Frist Scales Back Scope of Final Week in Session
2006-09-26
Source: Roll Call
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rss feedCongress likely will break camp for the midterm elections this weekend with little in the way of major legislative initiatives to show for the past few weeks of effort.
Lawmakers will spend the bulk of the week debating the Homeland Security spending bill and Defense-related legislation and shaping a continuing resolution to fund the government until Congress returns for a lame-duck session in mid-November.
A senior GOP aide said Monday that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has modest expectations for the week, with conference reports on
Defense and Homeland Security spending joining a compromise terrorist detainee bill as the only must-pass items on the agenda. According to this aide, Frist also will include a continuing resolution funding the government through Nov. 17 in the Defense bill, which likely will be passed late Friday or Saturday.
And while Frist and other party leaders hope to squeeze in action on a number of other measures - including the Defense authorization bill, port and chemical plant security bills, and legislation overhauling the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States in the wake of last year's Dubai Ports World debacle - with much of the beginning of this week likely to be devoted to the detainee bill, it?s likely that little additional work will be completed.
The aide also warned that while no decision has been made on whether to keep the Senate in session through Saturday, it remains a strong possibility. "Saturday isn't out of the question," the aide noted, adding that there are "some good college games on this weekend. Nothing finer than enjoying beer, brats and football with colleagues in the cloakroom."
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