From BNA: Senate leadership Sept. 2 tentatively planned to proceed with a long-planned agenda for its return from an August recess, despite pleas from top Democrats to put aside a scheduled vote on estate tax reform and instead tackle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Amy Call, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), told BNA Sept. 2 that, while the Senate intends to proceed as planned, Frist will interrupt any pending legislation whenever necessary to deal with Katrina. "Our first priority is Hurricane Katrina," she said. Frist filed for cloture on the motion to proceed to estate tax repeal legislation (H.R. 8) prior to the month-long recess. When it reconvenes Sept. 6, the Senate will vote either on the motion to invoke cloture and proceed to H.R. 8 or on another motion to take up S. 147, a Native Hawaiians bill, according to an Aug. 1 notice from Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office. Frist's plan to proceed with the vote on the issue brought claims of insensitivity from his Democratic counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "I am surprised at the Republican leadership's insensitivity toward the events of the last week," Reid said in a statement. "With thousands presumed dead after Hurricane Katrina and families uprooted all along the Gulf Coast, giving tax breaks to millionaires should be the last thing on the Senate's agenda." He said the hurricane victims--"not the handful of millionaires repealing the estate tax will affect"--deserve the Senate's time. "I once again urge Senator Frist to reconsider his decision," he said. Reid first appealed to Frist in a Sept. 1 letter to set aside the estate tax measure to permit the Senate to better address the crisis that has occurred in the wake of Katrina. Senate Finance Committee ranking Democrat Max Baucus (Mont.), his party's lead negotiator on the issue, echoed Reid's sentiments, saying now is not the time to vote on such a measure. "The nation is calling out for the Senate to act to help those in need," Baucus said. "We have passed an emergency spending bill, but the emergency has not subsided. People are still homeless. New Orleans is still buried in dark water. Our work is not finished." "Instead of moving to the estate tax when the Senate is back in session, I encourage my colleagues to concentrate on the victims left in Hurricane Katrina's wake," he added.