The Focus of Today's Session will be the
Energy Policy Act

           6:30 P.M.         

Senator Clinton has just finished speaking about her concerns about the Medicare prescription drug bill.  She has concerns about beneficiaries losing their benefits and the lack of cost containment.  Senator Sessions is now speaking about the energy bill.  There will be no more roll call votes this evening.

           5:45 P.M.         

Senator Stabenow has been speaking on the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and her thoughts on who this plan benefits more, HMOs or Medicare Beneficiaries.  She indicated that she does not think she can support this bill in its present form. 

           5:20 P.M.         

Senator Jack Reed is speaking about Medicare and cost containment. He has expressed his disappointment that the proposed Medicare prescription drug plan that does not contain more cost containing provisions. 

           5:00 P.M.         

During the past hour Senator Collins, Senator Inhofe, Senator Akaka and Senator Landrieu have spoke on the floor regarding the energy bill.  Senator Landrieu has been speaking in favor of the bill, stating that although this is not a perfect bill, it accomplishes many important objectives.  Senator Collins urged colleagues to look closely at the bill and not to rush to end debate.

           4:00 P.M.         

Senator Dorgan raised his concerns about the manner in which the negotiations for the energy bill were held.  He said that negotiations where members of one party were excluded from talks would not happen again because he would object.

           3:45 P.M.         

Senator McCain has just finished speaking about his opposition to the Energy bill because of what he determined to be "pork" projects.  He has also voiced his opposition to other provisions in the bill.  One of the projects the Senator mentioned, was a proposal to fund construction for a shopping plaza that is anchored by a Hooters restaurant. 

           2:45 P.M.         

Senator Cantwell of Washington, a member of the Energy Committee has been speaking about the Energy bill.  She has referenced quotes from newspaper editorials in explaining her opinion that this bill is worse than no bill at all. 

           2:30 P.M.         

For the past twenty minutes Senator Kennedy has been speaking about the proposed Medicare Prescription Drug benefit.  He has raised his concerns about many issues, including the structure of the benefit, the assets test for low income beneficiaries, and health savings accounts. 

           2:00 P.M.         

In response to Senator Durbin's criticism of provisions in the energy bill regarding MTBE, Senator Domenici, the Chairman of the Energy Committee, has voiced his opinions about the successes in the bill. 

           12:30 P.M.         

Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico began by discussing the use of natural gas and renewable energy alternatives. He is now talking about the language in the energy bill conference report concerning MTBE.

           11:45 A.M.         

Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire is outlining what he feels should be included in a bill to result in a successful energy policy. The Senator stated that in order to have a sound energy policy, the bill must make our nation more independent of international fuels, must allow energy to be more readily available, and much allow more productivity in our society as a result of having energy at a reasonable cost.

           11:30 A.M.         

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon spoke about his frustration that he has been urged to look at the whole energy bill rather than focus on individual provisions included in the bill. He talked about the importance of looking at everything that is included in a bill such as this, and he went on to discuss how this bill relates to our country's dependence on foreign oil.

           11:00 A.M.         

Senator Domenici, Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is discussing the difficulty of writing an energy bill that would benefit the majority of the country. He is now focusing on the issue of MTBE.

           10:15 A.M.         

Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon is speaking on the floor about the energy bill. Senator Smith is a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

           10:00 A.M.         

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York voiced his opposition to a provision in the Energy Policy Act conference report about Safe Harbor for methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) producers. MTBE is an oxygenate, meaning that it raises the oxygen content of gasoline, which helps gasoline burn more completely and results in less harmful tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles. MTBE has been used in U.S. gasoline since 1979 to replace lead as an octane enhancer. MTBE leaks into water sources, contaminating the water.

           9:30 A.M.         

The Senate begins this morning with a period of morning business for an hour before beginning consideration of the Energy Policy Act conference report. To read Senator Leahy's statement on the Senate-passed S.14, the Energy Policy Act, please click here.

Appropriations vs. Authorization: While the power over appropriations is granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution, the authorization-appropriation process is derived from House and Senate rules. The process consists of two sequential steps: (1) enactment of an authorization measure that may create or continue an agency or program as well as authorize the subsequent enactment of appropriations; and (2) enactment of appropriations to provide funds for the authorized agency or program.