To allow the Senate to conduct its affairs more efficiently, Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell announced that the 15-minute time limit allowed for senators to cast their votes would be cut, and that the limit would henceforth be 20 minutes. Under the 15-minute time limit, senators had often called from as far away as Washington's National Airport to say that they were on their way, holding things up for up to 40 minutes, so the 20-minute limit was a "cut." Nonetheless, Mitchell said that the voting period could be extended for "extraordinary" circumstances.

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