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Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the Senate limited access to the Senate wing of the Capitol, the Senate floor, and the Senate galleries to those with official business and those with tickets to the proceedings.

Over the Christmas holidays, staff of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, including the Parliamentarian, legislative clerk and others, and staff of the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, and others, have reviewed the historical precedents but also considered what we could do to facilitate the public's access to the proceedings while taking into account contemporary security requirements and the flow of business here in the Chamber. Staff have recommended some restrictions to the access of the Senate wing, floor, and galleries coupled with a ticketing system that will make as many seats in the gallery available to the public and others as is possible for us to do.

Accordingly, in a few minutes I will ask unanimous consent be given to a set of policies that reflect the staff recommendations which will confine access to the Senate floor and galleries and to the second and third floors of the Senate wing of the Capitol during the consideration of the articles of impeachment and at all times the Chief Justice is presiding.

I thank the distinguished Democratic leader for his efforts and his cooperation in this matter. We have been very careful to make sure we reviewed all the precedents, all the rules; that he has had a chance to check off on these rules, as I have. And I wish to thank all staff who researched the precedent and evaluated current conditions to develop these recommendations. Before seeking unanimous consent, however, I will now yield to the assistant Democratic leader.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagel). The assistant Democratic leader is recognized.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I appreciate the statement of the majority leader. He has been very gracious in reaching out to this side of the aisle on the standards that are going to be initiated and actually used during the impeachment proceedings. I think that the Secretary of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms did an excellent job today of explaining to the Democratic caucus the procedures. I think there was general agreement that they were favorable and would certainly make the process here one of which we could all be proud.

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