an editorial that was published earlier this week entitled "Road Kill," which questioned the timing of the debate concerning the Highway bill.

9:45 A.M.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is offering an amendment, #2388, to the Highway Funding bill which would distribute unallocated funds in a different way, resulting in $0.91 for each $1.00 being returned to each state.

9:30 A.M.

The Senate voted 86-11 to invoke cloture on Senator Inhofe's amendment to provide a complete substitute.

9:00 A.M.

The Senate is currently voting on the motion to invoke cloture on Senator Inhofe's amendment. 60 votes are required to invoke cloture.

8:30 A.M.

The Senate convened at 8:30 this morning to resume consideration of S.1072, the Highway Funding Bill. At 9:00, the Senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on Senator Inhofe's amendment #2285 to provide a complete substitute.